The National Health Service (NHS) states that learning disabilities affect around 1.5 million people in the United Kingdom, and that this figure is rising by the minute. Loving Akhilesh – Reflections of Parenting a Child with Severe Learning Disabilities is based on my parenting experience with my son, Akhilesh Kadari, who was diagnosed with severe learning disabilities soon after birth. I will be speaking about his care including his birth story, health and social care plans, and his medical diagnoses.
Being my son's main carer since his birth, I wanted to share my parenting experience with others to help raise awareness of learning disabilities, to provide a good insight into the advancements in the resources available when caring for a child with learning disabilities, to provide hints, tips and ideas for parenting and finally, to highlight that a parent's job is to not cure the disability but to create the best physical, mental, spiritual and social environment for the child to help them work through their challenges. As Kevin Heath says, "as our kids grow, they may forget what you said, but they won't forget how you made them feel."
You can also listen to the podcast under the same book title that is based on this book. The podcast is available on platforms such as Spotify, Amazon Music and Audio, Apple/iTunes, YouTube, Google Podcasts and more. I hope that you enjoy reading/listening to my motherhood journey as much as I enjoyed writing it.