Latest News for Parents & Carers

Dr Sophie Jackson from the University of Derby is looking for individuals who have a Autism and/or ADHD, or who have a family member with a diagnosis of Autism and/or ADHD who would be happy to feature as an interviewee on some videos she is creating. These videos will be used for teaching purposes on the module Autism and ADHD which Sophie runs at the University. Sophie is really keen to include the “autistic voice” in her teaching and the idea is to show what autism and ADHD are really like and how people’s experiences may differ. Interested? Please email: jackson@derby.ac.uk

A man has been speaking about how he became the first person to run the London Marathon using a frame runner. Matthew Humphreys, from Swadlincote in Derbyshire, has been running since he was 13 and now wants to encourage other people with disabilities to take up frame running. The 22-year-old has quadriplegic dystonia following a brain injury he sustained at the age of 10.

The admission from a DWP civil servant is the first time that anyone from the department has explicitly stated that it has plans to scrap PIP and combine it with universal credit. DWP has confirmed that the comments were made but it insisted that they came from a junior member of staff during a private training session and were not representative of the department’s views. The DWP was looking at rolling PIP into universal credit from 2028 at the earliest, and that the ultimate plan was for there to be just one benefit, universal credit.

Autism campaigners and charities have said it is “brilliant that more and more people in the public eye” are talking openly about being diagnosed as adults. It comes after the TV presenter Melanie Sykes confirmed she has been diagnosed with the developmental condition at the age of 51. Christine McGuinness, 33, the wife of Top Gear star Paddy, said on Monday she has also been diagnosed as autistic. They have helped focus attention on autism, which affects around one in 100 people – some 700,000 in total – in the UK, according to the National Autistic Society.

Two specialist Covid vaccination clinics for people with learning disabilities are to be held in Leicestershire. Local health bosses said the sessions would provide a calm environment, longer appointment times and extra support. Pre-booked visitors can receive their first, second or booster jabs. They will take place at Loughborough Hospital later and at Leicester’s Peepul Centre on 15 December.