Latest News for Parents & Carers

Disability Horizons is working with charity Leonard Cheshire to find out more about disabled people’s experiences with disability hate crime in the UK. Whether online or in public, they want to understand the scale of the problem, what form it most commonly takes and whether any action is ever taken against the perpetrator. Take their short survey and tell them about your experiences and make your voice heard. Leonard Cheshire will be using the results to highlight the problem and help to create change.

The Department for Education, together with Disability Rights UK have launched the Disabled Apprentice Network to gather feedback and ideas to address any issues, barriers and solutions to make apprenticeships more accessible and inclusive. Members of the group are appointed because of their personal experience and desire to champion apprenticeships for Disabled people. The group will discuss, identify and share experience, advise on key issues for Disabled apprentices, suggest solutions and support the development of practical resources and toolkits. The group meets every month for one hour. If you are a Disabled apprentice or have done an apprenticeship in the past and would like to join the network, then please contact them at getahead@disabilityrightsuk.org

John Harris, journalist & dad to an autistic teen says “Self-evidently, autistic people remain marginalised, misunderstood & far too often denied what they should have as a matter of basic entitlement”. Progress has been made, but the release of the profound film, The Reason I Jump, shows how much further we need to go.

Summer-born children are being unfairly labelled by primary schools as having special educational needs, creating needless anxiety for children and parents. Two out of five summer-born boys are categorised as having special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Among children who reached Year 6 in 2018, the study found that 26% of summer-born girls were given SEND support at some point during primary school, compared to 16% of autumn-born girls and 40% of summer-born boys received SEND help, compared to 28% of autumn-born boys. By the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), on average, some 39% of summer-born boys were ascribed a “good level of development” in the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile at the end of reception, compared to 80% of autumn-born girls.

University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust (UHDB) is looking to improve the way it manages referrals and appointments. The Patient Experience Team would like to hear your views about possible changes to the way UHDB books appointments. Please complete this short survey to share your views. This survey consists of four questions and should take only a few minutes to complete.