“Dash Defeats the Cloak of Fa-teeg”

We’re delighted to share a wonderful resource developed to support children and their families in understanding one of the most common, yet often invisible, effects of childhood acquired brain injury (ABI): fatigue. 

“Dash Defeats the Cloak of Fa-teeg” is a childhood storybook written by specialist Brain Injury Case Manager and former Acquired Brain Injury Ireland On With Life team member, Kathleen Brennan.  

This beautifully illustrated storybook teaches children about ABI as experienced through the eyes of a young wolf cub, Dash. As Dash navigates his world, he learns to understand and manage his fatigue, a mysterious “cloak” that makes everything feel heavier, slower, and more difficult. 

This story offers an accessible way to explore what fatigue can feel like after childhood ABI, helping to give language to an experience that many children struggle to explain.

It can be a powerful tool for:

• Children and young people living with fatigue post-childhood ABI.

• Siblings and peers seeking to understand what their friend or family member is going through.

• Teachers and SNAs supporting a child or young person with an ABI in the classroom.

• Wider family members who want to learn more about fatigue after childhood ABI.

• Children whose parents have had an ABI.

This beautiful resource helps children and those around them make sense of the impact of fatigue after ABI. Whether read aloud in a classroom, shared at home, or explored one-to-one, this book opens up space for conversation, understanding and support.

This resource was created in collaboration with our On With Life programme for parents and carers of children and young people with an ABI under the age of 18. This programme is available nationwide and is free to join. Through this programme parents, carers and family members can avail of education, holistic offerings and valuable peer support.

For more information about our supports for those living with or caring for a child or young person with an acquired brain injury, click here.