Higher food and energy bills, concerns about the lack of interaction their youngsters have with friends out of school and worries their little ones will always be at a disadvantage are just some of the challenges facing parents of disabled or seriously ill children

A study of 1,000 parents of four- to 11-year-olds who aren’t disabled and 1,000 parents with at least one child who is disabled found the latter also spend an extra £111 a month on food than those with non-disabled children.
Parents without disabled or seriously ill children spend £239 a month on food for their family – compared to £350 for those with disabled children.
A further £181 is spent on energy bills for a household without disabled children, while their cost increases to £212.
It also emerged three in 10 parents with a disabled child never feel able to invite friends around for meals, compared to other parents who do this once a month.
And dining out can be challenging, with families with non-disabled children doing so twice a month, but those with disabled children dinning out once.
The research was commissioned by McCain and charity Family Fund, to launch its new six part podcast with Paddy and Christine McGuinness, Table Talk with Paddy and Christine, which aims to raise better awareness of life for families raising a disabled or seriously ill child.
It also found half of parents raising disabled children want to eat more meals together as a family as they believe it helps communication, with almost two thirds considering mealtimes together as ‘important’.
While 43 per cent of parents with disabled or seriously ill children find it ‘very difficult’ to get their youngster to eat a variety of foods.
Paddy McGuinness said: “I’m so excited to be launching my first podcast, as many people have seen, myself and Christine are on a journey of learning about autism and other disabilities.
“Listening to other families and hearing their important stories has made me realise how vital it is to properly highlight the real issues that families across the UK face.”
Christine McGuinness said: “The Table Talk podcast