Back to Transition Matters

I`m sorry I do get rather distracted by current news items related to disabilities and there have been quite a lot in these first few weeks of 2012 ,but on the other hand do feel items are relevant to the bigger picture ,but lets get back to Transition Matters :)
So we have established that Transition starts at the age of 14 years."Person Centred Planning" with the young adult being centre stage is present with teachers and school staff , parents and carers and with social services and they all have regular meetings together to discuss options available for the young person.
When we started proceedings our local council didn`t have a Transition Officer in post ,I would like to think councils are more in touch now a days .It is very important that someone from the council is present at meetings because this will be vital to financial support in the future.
It`s also imperative to make this experience of transition a very" positive experience "even though sometimes it may seem otherwise.
Always remember "one size dosn`t fit all " and you may feel that council run day care centres aren`t suitable for your needs ,sometimes organisations like Scope can provide day care but this may mean that there might be only enough money in your financial pot for say 3 days care not 5 ,this is what happened in our case but I was able to work around this.
So we have now established that there are 3 options open to us
1) Council run daycare centres
2) Organisation run daycare centres
3) Direct Payments to employ your own P.A

I hope you feel less daunted now and are feeling more positive about options.

Soap Box

This morning on TV programme "Saints & Sinners " my heart went out to a family who not only have one child with severe disabilities but two.The thing that caught my attention was about wheelchair provision ; or lack of it.I think it is appalling how the wheelchair service thinks that a set amount of money will cover everyone`s needs for a wheelchair.From my own personal experience I know that with extreme disabilities comes elaborate and specially designed wheelchairs and these come with an extreme price tag.The strain of looking after anyone with special needs is high, but to have the added stress of approaching charities to put your case forward to have help to finance purpose designed forms of mobility which will give the disabled person a lease of independence is extremely tough.
The wheelchair service will give vouchers to the value of a basic wheelchair but you must find a source to get the difference yourself, thank goodness for the Internet which is a great help with this task of searching for such organisations.
Then on this evenings local news came the plight of parents who have raised £50,000 for their child to go abroad to have a life changing operation.Families of disabled children have enough stress and trauma in their lives just with every day living never mind having to raise money to make their children's lives better.I hope this trend will be reversed in my life time.
I am now getting of my "soap box " !!

Over charging in the news !!

Once again services for adults with learning difficulties is in the news , getting to be quite a habit lately !!
This time one of our neighbouring councils has been on local television news for over charging for services such as" help with dressing " for adults with learning difficulties.
It was first raised with the council concerned in 2001 by a " whisleblower " employee.
The council said everything was being done to improve services and the council accept serious failings.The council made a £244000.00 payout after admitting the findings for overcharging since 2000.
Recommendations have since been put into place such as weekly monitoring,new social work supervision policy and new safe guarding policy.
But to me this highlights that with carers being in charge of their own budgets such as direct payments ,you need to do your homework and know what you are being charged for and how much.There isn`t an across the board example as every council will be different on what they provide so you do need to check with your authority.

Care in the Community

 I think the issue of care for the elderly and disabled in our community is going to be a "hot potato " topic in 2012.
There needs to be a big reform of how families can be helped and with issues being in the news again today hopefully this is on the horizon.
I have today looked on the BBC news web page and was struck by this comment left by a reader :-

 "We need a radical re-think of how we, as a state, we meet our duty of care to those citizens in need of support. We have many experts who know how to deliver quality social care & support to those unable (through age or disability) to look after themselves. Politicians should take a back seat in the decision about how it's done, their job is to administer our money to pay for it."

I think this comment will strike a cord with many readers,I for one will be watching the news with interest !!