When Cherie and Darren Forrest moved into a council house, it suited them and their three children. However, a decade later, the family has expanded and the ten members are now “living on top of each other”. As a result, they have taken drastic measures to fit. For example, they have taken the hinges off the doors in one of the bedrooms to make enough room for beds. Additionally, their autistic son is forced to live in a cupboard. However, the family has been on a waiting list for a larger home for the past three years.
So Little Space, the Son Has to Live in a Cupboard
“It’s difficult when there’s 10 of you in one little house because you’re always tripping over each other,” Cherie explained. “We’ve got my three youngest daughters sleeping in my room. The little one in the bed with me and the others in their own bed.”
The parents had to take drastic measures to create a private space for their son with autism. He had no choice but to live in a cupboard. “My son has to have his own room because he’s autistic and he can’t have his brother touching his stuff. His room used to be a cupboard room but we had to turn it into a bedroom and take the door off to fit the bed in.”
Additionally, their oldest daughter needs her own space because of her epilepsy, but there’s no room, not even a cupboard, for her. “The three older girls are in a room together but my oldest daughter who’s 16 has epilepsy so she needs her own space. Sometimes she’ll have seizures in the night and we have to call an ambulance out which then wakes the others up, which isn’t ideal.”
She added, “My other son is sleeping downstairs with his dad. We have to sleep separately because there just isn’t enough room.”
Sleeping conditions aside, it’s hard to live in such a tight space, especially for the three daughters sharing one room.”If the other two want to play in their bedroom it’s difficult because the older one is trying to do her coursework.