Table Talk with Paddy & Christine McGuinness

The COVID-19 pandemic was hard for everyone, but for families raising a disabled child, there were big additional challenges that many are still facing to this day. In this episode, Paddy and Christine meet a single father of four to hear about his family’s experience and how they managed to get through it together.

This week, Paddy and Christine meet a mother of twin boys to chat about communication.Katy has one son with complex needs, including a rare type of hearing loss.She joins Paddy and Christine to discuss her family’s experiences, communication tools and the creative tricks they have uncovered to interact with one another. 

This week, Paddy and Christine meet a mum of three to talk about siblings.With three children of their own, our hosts and guest explore how siblings of children with disabilities or complex needs can provide vital family support and take on responsibility, sometimes becoming fully acknowledged carers.

This week, Paddy and Christine meet Melissa and Frazier to chat about sensory needs.Touch, taste, smell, sight and sound can all have a huge impact on children, sometimes providing structure, a sense of comfort or even calmness.In this episode, Paddy and Christine talk to Frazier, who has autism and ADHD, and his mother - to learn more about how he perceives the world.

In their first episode of Table Talk, Paddy and Christine meet a mum of two from Scotland and discuss the everyday costs of raising children with disabilities or additional needs.Children can need specialist equipment, more robust beds and bedding or adapted clothing. For some families, especially those living on a low income, the price tag of these sometimes vital or unexpected items can leave them with the choice of paying the bills or putting food on the table.

Paddy and Christine McGuinness launch their first podcast series, Table Talk. Unearthing the true realities families with seriously ill or disabled children face. Paddy and Christine will meet six families as they bravely share their personal stories about the highs and lows and wonderful moments of raising disabled children.Table Talk with Paddy and Christine aims to provide a much-needed platform for the UK families Family Fund help every day and together, confront the biggest difficulties they experience whilst also celebrating the heart-warming everyday moments.  Set around a dinner table, the series will cover everything from those unexpected extra costs, mealtimes, family holidays and sibling dynamics to the impact of Covid-19, communication and the heightened importance of the senses.