Claire Lamb

I'm Claire and I am 42 years old, I have lived in Sunny Essex all of my life and am lucky enough to have two incredible children who are and have been the centre of my world for the past 15 years, only 14 months apart, kept me a very busy mum and started me on my journey of learning in all kinds of ways; it is a journey I am thankful for and humbled in lots of ways, I had a lot to learn as a new mum and then having a child with down syndrome and cerebral palsy as well was a huge learning curve. She had lots of other complications as well as a result of those conditions including autism, ADHD, heart issues, etc and my youngest was also born with autism. I was a single mum when they were both babies and still am now, I have steered our lives away from the mainstream as it simply didn't work for us, but that took some time to figure out. I found working was impossible where I was needed so much by both of them, making me unreliable and so after attempting some cleaning jobs I eventually resigned to not working at all when the perfect job came up; it was working with parents of children with additional needs to help them get their child the support they needed in a school setting. I could work from home, visit families when I was able to and support them in meetings, helping them to understand the complex paperwork involved in the educational health and care plans. I loved it. Unfortunately it became very clear my youngest was not coping at school well at all and was in fact very miserable and even suicidal at 8 years old, so at this point I chose to home educate him and he also received a diagnosis of autism social phobia and anxiety. He was home educated on and off for five years while we considered other schools and I secured him an educational health and care plan, because a placement at any school simply wouldn't have worked without it. It was during this time I had to give up my job helping parents and focus on educating my youngest; then my eldest daughter was having difficulties and not having her needs met at her specialist school placement so it was back to home educating for her also. This all was a lengthy process, meetings, panels and lots of pushing to get her into the school she needed but that did take almost two years.

While I was home educating, I decided to start a group for families with children/ young people with down syndrome. This group ran for 3 and a half years and was a massive success, we received a lot of funding, put on activities for the whole family who would often feel they couldn't go to certain places because of lack of understanding and feeling judged, we provided support groups, learning libraries, sensory meet ups, musical therapy, termly events and best of all, created connections that will last forever. It was after 3 and a half years, I decided it was finally time to concentrate on what I have wanted to do all my life and write, so I passed on the group to another parent and it is still running now.

My first book was called The Secret Forest, this book is about a young boy with autism and the various ways that autism affects him during his secondary school years, the challenges he faces, the sensory input he struggles with and the small things that people can do to help make his life better. It is also about friendship, speaking out and celebrating peoples differences. My son is a selective mute and can and has explained very eloquently to me how autism feels to him but he cannot do that with others and I wanted to tell the world for him to make it an easier place for him to live in. My son also created all the illustrations in the book.

My second book, The Perfect Mask was inspired by me looking back over the years of raising the children as a single mum, trying to juggle everything, understand special needs from both kids on totally different spectrums and my own mental health at that time. I have had the pleasure of meeting so many amazing parents and carers over the years, working with them, supporting them and befriending them and their voice resonates in me when I write; all having different struggles that we may never understand or see and being able to have connections with people, friends that do not judge is so important and can be a real life saver for some. I wanted to reach people with this book to tell them it is ok not to be ok all of the time, that you can ask for help, because sometimes it is the people who seem like they have it all figured out are the ones that need help the most. The Perfect Mask came out in March and Sue Atkins the parenting expert chose it for her book club in May which was very exciting.

My third book was inspired by the transgender community; for people who are assigned a gender at birth and feel it is wrong for them. This book is called Harry's New Wings and it is about a caterpillar who is born with the wrong wings and the confusion it creates for him, the sadness it brings him and takes away his will to fly or sing. Harry does eventually meet friends that understand and a spider that weaves him beautiful new wings but he has a little journey first. This book is intended for young children who do not have the communication tools to express how they are feeling inside, it is a gentle conversation starter about gender identity, it is beautifully illustrated by Emmie Schofield and the designs are quite neutral.

I am already writing the sequel to The Perfect Mask and have plans for another one after that.