In this episode British Paralympic, World Championships and European Championships gold medalist Susie Rodgers MBE shares her story, to flip the idea of disability and instead build a narrative of the extraordinary abilities of disabled people, and those with additional needs. Helping families understand the potential mental health impact of misconceptions around disability and how to find and celebrate their disabled children’s extraordinary potential, with a focus on protecting their mental health and supporting them as they face any number of challenges to that good health. Susie Rodgers MBE is a successful former professional Paralympic swimmer who competed at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, winning six medals across both Games including gold (50m Butterfly in Rio) and 5 bronze medals. In total, Susie has won 30 international medals throughout her career at all levels, including 17 gold. She still holds a number of European records in her class in Para-swimming nearly a decade later. Susie has a First-Class honors from Newcastle University in Modern Languages, holds a postgraduate diploma from the Financial Times in Non-Executive Director leadership and studied a course on leadership at IESE business school in Spain, recently completing courses in sustainability at Stanford in 2020 and in global leadership at Harvard Kennedy School in 2021. Susie is an expert adviser for global clients on disability inclusion and currently works for the UK Government in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office as a Technical Adviser on Disability Inclusion, working in both economic development and global health programs. Susie has been advising on a number of projects of over £4bn investments in aid spending across the world, pioneering new designs, thinking and strategy around ensuring the most vulnerable are not left behind in overseas development assistance spending. She has worked as a consultant in disability inclusion over several years in addition to her career in sport and is an expert panel member of the Global Disability Advisory Panel at the British Council, which operates in over 100 offices globally. Susie is a sought-after public speaker, podcast guest and has hosted and spoken on panels as well as individually at events including at Davos, schools around the world, NGOs, gender diversity conferences (SHE conference), universities, businesses and events in both the public and private sectors. She is an experienced non-executive director, currently sitting on two boards in the UK including a technology start-up in prosthetics, Open Bionics and is currently Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Panel at Spirit of 2012, the London 2012 legacy charity, which funds projects promoting wellbeing in communities through social cohesion, volunteering, the arts and physical activity across the UK. She is a patron of various charities and an ocean ambassador for the Marine Conservation Society and recently created paintings of marine life in acrylic which have been sold as prints to raise money for UK marine conservation efforts. Her interests and expertise include diversity and inclusion, raising awareness globally around disability, empowerment for all and ocean conservation. She is passionate about education, cultural exchange and collaborative working. She was awarded an MBE (2017) for services to Paralympic sport by Her Majesty the Queen. To continue the conversation, click here to join the Parenting Community.