Adapt around chaos while celebrating my child's brilliance.

I’m Suzanne—a mum, occupational therapist, and long-time listener to the quiet wisdom that families carry. Lead Together is a space where parents lead, services follow, and your vision for your child’s life is honoured from the start. You are the expert. I’m here to walk beside you.

Dear fellow parent,

Thank you for meeting me here again. Whether today brought a broken nail, or a burst of laughter that made you forget the broken nail, I’m grateful you’re reading. I hope you found even five minutes when no one needed you — unless they were bringing a cup of coffee!

In our last Adapt newsletter, we explored adapting with compassion. This week we are going to talk about Adapting in the midst of chaos.

Adapt.

Adaptation is often described as flexibility, adjustment, survival. But when you're parenting a child with developmental differences, adaptation can feel like your whole life has become a dance between accommodation and resistance.

The world is chaotic right now. Systems are breaking down. Certainties are dissolving. You’ve likely felt this in the tightening of services, the endless waiting lists, the bureaucratic fog.

So yes, we adapt. We change routines. We learn about new forms to be filled, new staff members to meet. We adjust plans mid-breath.

But here’s the difference: We don’t yield the truth of our lives.

We don’t adapt away from the brilliance of our children.

We adapt around the brokenness of systems — so our children can remain whole.

There’s a strange courage in this kind of adaptation. It’s not about shrinking to fit. It’s about bending just enough to protect what we know is there.

So this week, I invite you to honour your adaptations — not as signs of defeat, but as rituals of protection, resistance, and fierce love.

A Gentle Practice

Pause and reflect: What have you adapted in your life to better honour your child’s unique strengths?

Name it with pride: Not to justify it, not to explain it — but to honour the effort and love behind it. Maybe record a voice note about it, write it on a piece of paper and put it in your wallet.

Ask yourself: What part of your child’s being have you refused to compromise — even when others didn’t understand?

A Glimpse Ahead

Next time, we’ll arrive at:

Discover again where I will have more offerings in An Seomra Ciúin.

And always:

Before you close this email, take one breath for yourself.And one for your child — not the version others expect, but the one who reminds you, again and again, what truly matters.

Take all of the care,

Suzanne

You're receiving this because you're part of Lead Together —a slow, relational space for parents nurturing children with developmental differences.

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