Talking about eating disorders at my son's old school this afternoon

If anyone had said to me a couple of years ago that I would be looking forward to doing a talk on anything, let alone a talk on eating disorders, I'd have said they were mad! But, strangely, since the eating disorders talk for parents and carers which I did at the Institute of Psychiatry the other year and the similar talk I did earlier this year in Edinburgh, I've discovered that giving talks on eating disorders gives me quite a buzz! How odd is that?! Especially for someone that's inherently shy! It's like some actors, I guess, who transform once in front of the footlights.


So this afternoon I've put together a 50-minute talk for school staff / teachers, primarily about anorexia (as that's what my son had) with specific reference to boys with eating disorders.

The talk is in 3 parts: an introduction to eating disorders (primarily anorexia), myths, facts, etc; our story and how the school helped make things easier for us as a family; and finally some strategies that staff might wish to adopt, with reference to the BRILLIANT and INFORMATIVE NEDA (National Eating Disorders Association) Educator Toolkit booklet. Accompanied by my PowerPoint presentation.