Ricky Du Plessis
SEND Dad · Advocate · Author · Speaker
Helping the parents and professionals who care for children with special needs keep showing up - without burning out.Every intervention a child needs reaches them through an adult - so supporting that adult isn't a kindness; it's the delivery system for the child.
Speaking & Advocacy
Why does the same relentless stress break one person and build another?
That question sits at the heart of my work - the biology of burnout and resilience, and why building capacity, not just managing stress, may be the difference between burning out and becoming anti-fragile.My work lives at the intersection of lived experience and the emerging science of metabolic psychiatry - how metabolic health shapes our capacity to withstand chronic stress. I come to it from the sharpest end: as the father of a child with complex special needs, I carry a form of chronic, inescapable stress that research places alongside combat veterans. I didn't break where most do. I arrived with an unintentional, unfair advantage, and I'm now sharing it with others who need it.I bring this to two audiences:SEND & care:
Parents, professionals and organisations supporting children with special needs, where chronic caregiver stress runs highest and is least seen.Workplaces & teams:
Leadership, HR and wellbeing audiences facing the everyday chronic stress that conventional stress management doesn't touch.Talks, keynotes, panels, podcasts, interviews and workshops.If you're looking for a speaker who brings something genuinely under-discussed and says it with honesty rather than easy answers - I'd love to talk.
About
I had a head start most SEND caregivers never get.Before I became the father of a child with special needs, I'd spent years deep in metabolic health - I published a book about it, wrote a Substack about it, built a body of work around it, and host a podcast exploring how metabolic health influences physical and mental health.So, when my son’s complex needs emerged and the associated chronic stress hit our home (the kind that burns most caregivers out) I already knew what to do for myself - I had the tools to stay standing. I didn't break under the strain.That isn't fair. This knowledge shouldn’t be a happy accident – it should be mainstream within the SEND community and system. So, now I write, speak, and advocate to hand SEND caregivers the head start I’ve had - helping the parents and professionals who care for children with special needs leverage their metabolic health to build the anti-fragility needed to thrive, to keep showing up, and delivering for the children who depend on them - without destroying themselves in the process.This is my reality too. I'm not advocating from the outside - I'm living it.You can find my work using the link below.
Contact
Whether you're an event, a podcast, an organisation, or a parent or professional who'd just like to talk - I'd love to hear from you.
Thank you
Thank you
Your message has come through, and it means a lot. I read every one personally, and I'll be in touch soon.