None of us are islands

These three are important to me. I'm their mother, and I look after them. But not every second of the day.

Sometimes their father is solely responsible for them. Sometimes I leave them in the care of professionals: teachers, daycarers, babysitters. Sometimes I ask my mum and dad to look after them for a couple of hours (and on one blissful occasion an entire weekend!!) So, although I'm the mother, other people help me raise my three. But no one has ever questioned my competence because other people parent my children.

I don't think I'm capable of looking after my children 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but that doesn't make me incompetent. It makes me normal.

None of us islands. We all need people to help us do all sorts of things. Why do we have a different set of standards for people with intellectual disabilities?

Naomi Chainey of The Feed had more to say on this topic this week.