My Parents has Cancer Social Story

Identify sadness, anger, and fear as normal reactions to a parent's cancer diagnosis.

Name at least one coping strategy for difficult feelings, such as talking to a trusted adult or keeping a feelings diary.

Recognize expected physical changes in a parent during cancer treatment, such as fatigue, nausea, or hair loss, as effects of medicine rather than something to fear.

Choose the version that fits the child's family — Dad, Mom or Mum — as the story text is otherwise the same in all three.

Read one page at a time and pause to talk through the child's own feelings before moving on, since each page introduces a single idea.

Identify a specific trusted adult in advance (school counsellor, relative) that the story's own suggestion to 'talk to a grown up' can point the child toward.

Emotional vocabulary — the story models naming sad, angry, and scared feelings connected to a parent's illness, page by page.

Coping-strategy application — the story suggests specific actions (talking to an adult, journaling, a hug) a child can use when overwhelmed.

Perspective-taking — reassurance pages help the child understand a parent's changed appearance or energy without losing the sense that the parent is still the same person.