Still Becoming

Still Becoming is a raw, honest memoir about growing up in care and learning what safety actually means. Removed from an unsafe home at the age of three, D Simpson grew up navigating anger, instability, and the long process of learning how to trust adults who stayed. He doesn’t dress the past up or soften it for comfort. When things kicked off, they got messy.

And when care was done right, it wasn’t loud or flashy. It was consistent, fair, and present. Written from lived experience, Still Becoming explores childhood trauma, behaviour, and identity without turning pain into a performance. It looks at how anger becomes a survival tool, how stability feels unfamiliar when you’ve never had it, and how growing up in care can leave you feeling permanently behind even when you’re moving forward.

Now working in adult social care and pursuing a future in teaching health and social care, Simpson connects his early experiences to the realities of care work, education, and accountability. He writes plainly, directly, and without sugar-coating shit, because clarity matters more than comfort. This audiobook is for: care leavers people who grew up in unstable homes those working in care and education anyone who has ever felt misunderstood, behind, or shaped by things they didn’t choose Still Becoming isn’t about being fixed or finished. It’s about learning, growing, and carrying the past differently.