Overview
- After deleting a social media clip, Louise Thompson issued a statement calling the lack of special educational needs context an oversight, which many followers condemned as a non-apology and ableist.
- The podcast team also edited the episode to cut the segment where Thompson and partner Ryan Libbey discussed reception-age children in nappies and laughed about teachers getting a “raw deal.”
- In the original discussion, Thompson said parents should teach toileting before age four and cited children struggling to eat and drink on their own, while the pair blamed modern parenting habits for delays.
- Parents and special needs advocates countered that factors like autism-related interoception issues, bowel and bladder conditions, and long NHS waits can delay toilet training, and they urged a direct apology.
- The figures the couple quoted came from Kindred Squared’s survey of primary staff in England, which estimated 26% have frequent toilet mishaps (36% in the north-east) and 28% cannot eat or drink independently, without separating disability-related cases.