F**king Normal
Join hosts, Lauren Fenton and Rina Teslica, both mothers to daughters with special needs as they and their guests share unique parenting stories and chat about the things they've learnt and are still learning. Prepare to sometimes laugh, sometimes cry, but hopefully leave with a shot of optimism in your arm!
The goal of the F**king Normal podcast is to extend the conversation and build a supportive community for other parents. We don't have the answers but want to create a safe space to share stories as we venture through parenting disabled children together.
Note: The F**king normal podcast is a parents perspective. We are not talking on behalf of disabled children or adults. We can't and we would never presume to. That's not our experience. We want to learn to parent and advocate better and this show is about our experience as parents.
For more information and transcripts for each episode go to our website at www.fkingnormalpodcast.com
The F**king Normal Team
Hosts & Editing: Lauren Fenton, Rina Teslica
Production team: Genevieve Porritt, Victoria Wason
Artwork: Sharon King-Chai
Music: Æ Mak - Listen on Spotify
Wider creative team: Mary Forrest, Clare Wright, Gemma Sherlock, Helen Gamble-Shields, Kathleen Javalla, Caroline MacPake, Evangelia Vasiliadou.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Update frequency
- every 11 days
- Average duration
- 58 minutes
- Episodes
- 34
- Years Active
- 2022 - 2025
Ep:12 Telling your own story with Emmett de Monterey
This week, Rina, Lauren and season one guest Gemma Sherlock, interview trained psychotherapist Emmett de Monterey on his extraordinary life and memoir ‘Go The Way Your Blood Beats.’
Diagnosed with Ce…
Ep 11: Uncertainty with Miriam Elia
In this episode, Miriam Elia shares her approach to living with the uncertainty that comes with her son’s mitochondrial and neuro-degenerative condition - Leigh Syndrome. With her characteristically …
Ep 10: Bridging the Gap - where we are with neurodiversity and where we want to be
In this episode Lauren and Rina discuss neurodiversity and how we want the world to evolve, with the team behind the play ‘Just be Normal’ - Connor Pearce and sister's Emma and Sophie Jackson. The co…
Ep 9: Undiagnosed, unseen and unheard with Jazz Manley
In this episode, Rina and Lauren talk with Jazz Manley about her experience of searching for answers and a diagnosis for her son Max. Jazz is candid, being open about her own vulnerability and mental…
Ep 8: Dualling neurodiversity with Bryony Kimmings
In the first episode of our new series Lauren and Rina speak to performer and writer Bryony Kimmings. Bryony's son Frank is autistic and two years ago, she was also diagnosed with ADHD. They talk abo…
Series 2 coming soon...
We are back! A quick hello from your hosts, Lauren and Rina to let you know that Series 2 will be coming out very soon. And what an interesting array of guests we have in store for you. Starting with…
Ep 7: Acceptance with Rina and Lauren (turning the tables on our hosts!)
It’s our series 1 finale and time to turn the tables on our hosts, as Lauren and Rina are interviewed by our first ever podcast guest, the wonderful Genevieve. They discuss their experiences of pregn…
Ep 6: Couple relationships with Clare and George
In Episode 6, we discuss couple relationships, with Clare and George, who are parents to Ada and Ivo, about the impact that having a disabled child has on their relationship. Both the highs and lows.
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Hello from your hosts and what's your F**king Normal?
We want this podcast to be about connection and building community. So please get in touch with your feedback and ideas. Please tell us what you want to hear from us... Or answer the question we have…
Ep:5 Advocacy with lawyer and SEN mother Caroline MacPake
Systems of support aren’t always automatically in place for disabled children and their families, and the world simply has not been designed for disabled people. As parents of disabled children, we h…
Ep 4: Extreme juggling with Helen Gamble-Shields
Helen’s wonderful humour combined with her raw accounts of diagnosis, epilepsy and having to be in that constant state of alert give us a deep insight into their lives. We learn a lot about the extre…
Ep 3: Relationships whilst single parenting a disabled child
In the third episode of the F**king Normal Podcast, we discuss Relationships, whilst parenting a disabled child.
Our guest is Vicky- a divorced, single-parent, domestic violence survivor and former di…
EP 2: Siblings with Gemma Sherlock and Jess Honeyball
This is another emotional, incredibly heart warming and, as always, funny as f**ck discussion. Both Gemma and Jess talk openly about their individual IVF journeys, the births, surgery, diagnosis and …
EP 1: Loneliness and raising a disabled child, with single-mum Genevieve Porritt.
Gen says ‘you can be surrounded by people but if none of those people ‘get it’ it can be incredibly isolating. The loneliest I felt was strongest when I realised, I had lost my identity, Gen had gone…