Latest News for Parents & Carers

See Ability’s peer-reviewed research shows that thousands of children with disabilities across the country are missing out on the eye care they need. Over four in ten pupils we have seen had no history of sight tests or eye care, and yet half of the children have a problem with their eyes or vision, and at least a third need glasses. NHS England has responded to our findings from this work by committing in their Long Term Plan to providing a fully funded eye care and glasses service to all special school students.

Area SEND inspections, which Ofsted carry out jointly with the Care Quality Commission, are set to begin again. They were paused in March 2020, owing to the impact of COVID-19. From April 2021, we will start revisiting areas where we had significant concerns about SEND provision when we last inspected them. When we select local areas for re-visits, we will take into account the time that has lapsed since each local area was required to produce a written statement of action. The areas will be given 10 working days’ notice ahead of a re-visit.

A look at the Nutrition and Wellbeing Project launched by learning disability charity Dimensions that aims to improve health outcomes for people with a learning disability and autism through nutrition. Specifically, people with a learning disability are also more likely to have problems maintaining a healthy weight. This is one of the reasons why learning disability charity Dimensions launched its Nutrition and Wellbeing Project aimed at improving health outcomes through nutrition.

Fighting the stigma of autism is already an uphill battle, but it can be extra hard when you’re part of a minority group, writes Venessa Bob.

Autistic boy’s lockdown quotes turned into art. Woody is only eight years old but he has a lot to say about lockdown. He was diagnosed with autism when he was three and the condition has given him a unique viewpoint on the world. His dad Sonny is now turning his son’s poetic observations into art to raise money for an autism charity.