Kim

When I first had Kim he was my son.
A year later he was epileptic and developmentally delayed. At eighteen months he had special needs and he was a special child. He had a mild to moderate learning difficulty. He was ‘mentally handicapped’.

I was told not to think about his future.

I struggled with all this.

By the time he was four he had special educational needs.
He was a statemented child. He was dyspraxic, epileptic, developmentally delayed and had complex communication problems.

Two years later, aged six, he was severely epileptic (EP), cerebral palsied (CP) and had complex learning difficulties.

At eight he had severe intractable epilepsy with associated communication problems. He was showing a marked developmental regression. He had severe learning difficulties.

At nine he came out of segregated schooling and he slowly became my son again. Never again will he be anything else but Kim – a son, a brother, a friend, a pupil, a teacher, a person.
Pippa Murray, Let Our Children Be, 1996, Parents with Attitude

The publisher is ibk initiatives.

Kim © Pippa Murray 1996.

All Rights Reserved. No part of this paper may be reproduced in any formwithout permission from the publisher except for the quotation of briefpassages in reviews.