The journey, grief and joy of parenting a child with complex needs with Anna Pawlowicz

About this episode

Anna Pawlowicz's life looked like so many others: a fulfilling career, a happy family, one son at home and another on the way. Then her second son, Matias, was born with an ultra-rare genetic condition causing lifelong disability, followed later by an autism diagnosis. Everything changed.

Anna quickly learned that parenting a child with complex needs reshapes every corner of your life: your identity, your marriage, your friendships, your career. She became case manager, researcher, advocate and round-the-clock caregiver — while somehow still showing up professionally. It's a form of invisible labor that transforms everything.

But Anna's journey didn't stop there. It became a profound reckoning with her own fears about disability and the deep stigma it holds in society. That transformation led her to found HumanKind, a Copenhagen-based consultancy redefining what inclusion actually means, not just for disabled employees, but for the growing community of parents navigating life with children who have additional needs.

In this episode, we explore what it really means to parent a child with complex needs, how that experience reshapes everything, and why this rising generation of parents is forcing workplaces to reckon with a community they've long overlooked.

I’m so honoured to have Anna here today to share her story. If you’re raising a family with additional needs, or simply want to better understand the reality of people who are, this episode is for you.

Some links and resources from Anna that we mention in the episode:

1) Instagram profiles of content creators educating about disability in a fun and approachable way:

Emily Ladau - @emilyladau
Tina Friml - @tinafriml
Nina Tame - @nina_tame
Gem Turner - @gem_turner

2) Reading

For parents on a similar journey:

‘Special’ - book by Melanie Dimmitt
‘Welcome to Holland’ - an essay by Emily Perl Kingsley, written for new parents of children with disabilities.

https://www.angelmantoday.com/welcome-to-holland-by-emily-perl-kingsley/

For those wanting to learn more about how to be an ally to people with disabilities:

‘Demystifying disability’ - book by Emily Lady
‘Sitting Pretty’ - book by Rebekah Taussig

And Anna's LinkedIn for anyone who’d like to connect - her DMs are always open:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/annapawlowicz/