Harvey and me

hetty how do you know she feeds the kids takeaways and never cleans the house
If you saw that programme last night the children were helping make the main meal and even had Harvey cutting some bits up the little girl Bunny was very encouraging of him and I don’t in any way believe that was put on for the programme They all seemed encouraging and kind and loving to him that can’t be made up with small children

Surely you can separate her unenvied mistake laden lifestyle with her love and care of her children

While it's great to see the love and concern for her son, surely, that's what we'd expect of any mother, isn't it?

Not necessarily Hetty, not all mothers are devoted and look after their children.
What about fathers? Should they not have a part to play too? This father did nothing, he's the one who should be ashamed.

I bet if Harvey had not been disabled, had turned out to be a brilliant footballer, signed up by a Premier League team, he'd have been there like a shot, proud of 'his boy' having done nothing towards his upbringing.

Fathers like that, leaving mothers to cope, make me very angry.

Well done, Katie.

JaneJudge, I've not seen or made any nasty comments about Harvey at all. Where are they?

agree with Bluebelle above.

Hetty58

Do you think the Keith Lemon clip of Through the Keyhole is real? Do you really think that was the inside of her house?

She really was cracking looking though wasn’t she? Since then she’s mucked about with plastic surgery a bit too much (expensive too I’ll bet) and spoiled her appearance somewhat. She looks a bit ‘harder’ nowadays.

That said, I think she has a heart of gold but I agree with others upthread that she herself is somewhere ‘on the spectrum’. She seems very needy of attention - good or bad, but I’ve always liked her.

With her celeb lifestyle she’s no typical mum - hence her other four children mostly being brought up by their fathers I suppose.

I’m going to watch the programme now on catch up. I expect I shall end up liking her even more!

My deep respect goes to my neighbours, who work hard and care for their severely autistic, non-verbal teenager (with carer assistance, of course, impossible otherwise) and her brother.

They found the programme 'laughable', displaying a carefully selected 'reality' - yet useful to highlight the difficult choices parents have to make.

I've no respect for a 'doting' mother who jets off on holiday to 'try for another baby' as soon as her son comes out of ICU.

A mother who sees her other kids only at weekends (and not at all for six weeks) during lockdown.

Having been in the Priory, she was drug tested to prove she was fit to look after them. Nice!

Oh do give it a rest!

You may have a neighbour who has a son with autism but you really don't have any direct experience or a clue do you!!

You do seem to know an awful lot about her though Hetty58!

Autism is just one of the very difficult and complex problems this young man has - and he has only one parent who has faced up to the responsibilities of looking after him, while also having to earn her living.

Rather like the Kardashians, Katy Price has made her life and lifestyle her career and needs to constantly reinvent herself to keep earning. Generally she has done it very well. Unfortunately life has unravelled for her recently, I wish her well and hope she is soon securely on her feet again.

The love KP has for her son Harvey is indisputable. The sweetness between 6y old Bunny and Harvey was endearing and it was lovely to see the group of them all helping to prepare their pasta dinner at the end.

I’m sure the programme had been edited to show Harvey in his best light - after all KP is hoping for upwards of £300,000 p.a. from her own council to fund his fully residential care in another area. - and she will know their decision in March apparently.

I did skim read an article in a newspaper today where KP had said she didn’t want Harvey’s anxiety-fuelled more aggressive episodes shown on screen as those don’t ‘define Harvey’.

His needs are so very complex. KP obviously loves him but doesn’t live with him - apart from weekends. In between times she gets chance to recharge her batteries and live her own life, unencumbered by the day-to-day sheer exhaustion that dealing with a boy like Harvey must entail. But who could?

He doesn’t sleep nights, he wails so loud the neighbours can hear him. Caring for Harvey must by definition be a team effort. He is pretty much the only boy in the UK (said so in the programme) with so many aspects of autism - Prader-Willi syndrome and much else.

Hats off to KP I say. She’s doing her best. With help, of course. x

Oh, wake up, for Heaven's sake, he doesn't even live with her. He lives across the road with carers!

Casdon

You do seem to know an awful lot about her though Hetty58!

Indeed.

Why invest so much time finding out o much about someone you don't know and fulminating about them!

What? Even at weekends Hetty58? He seemed to be changing his bedding & showering at home with mummy.

Oh dear, yes, I know too much - as I know someone who was involved with the (carefully constructed) media image. Remember, we can project any image we like. Reality is another thing entirely!

I saw KP in a different way too last night , the love she has for Harvey showed through all the time, when he was having a bit of a meltdown she was able to control him by saying look at Mummy. Give me a hug”. It worked every time, Also she had brought him up to be polite and the number of times he said Thankyou showed , I have been critical of KP in the past I admit , but how many of us could deal with Harvey when he is at home he is big and strong , he may have lashed out at KP , give her credit for being a good Mum in very difficult circumstance ,
I hope she finds the right college for him too be happy in ,

Yet you seemed to have nothing to say about his father who has nothing to do with him.
I have spent my career working with children with additional needs, a number of the children I have worked with have been in some form of residential care from their early teenage years. Their families have heard the phrase 'doesnt even live with them' throughout their lives, and have learnt just to ignore that judgement.

hetty you have a problem, so much vitriol isn’t a nice thing to see If you have so much inside information perhaps you need to share your source (without names of course) otherwise I ll take it as it comes into my room
Of course tv can be totally doctored to look different to real life none of us are stupid people, but you cant doctor a child with Harvey’s complexity to be kind, loving and polite, just as his fear, moods and upsets can’t be doctored.
He s not an actor
I believe he has had some very dangerous outbreaks which his mother didn’t want shown Would you really deny her the help she’s getting
Could you do better?

BlueBelle, to be clear, I have no problem with Harvey at all. I haven't criticised him - or his care.

I do find it quite appalling, though, that his mother is suddenly deemed saint-like, candidate for 'mother of the year' for her obvious (very normal) love and concern for him.

It's quite strange, considering that she doesn't look after any of her children - except maybe at weekends.

Hetty, None of the posters are describing KP as a saint, or ‘mother of the year’. Her lifestyle, personality and substance abuse are all acknowledged on this thread. What does come through clearly is recognition KP has difficulties, makes some bad choices, as a result most of her children live much of the time with their fathers.
She’s always tried to use her ‘celebrity’ to highlight the needs of children with complex needs. To sneer at her says more about those looking down on her.

I heard KP on Woman’s Hour saying she agreed to the documentary to highlight the problems that all parents with SN children have battling to get appropriate care for their children, and the documentary wasn’t about her but about Harvey and getting care for him. Ok maybe Mrs Nobody down the road has similar problems but doesn’t get a mention, so surely someone with a high public profile, for whatever reason, using that status to illustrate problems that many parents share, is worthwhile?

vegansrock, yes, it's worthwhile for that reason, definitely, but there wasn't enough detail in there.

I've taught SEN children. They are (under)funded for education up until the age of 25. Often, then, there's another big upheaval as they move into residential care.

Choosing college placements for them is, like choosing schools, fraught with similar difficulties. Of course, in practice, the schools/colleges actually choose the students that they can cater for.

Then, cash-strapped local authorities have the final say by either providing funding - or an alternative placement deemed 'suitable'.

As with elderly care homes, what a LA decides is perfectly adequate can come as quite a shock. I do hope Harvey gets into the Cheltenham one.

The main issue for l.a’s remains funding. Limited resources and decisions to be made about who gets what. KP is highlighting this and it’s possible, other parents may be informed and empowered by her publicising how hard it is.

Harvey may live apart from his mum during the week but there is such a clear loving bond between them that must have taken years of nurturing to create.

A number of children with additional needs live apart from their families during the week, or have some form of residential support. It's not unusual and is absolutely no reflection on the love, commitment or care of those parents.