Special needs website wins fans
A couple who set up an internet support community for fellow parents of children with special needs hope it can become a charity due to its success.
Debbi Robertson and partner Graham Brockie, of Portlethen, Aberdeenshire, set up Extra Special Parents two years ago after daughter Willow was born.
Willow had a rare congenital condition and they felt "upset and isolated".
Now the growing website has hundreds of members across the world who can discuss special needs of any kind.
Willow, now three, was born in 2004 with a condition called imperforate anus, where waste cannot be expelled.
Debbi, 35, told the BBC Scotland news website: "We wanted to find other parents to talk to about the condition as Willow had to go through four separate major surgeries and will have ongoing treatment for the foreseeable future.
We would like to raise awareness so that we can reach more parents at a time when they can be feeling bewildered and overwhelmed
Debbi Robertson
"We couldn't find anything other than technical medical information after trawling the internet so decided to set up our own website.
"We wanted to include not just Willow's condition but any special needs such as diabetes, asthma and ADHD through to terminal illness." |
