The Shouted Goodbye

Jeremy Ward

When Jeremy Ward’s first child, Mena, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of eight months, he and Mena’s mother, Margaret, soon realised that their world had changed forever. Their comfortable expectation of life as new parents was pushed aside as they found themselves fighting for Mena’s right to attend her local school. Rejecting what was on offer from traditional disability services, they found themselves entering the world of small business to create Mena a job, and seeking the support from family and friends as they responded to her wish to move out of the family home when she was nineteen. Told with humour and candour, The Shouted Goodbye tells the story of how one family embraced their particular experience of parenthood, leading them down a path of political activism, advocacy, struggle and community connection to build a rich and meaningful life for their first child.

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