Happy Mother’s Day, however that looks in your family

To mark Mother’s Day, Norah tells us about her daughter Jessica and reflects, in her video, on the ups and downs of being a mum.

Norah lives in Helensburgh, Scotland with her partner Martin and Jessica, aged five. Norah and Martin started noticing some behaviour changes in Jessica when she was one. These included her eye contact, speech, social interaction and eating habits. She is on the pathway for an autism assessment.

Jessica’s day-to-day experience

“Jessica is non-verbal and she is still in nappies. It’s really hard to try and potty train her. She is starting to learn individual words but the social communication is something we are struggling with.

“She is also very emotional so she can just start screaming. It can be challenging as there doesn’t seem to be any triggers. She likes to have physical reassurance, I’ve spent hours and hours on the couch cuddling her. It can be mentally and physically draining for me. I can’t imagine what it must be like for her. She can’t tell me.”

Norah shares what being a mum means to her…

Help from Family Fund – for a better night’s sleep

“Family Fund helped us over the past few years when we were struggling. The offer of help came at the time when we really needed it. 

“When Jessica wakes up at night she doesn’t want to go back to bed, she wants to sleep on the couch in the living room. We didn’t have the best one and we needed to replace it. I put forward the need for a couch, they sent us £500 for a new one. That was Jess, she was made up.

“It was the best sleep she had in ages, she slept till about 7am. I was so happy. Even just getting an extra hour in bed was great for me”

“I would say to other families, if you feel like you need something and it’s giving you stress and worry, they will help out. Go and apply for it, it has helped us a lot.”