One Bristol mum who set up a support group for parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) found that many parents she met were traumatised by the way they were treated by professionals. Poppy Villierezz who co-founded the Bristol-based non-profit Murmuration Community Therapy two years ago told Bristol Live that parents were often not believed or were blamed for their child’s disability.
The community worker had initially set up the group to support parents who were suffering from the isolation of having a child that was different. She was surprised to discover that the difficult emotions parents were bringing to the group came from the way they were treated by SEND professionals was to support parents and children.
In response, Poppy contacted the council and explained that SEND professionals need to respond more empathetically towards parents. Murmuration Community Therapy was then given funding from the council to consult Bristol SEND parents and produce a training film for council workers.
