Invisible Work: Caring for Neurodivergent Children
Invisible Work: Caring for Neurodivergent Children
What counts as work?
Supporting a neurodivergent child can involve advocacy, research, appointments, communication with schools and services, emotional support, planning, regulation and navigating complex systems. Much of this labour is essential, yet it can remain invisible, particularly within workplaces.
This session starts from a simple premise: caring is work. It explores what happens when the often-unseen labour of supporting neurodivergent children intersects with paid employment and considers how workplaces and organisations can recognise and respond to the realities of carers' lives.
The session will explore:
- The visible and invisible forms of labour involved in caring for and supporting neurodivergent children;
- How advocacy, emotional labour, administrative work, navigating services and responding to children's individual needs can shape carers' everyday lives;
- What happens when the demands of care-work and paid employment meet, including the impact of unpredictability, time, workplace expectations and organisational cultures;
- Why experiences of care and employment are not the same for everyone, and how wider inequalities can shape carers' access to support and flexibility;
- How employers, managers and colleagues can move beyond individualised expectations of resilience towards more inclusive and responsive organisational practices.
The session will draw on the Supporting Neurodivergent Children toolkit, research and lived experience, with opportunities for attendees to reflect and contribute through discussion.
- You can book places for yourself and/or colleagues by clicking the button below.
- This event will take place on Zoom.
- Closed Captions can be enabled by attendees.
- Please email trainingandevents@wheel.ie if you have any special requirements or accessibility needs.
Meet Your Presenter
Mel Green is a Senior Lecturer in Education Studies at The Open University, whose work focuses on inclusion, care, identity and educational inequalities. Her research interests include Black British mothering and care-work, inclusive practice, and the experiences of marginalised families and educators. She co-created the Open University’s Supporting Neurodivergent Children toolkit with Dr Poppy Gibson, providing accessible, evidence-informed guidance for parents, carers and professionals supporting neurodivergent children. Drawing across research, professional practice and lived experience, Mel’s work considers how institutions and organisations can better recognise and respond to diverse experiences of care, education and working life.
Testimonials From Others
The presentation was incredibly engaging and impactful, and the level of interaction you received was a clear reflection of that.
– Marie-Claire O’Neill, The Open University
It was amazing how much you were able to cover within the hour. I think the toolkit will be invaluable for people and hearing from you provides that important connection.
– Nicky Scott, Centre of Learning Northern Ireland
