30. Surviving child loss and disability as a father and what workplaces can do to help with Scott Jackson

Almost half of dads keep it a secret from their boss that they have a disabled child, according to research from Scope, due to the expectations placed on them.

In July 2022, Scott Jackson launched Eddy - a network to support dads who’ve lost a child or have a child with a disability or severe mental health issues. In this episode, Scott opens up to us on the traumatic story of the loss of his child and having a child with a disability. We learn about the difficulties that Scott faced in getting support, and how this led to him launching Eddy.

As his day job, Scott is Managing Director at Through The I, a video production agency. We speak about how Scott dealt with the subsequent pressures of running a company while dealing with his grief with little support. Scott’s leadership has changed as a result of his lived experience and he also details how he’s been able to support his employees going through similar experiences and his thoughts on what more organisations should be doing.

We also speak about -

• The differences in how women are treated after the loss of a child vs. men
• The financial implications of having a disabled child
• The ways in which grief can manifest itself
• How LinkedIn is being used to open conversations on disability and loss
• The benefits of supporting staff suffering from loss
• Would Eddy have happened without Covid happening?
• What are the next steps for Eddy?

Scott’s openness on this topic is insightful and inspiring to listen to.

Listen

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Learn More

Eddy: www.eddy.network

Diversely

Diversely on LinkedIn

Connect

Scott Jackson on LinkedIn

Helen McGuire on LinkedIn

Editing by Joe Crow - The Audio Pro