In this personal account, a mother of a child with CP tells their story about gaining new skills in the Envisage Families Program

When my daughter’s physio suggested I do the Envisage Program, I was like "I don’t need a parenting program". I can now say that the program validated my existing parenting values. It gave me tools that helped me to confidently advocate for our family.

The Envisage Families Program has set me up with some fantastic tools for family life. I now pull these new tools from my “toolbox” at different times on my care-giving journey. I feel more equipped in handling different situations and being the ‘team leader’ of my daughter's care team.

And I think I underestimated the power of meeting and sharing experiences with other caregivers. It was so enlightening and opened up my world, as I know I’m no longer alone on my journey. I learnt a lot from others sharing their experiences.

Since completing the Envisage Program I have felt so much more empowered to have the right care team. I was confident in requesting a change in therapist, to one that really connected with my child. I realised that we really valued that our daughter had the opportunity to have fun in therapy, so that therapy was a positive experience for her.

Since doing Envisage we have been having fun with real life experiences to work on goals instead of weekly therapy appointments. We have more fun as a family. And that is such positive change for all of us.

This blog post was originally published at the Envisage Blog by an anonymous parent who took part in the program. The Envisage Families Program is offering online and in-person workshops for parents of children with disability. Learn more at the Envisage website: Envisage Families Program

Interested to learn more about developing skills and strategies as a parent of a child with CP? Read more in this downloadable resource developed for My CP Guide: Parent and carer wellbeing