Ricky Du Plessis
SEND Dad · Advocate · Author · Speaker
Helping the parents and professionals who care for children with special needs keep showing up - without burning out.Every intervention a child needs reaches them through an adult - so supporting that adult isn't a kindness; it's the delivery system for the child.
Speaking & Advocacy
I speak, write, and advocate for the most neglected people in the SEND system: the caregivers - the parents and professionals who care for children with special needs.They're central to delivering the care and interventions these children depend on, yet they carry a chronic stress burden most people never see, with little support of their own.My work sits at the intersection of lived experience and the emerging science of metabolic psychiatry – understanding how metabolic health influences mental health and resilience. Revealing how the people we depend on to care for SEND children are so often the least cared for themselves and unpacking what can actually be done to help them keep showing up.I'm available for talks, panels, podcasts, interviews, and workshops - for SEND, education, care, and wellbeing audiences, and for anyone interested in resilience, caregiving, and the link between metabolic and mental health.If you're looking for a speaker or guest who brings something genuinely under-discussed and says it with honesty rather than easy answers - I'd love to talk.
About
I had a head start most SEND caregivers never get.Before I became the father of a child with special needs, I'd spent years deep in metabolic health - I published a book about it, wrote a Substack about it, built a body of work around it, and host a podcast exploring how metabolic health influences physical and mental health.So, when my son’s complex needs emerged and the associated chronic stress hit our home (the kind that burns most caregivers out) I already knew what to do for myself - I had the tools to stay standing. I didn't break under the strain.That isn't fair. This knowledge shouldn’t be a happy accident – it should be mainstream within the SEND community and system. So, now I write, speak, and advocate to hand SEND caregivers the head start I’ve had - helping the parents and professionals who care for children with special needs leverage their metabolic health to build the anti-fragility needed to thrive, to keep showing up, and delivering for the children who depend on them - without destroying themselves in the process.This is my reality too. I'm not advocating from the outside - I'm living it.You can find my work using the link below.
Contact
Whether you're an event, a podcast, an organisation, or a parent or professional who'd just like to talk - I'd love to hear from you.
Thank you
Thank you
Your message has come through, and it means a lot. I read every one personally, and I'll be in touch soon.