Victoria Lewin is currently working on a book series for schools in the UK called, "Who Cares for Us?" She is compiling contributions from young carers and their families all over the world. It's covering young carers awareness, disability awareness, and anti-bullying awareness. The first book in the series is due to be published n 2019.

THE DEFINITION OF YOUNG CARER (from carers.org) IS: A young carer is someone aged 18 or under who helps look after a relative with a disability, illness, mental health condition, or drug or alcohol problem. If you're a young carer, you probably look after one of your parents, or care for a brother or sister. You can find more information about Young Carers at the Carer's Trust website Victoria mentioned: https://carers.org

Some things we talked about:

• Keep the dialogue open with your children so if they're having problems, you can help.
• Cognitive behavioral therapy can be very helpful if they're struggling.
• Let yourself off the hook, it's OK not to get everything done.
• It's OK not to be OK.
• Don't push yourself to do things that overwhelm you.
• Make peace with doing one thing a day if you need to. 
• It's ok to allow yourself a TV day, and relax with your child when you need to.

What can a child do if they need support? Victoria has compiled a list of resources on her website:

• https://victoria-lewin.com/where-can-i-get-support/
• Go to https://carers.org
• There are groups on social media where carers can connect together.

Are you a teacher looking for resources for children who are carers? Those resources can help you too!

The universal message in Victoria's book, Caitlyn's Wish: "Look for the positives in difficult situations, overcome adversity, don't let disability define you, don't let things stop you you might have to do it a different way, but keep going."

  Victoria's advice to moms: Let yourself off the hook, roll with whatever the day brings, and make sure that your kids know how much you love and appreciate them. And fill yourself with love. Victoria's Superpower: Inspire people to overcome their adversity & to make a difference to young carers.

You can Discover Victoria Lewin: https://victoria-lewin.com

You can purchase Victoria's book, "Caitlyn's Wish" on Amazon 

QUOTES FROM VICTORIA LEWIN:

• "It's ok not to be ok"
• "It’s Caitlin’s Wish that someday all Young Carers will be treated with the respect, compassion, and understanding that they truly deserve – no matter where they live in the world."
• "Look for the positives in difficult situations, overcome adversity, don't let disability define you, don't let things stop you you might have to do it a different way, but keep going."
• Victoria recounting a conversaition with a neuropsychologist, "It's the children whose parents try to shield them from everything, who end up in our chairs as adults. Because when you're trying to shield them, what you're actually doing is allowing their worries to metamorphosize into these horrific stories in their minds, when the truth is probably nothing like what they're imagining."

STATISTICS:

According to Carers Trust: How many young carers are there in the UK?

• There are about 700,000 young carers in the UK. That’s about one in 12 secondary aged pupils. There