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 matches the family's situation and spelling convention — Dad, Mom, or the UK-spelling Mum — the underlying story text is otherwise identical across 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 counselor, 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.