Episode details

Radio 5 Live,10 Mar 2019,49 mins
Parents accused of inventing children's illnesses
5 Live InvestigatesAvailable for over a year
The mums and dads threatened with having their disabled sons and daughters taken into care 鈥 accused of inventing or exaggerating their child鈥檚 illness. These are parents of children with conditions which are sometimes difficult to diagnose - such as autism spectrum disorder or rare inherited conditions. Some parents claim their council has used child protection concerns to delay paying for expensive care. They鈥檝e been accused of a rare form of child abuse known as Fabricating or Induced Illness (FII) also known as Munchausen鈥檚 Syndrome by proxy where a parent or carer exaggerates or deliberately causes symptoms of illness in the child. Photo credit: Deborah Faulkner
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