A MOTHER and grandmother are using their experiences of caring for disabled children to help other parents in Darlington.

Lyn McPhee and Sian Parker-Harrison are setting up a training service tailored for the families of children with mental or physical disabilities after learning from their own experiences that the training offered is often too generic.

Ms McPhee’s grandson, Kyle, 7, suffers from autism and displays challenging behaviour, while Ms Parker-Harrison’s daughter Harriet, 4, has cerebral palsy.

The women, who both have consultancy and training experience, have joined forces to offer a solution after listening to the views of the parent career group which meets fortnightly at The Forum music centre on Borough Road.

They are providing training which is based around individual needs and problems, as Ms McPhee explains: “Sian had carers coming round and looking after her child because of the complexities, people were telling her what she had to do, it felt like she couldn’t be a mother and there are lots and lots of people like that who need more support.

“We want to make our training about parents telling us what their challenges are; we try to make it very user friendly and quite user active to get the point across, instead of sitting in training room listening to things that might not be relevant to their situation.”

The sessions will be delivered from The Forum on Borough Road and a conference will be held there between 2pm and 6pm on November 8 for any interested parties to go along and learn more.