Fathers of disabled children can feel overlooked when the focus of much parenting support is aimed at mothers. Different Dads is a collection of personal testimonies written by fathers of children with a disability who reflect on their own experiences and offer advice to other fathers and families on the challenges of raising a child with a disability. The fathers featured represent a broad spectrum of experiences. Contributors are drawn from a wide range of cultures; some are single fathers, others are married adoptive fathers. What they all have in common are the challenges that face them and their families in raising a child with a disability. Areas explored include the reactions of family, friends and colleagues, how to deal with the organizations and professionals that support families with a disabled child and the difficulty of being open about feelings in a culture that doesn’t always expect men to have a sensitive or nurturing role. Offering direct and insightful perspectives on being a father of a child with a disability, this book will be a valuable source of support and information for families with disabled children, and also for health and social care professionals who work with these families.

Contents:

• Foreword by Rt Hon David Cameron MP. Introduction.
• Chapter 1: John.
• Chapter 2: Phil.
• Chapter 3: Andrew.
• Chapter 4: Simon.
• Chapter 5: Rob.
• Chapter 6: Kash.
• Chapter 7: Andrew.
• Chapter 8: Matthew.
• Chapter 9: Kevin.
• Chapter 10: Nigel.
• Chapter 11: Yuri.
• Chapter 12: Steve.
• Chapter 13: Jonathon.
• Chapter 14: Gordon.
• Chapter 15: Tony.
• Chapter 16: Paul.
• Chapter 17: Richard.
• Chapter 18: Mike.
• Chapter 19: Edward.
• Chapter 20: John.
• Chapter 21: Michael.
• Conclusion.

Review:

GÇ£Us menn++? Do not readily express our feelings and to have a book that expresses men’s thoughts and feelings towards their own disabled child was a great opportunity to see whether there are other dads out there who feel like me. The book gives the reader an amazing insight to these 21 very different Dads’ lives, each giving an account of their child’s disability, their feelings, family background and their child’s development. Each account ends with a piece of advice from these dads to other fathers and there are many various offers of advice, but the overwhelming sense of strength and optimism is clear and humbling to read. I certainly could connect and identify with many of these dads and would recommend it to other dads of children with hemiplegia to read because the overriding positive comments do make you reflect on your own wellbeing: – John (dad of two-year-old Rhiannon) says, GÇ£if able-bodied people had the same determination as disabled folk, then we would all be winners.n++?