Sharon: A self-employed lone parent with a disabled child

Abstract

Sharon's story was collected as part of a study of parents combining employment with the care of disabled children in Britain. Sharon is a lone parent with three daughters, one of whom, Helen, has severe epilepsy. Here she explains to researcher, Trish Heaton why work is important to her but also why it is so difficult for her to sustain work and caring in the context of minimal formal or informal support from within the community. The practical and emotional difficulties of negotiating with inflexible services can drive working parents to crisis point. Sharon describes one such crisis point where all her arrangements had broken down. The supports she needed were minimal, but their absence had a profound impact.