School Leaders With Disabilities: ‘It’s Important to Share That You’re Not Alone’

My own experience of the education system was around 60 years ago and it was in the UK, but from what I hear, it is much the same now and maybe worse when it comes to performance and disabilities.

In many instances the system is ‘one fits all’, whereas children, as are all of us, individual beings with our own distinct ways, so one fits all is not suitable.

Teachers, and I am not blaming, for it is the system tend to assume we are all the same and plan their lessons structures accordingly. So, when a student appears to be underperforming it is assumed that it is not the fault of the system, but the student, when, in reality, it could well be the system. Another factor is finance for like most areas in the UK there are great degrees of underfunding.

So, it is hardly ever, that other factors will be considered, is the current teaching appropriate, for some students will need more than others, and more importantly why do some need more input.

If a disability is visible then, that maybe considered, but not always, but when it is invisible disabilities, it will not be, for it is more than likely unknown.

But, whose responsibility is it to discover the invisible disabilities, well in effect it is everyone the student comes into contact with, but parents may not have the knowledge, especially if it is not already known to be there with other family members.

There is the family GP, but as much of a diagnosis is by way of communication to the GP by the child and their parents, if they are not aware, then how can they mention it.

So, the next area of regular contact is the school and especially the student’s teachers, but they are not necessarily looking for invisible disabilities, when it could be said that they should be, but is the possibility of invisible disabilities within the training of being a teacher, I fear not.

So, it is more than likely that the system is mostly to blame, and therefore these students are receiving a disservice which should not be so.

The system needs to change, and this has to be done in all areas, in the training of teachers, in teachers’ appraisals, more education of families and GPs. So, when a student is seeming to be failing, it may, most likely not be down to student attitude in not wishing to learn, but many other factors with invisible disabilities being one, but could well be that they are a young carer, family situation is not good for the student and many others.

Students have rights and these should be adhered to and blaming them should be a last resort, if at all and not the first, which the system dictates to.

 

Source: School Leaders With Disabilities: ‘It’s Important to Share That You’re Not Alone’

I’m BANNED from buying my council flat because it was adapted for my disability – no one told me it’d be a problem | The Sun

A DAD-of-two claims he is banned from buying his council flat because it was adapted for his disability. Antony Carter, who has cerebral palsy, had the bathroom in his South London studio converted…

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This is so disgraceful and so discriminatory for why should an adapted property not be included, as it is more likely a person will stay much longer in an adapted property for themselves, as to a person who does not need any adaptations. so, I would like to be advised for the reasoning for this.

It is not as though adaptions will not be made in owner occupied properties, as they will be, but in owner occupied properties adaptions will be made, but any servicing and repairs costs could have to be borne by the occupant, especially after the warranty period, which is more than likely 5 years. Again even that is discriminatory as for rented property these costs are borne by the local authority for the period they are in the property and being used.

Why should an owner occupier have more costs than a renter and why should they not be allowed to apply to own the property after adaptions have been made,

This is, yet again, more discrimination on persons with disabilities.

Also, as there was this restriction at the time the adaptions were made, then it should have been that the Antony Carter was made aware of the restrictions before the decision to have the adaptations done.

Here, I feel Antony Carter as a claim against Lewisham Council for their inability to fully advise him and keep him informed. Surely, Lewisham or any authority has a Duty to do so.

Rights of persons with disabilities are no where as many as there should be and where there Rights many councils are failing to uphold these Rights, either through ignorance or in some instances deliberately hoping the person will not know their rights or if they do, not exercise them.

Even when people are aware that their Rights have not been adhered to there is an inability to take action due to the restrictions on obtaining Legal Aid due to Government interventions, thereby restricting peoples rights even further on persons who don’t have the ability by finance to take actions.

Thus increasing the gap between haves and have nots, making availability of legal assistance restrictive and not available to all persons, so restricting equality.

 

 

Source: I’m BANNED from buying my council flat because it was adapted for my disability – no one told me it’d be a problem | The Sun

My baby was taken into care – then murdered – BBC News

Laura Corkill’s son Leiland-James was put in care from birth – and killed by the woman who wanted to adopt him.

============================================It is my belief this is not the full story, but not sure from whom.

Laura’s past has certainly been very troubled, but it appears due to an abusive partner and not Laura, but it appears all the blame is being heaped on Laura, with insufficient understanding and maybe a willingness not to from Cumbria County Council.

Yes, Cumbria County Council have a ‘Duty of Care’ for baby Leiland-James, but, also for Laura and from what is said in the article insufficient Duty of Care for Laura has been seen.

Councils are dammed if they do and if they don’t and hindsight could show things could have been done differently. Unfortunately, all councils ate overburdened with work a severe insufficiency of social workers and certainly funding, which is done to this Government and many previous Government.

But, from the initial social worker, it appears Laura was lead to believe that she would be allowed to care for her new baby, with the support of Aishea Drysder, from Women Out West. Also both Laura and Aishea were not informed of any changes or developments by Cumbria CC.

There is no mention of any multi Agency reviews and so it appears these changes were down to the second appointed social worker and there is no mention why the case was taken away from the initial social worker.

This complete lack of communication is extremely deplorable, and is a reason why social services are viewed in a ‘poor light’.

This case and the decisions made is even more debateable when this is taken into account ‘It was 2019, and over the following year, she would try to get him back. But just days after his first birthday, the woman – who social workers had placed him with – murdered him.’

So, it appears that baby Leiland-James was not fully safeguarded and with hindsight, it could well have been better to allow Laura to look after baby Leiland-James with the support in place.

Both baby Leiland-James and Laura have been severely let down by Cumbria CC and also Aishea from Women Out West to some extent.

Laura wasn’t involved in the subsequent murder trial and she wasn’t involved in Cumbria County Council’s review into his death, it is no wonder that she feels silenced. Having her first children taken from her, then her new baby Leiland-James and not being kept informed of subsequent events will be completely devastating to Laura and could well cause some major mental problems for some time, if not ever.

Her trust, if ever there will be no longer there re Cumbria CC, but do they care, we will never know.

There is the severe underfunding issue, severe deficiency of social workers leading to those there being so over worked and under great pressures themselves, but that should never be used as an excuse for measures taken and not taken as Duty of Care should supersede these and they have their duty to adhere to.

It is now too late to right the wrongs which occurred to Laura and baby Leiland-James, but not to ensure Laura is being well looked after, however how long belatedly.

Cumbria CC need to acknowledge their own accountability in this, but so does this Government as services can’t be conducted on ‘shoestring budgets’ which this Government is asking all Councils to do and not only Councils.

So Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss what have you to say. I would have said Boris also, but who cares about Boris, except for Boris and perhaps his wife Carrie.

 

Source: My baby was taken into care – then murdered – BBC News

Disabled People Feel Priced Out Of Existence By Rising Cost Of Living

This Government and many previous Governments by their actions and even inactions, show that they do not care about disabled people, no matter what they say, as actions speak louder than words.

There are many problems which disabled people have to encounter and many are not covered by current legislation being the Equality Act 2010, https://www.facebook.com/southyorkshirepolice/photos/a.468321323096/10157791280883097/?__cft__%5B0%5D=AZUvaZGGRgKIYwsGr3ciNtRap9atuI4gfcbANohWzkgLCVYdeMbWNGtlCwTOzLhG5BPmNaVUlOVyeKqUfhjgzqDsMwQmwYxDBcVACqhJqYcrn9U-2yMIY2OQBH-r3EGA1udmoF1dh-P1Op_tb2jpGRDEBdt8Z71knJziqUooZmd70A&__tn__=EH-y-R.

It was not sufficient in 2010, but it was hoped it was a start, but now is even way more not sufficient.

Welfare benefits go some way to cover the costs to be equal and should not be judged as extra cash which is not used, as disability does increase the costs in endeavouring to live a reasonable life and certainly not a luxury life, which some people and organisation believe.

As when accessing social care persons are expected to contribute, but although there are Financial assessments these assessments don’t take into every account of costs involved in living a life. It is always you need to contribute, without any real investigation whether you can really afford to do so, as the system is there without any concpet of individual circumstances. There is much talk of ‘person-centred care, but in practice it is not really the centre, which it should be as the system is invariably the centre and systems don’t take individuals into account, just being a number in the system.

But, in effect this Government does not wish to recognise disablity let alone persons with disabilities. In fact, I tend to belo=ieve that this Government goes out of its way to ignore persons with disabilities to the extent that they would rather they not be there and then money will not need to be spent on them.

Same Difference

Sitting in her specially adapted bedroom, 15-year-old Ruby Walsh breathes slowly through a nebuliser, which covers her nose and mouth.

The teenager, who is deaf and blind, has cerebral palsy, and this is just one of the pieces of medical equipment needed to keep her alive.

But her need for a nebuliser, along with a ventilator and an oxygen concentrator, is pushing up her family’s energy bills at a time when money is already tight.

The cost of living squeeze means the family, who live in Basildon, Essex, have already seen their energy bills rise from £175 to £225 a month. They are reimbursed for the oxygen concentrator, but everything else comes out of the household budget.

Energy bills are set to rise even further after the energy cap rises on 1 April.

‘We just want a simple life’

Ruby is terminally ill and her mum, Charlotte Huzzey, wants…

View original post 718 more words

Social worker pay ‘becoming uncompetitive’ at Cafcass, warns chief – Community Care

Social worker pay at Cafcass will be “uncompetitive” in many places unless the government gives the family courts body more freedom to set salaries, its chief executive has warned. Jacky Tiotto made the comments at Cafcass’s latest board meeting last week, where she said staff losses could double from 20 to 40 a month without […]

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Yet more problems being caused by this atrocious Government for it appears this Government is only good at causing problems and arranging parties, which are not parties.

Source: Social worker pay ‘becoming uncompetitive’ at Cafcass, warns chief – Community Care

A Tsunami of Disability Is Coming as a Result of ‘Long COVID’ – Scientific American

We need to plan for a future where millions of survivors are chronically ill

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This is indeed true and in America with their insurance based health service this will create major problems, as many can’t afford sufficient health cover currently.

But, even in the UK with the NHS this will cause many problems for will the NHS be sufficiently funded to enable staffing levels to be achieved and many other resources. Also will sufficient capacity be created to cover any similar pandemics, I very much doubt so.

But, assuming the NHS is sufficiently resourced, it is very much doubtful that social care will be, as it has not been for the last 20 to 30 years. Then with the austerity cuts imposed on Local Authorities (LAs) and more expenses due to COVID the situation has become even more dire. To have any chance of Social Care recovering this Government needs to, urgently reimburse  all the funds that were retained by the Government on the basis of austerity cuts.

Even then, much of Social Care needs to be reorganised so that all care workers are not only paid substantially more to around. at least £14.00 per hour, but also the working conditions have to be improved such as paying for travel time, introduction of a scheme to pay them while being  sick, payments for working unsocial hours. What also would improve, at least Social Care, is improving immigration provisions to allow more non-UK persons to enter the UK to work.

The are major shortages of care workers in the UK, which will be made worse due to the mandatory COVID vaccinations required and not only for Social Care, but also the NHS.

The current situation is very dire but the results of long- COVID will make it much worse.

Source: A Tsunami of Disability Is Coming as a Result of ‘Long COVID’ – Scientific American

Child refugees forced to share rooms with adults after being wrongly deemed over 18 | The Independent

Exclusive: Alarm over quality of Home Office age assessments as hundreds placed in adult hotels and only moved to children’s services when charities intervene

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As many refugees or asylum seekers have little or no Identity documents, as they may have lost them on route, had them stolen, were unable to bring them for some reason or they deliberately discarded then so that their identity, age and country of origin are unknown. It is, therefore very difficult for the authorities in the preferred country in which the persons wish to reside to correctly identify the correct information of the persons.

Some could be assumed younger that they say, older than say or actually believed, so the 2 former could cause many problems, children being classified as adults causing a problem for the children or adults classified as children causing problems for any children with whom they are placed. Let alone any problems they may come across on their treks over many lands. These are the risks that refugees and asylum seekers put themselves in, but there would more likely be risks if they stayed were they were.

So great care has to be taken by all concerned.

Many are undertaking these journey due to circumstances outside their control, so being incorrectly age assessed increases their problems, as does the length of the process and in many instances the quality of the accommodation they are placed in, especially having to share rooms and even more so beds.

The process needs to be conducted quicker, and there certainly needs to be more monitoring while the process is being conducted.

In reality it would be more beneficial if the need to seek asylum or be refugees were not necessary in the first place, but the reasons they do are also numerous, including famine, climate change, influence of wars and other conflicts, etc.

So great care needs to be undertaking by all concerned, so that successful outcomes are realised.

Source: Child refugees forced to share rooms with adults after being wrongly deemed over 18 | The Independent

LDPB Minutes 20.11.21

Minutes of the Learning Disabilities Partnership Board meeting on 22 November 2021

Source: LDPB Minutes 20.11.21

Councils wasted £253 million fighting parents at the SEND Tribunal since 2014 reforms – Special Needs Jungle

The 2021 SEND Tribunal figures reveal the wasted £253 million cost of councils defending their poor EHCP decision-making against parents

 

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When Councils are saying that funding is short, then some will be thinking that defending at Tribunals is right to do so, but in all these instances the child in question should be the main priority, but when it is clear that a poor EHCP decision is the question then no challenge should be made. As this challenge is going against the interests of the child concerned, which is what all should be considering. So the challenge is more than likely futile, for not only is it a loss of vital money, but also against the interests of the child.

All it shows is that the respected councils have more interest in finance than the interests of the child and this should be made clear in the Tribunals decision process and those Council officers who took the decision to challenge should be made accountable. and suffer the consequences.

 

Source: Councils wasted £253 million fighting parents at the SEND Tribunal since 2014 reforms – Special Needs Jungle

Austerity in England linked to more than 50,000 extra deaths in five years | Public sector cuts | The Guardian

Researchers looked at 2010-2015 when Cameron cuts to NHS and social care were starting to bite

 

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This was inevitable, as the austerity cuts made Local Authorities and Health Authorities to make savings due to the cuts where savings could not realistically be made, so essential services were being run on a ‘shoe string’ and then the next and next and next, etc, meant that the shoe string was getting shorter and shorter.

If you had money then the cuts really did not touch you greatly, but for the masses who don’t have money, many only having an income which is just sufficient and with some not even sufficient, it touched them greatly.

So for those you could least afford it suffered the worst and are still doing so. The Prim e Minister Boris Johnson talks about leveling up, but he keeps saying this but has no idea what it means. For to level up the resources which have been taken away since 2010 need to be returned and then more. For even in 2010 the levels were not correct, and many were below the levels. To put right money needs to be invested in all areas which are insufficient and it will not be cheap.

A start would be to fund Social Care and then health so that all you need care can reasonably get it without having to think where the money is coming from. For Social Care needs to be funded just as the NHS is thereby making it free on the point of delivery, which it should always have been.

This was a major mistake in 1948 for then Social Care and health should have been looked at as one and be managed together, with public health included.

As it was health was looked after, but not social care, even though they were inter-related.

So, the paltry amounts that the Prime Minister announced some weeks ago fell way short of what is actually required and social care will by doing so will always be the poor relation as care services go.

So due to insufficient funding deaths will continue to soar due to the severe lack of care services.

 

Source: Austerity in England linked to more than 50,000 extra deaths in five years | Public sector cuts | The Guardian