Latest News for Parents & Carers

Employers are reporting more, and more varied, emotional support animals in workplaces. The only problem Kathy has encountered taking her emotional support rabbit into work is when a new colleague wanted to bring in her emotional support dog.

A man has said A&E departments are “unbearable” and “terrifying” for his autistic son due to the overwhelming sensory environment they create. Robert Cummings, 49, from Merthyr Tydfil, has spent many “stressful” hours in hospital with his six-year-old son Ellis, who becomes distressed by the “bright lights, loud noises, and unfamiliar faces”.

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall has refused to apologise after repeatedly misleading MPs by suggesting that her planned cuts of billions of pounds to personal independence payment (PIP) were linked to supporting disabled people into work.

At least 240 internal reviews have been launched since 2020 into cases of serious harm where there has been an allegation that the DWP’s actions may have contributed to a person’s death or harm, the report found. The Department for Work and Pensions requires “deep-rooted culture change” to prevent more deaths of vulnerable benefit claimants, MPs have said.

More than 60,000 disabled households in England faced homelessness last year, an increase of nearly 75% since 2019, official figures show. Analysis of government data by the homelessness charity Crisis also shows the amount of social housing given to disabled people has gone down.