Conclusion: Our Voices Aren’t Optional — They’re Essential Over the past five posts, I’ve laid out something that so many families experience but rarely get the space to say out loud: this system often speaks about us, but not to us. It relies on qualifications and checklists, but not always on understanding. It holds parents… Continue reading 6: Degrees Don’t Equal Experience: A Parent’s Perspective

Part Five: What Lived Experience Could Teach the System Throughout this series, I’ve spoken about what it feels like to be a parent in a system that often sees us as less than. Less informed. Less credible. Less worthy of trust. And the root of that imbalance usually comes down to one thing: lived experience… Continue reading 5: Degrees Don’t Equal Experience: A Parent’s Perspective

Part Four: When Reports Rewrite Your Reality There’s a moment that hits harder than most in this system — and it’s not always the courtroom or the meetings. Sometimes, it’s seeing your life described in black and white on a piece of paper… and not recognising yourself in it. Reports are supposed to reflect facts.… Continue reading 4: Degrees Don’t Equal Experience: A Parent’s Perspective

Part Three: The Power Imbalance in the Room There’s a particular kind of silence that fills the room when you’re a parent sitting across from professionals. It’s not just quiet — it’s heavy. Like you’ve walked into a place where your voice is already smaller before you’ve even opened your mouth. Case conferences. Core group… Continue reading 3: Degrees Don’t Equal Experience: A Parent’s Perspective

Part Two: Parenting Under Surveillance From the outside, parenting is supposed to be a natural thing — built on love, instincts, trial and error. But when you're parenting under the gaze of the system, it doesn't feel natural at all. It feels like performance. Every word you say, every move you make, even how your… Continue reading 2. Degrees Don’t Equal Experience: A Parent’s Perspective

Part One: The Degree vs. The Experience Just because someone holds a degree, doesn’t mean they hold the experience. This thought has been sitting with me for a long time, especially as I navigate the system that has had such a deep impact on my family — the social care system. I want to be… Continue reading 1. Degrees Don’t Equal Experience: A Parent’s Perspective