5 Ways to Help Kids Cope with a Parent’s ALS

One of my biggest concerns is how my husband’s ALS will affect our children. They were both under 5 when Todd was diagnosed and while they are growing up, their father continues to lose strength.

A couple of years into the disease, I was fastening Todd’s seat belt as our 3-year-old son was buckling himself into his car seat. Isaac casually said, “Daddy’s getting littler. Sara and I are getting bigger.” I glanced at Todd, who hadn’t lost any weight, and we both knew Isaac was talking about Todd’s loss of function.

It can be traumatic for a kid to witness the brutal reality of what ALS does to a parent: falling and getting a bloodied face, choking at the dinner table, or struggling to take a final breath. And then the child has to survive life after the parent’s death.

Oxford Biodynamics PLC (LON:OBD) was spun out from Oxford University in June 2007 with the aim of translating fundamental scientific advances into a commercialised platform technology and a new generation of biomarkers for cancer, ALS and other diseases.

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