Category Archives: disability

NHS to pay for singing lessons and hotel stays

November 30, 2012   Carers, disability, health, Older care

Tens of thousands of people will be able to get money from their doctors which can be used for activities including singing lessons and hotel stays.

Personal health budgets enable people to choose what help they need and who to buy it from.

By Stephen Adams, Medical Correspondent

7:00AM GMT 30 Nov 2012

Norman Lamb, the care minister, said the option of having a ‘personal health budget’ would be made available to some 56,000 people in England with significant health needs. It would “put them back in control of their care,” he said.

The idea is to give people the power to choose exactly what care they need for their condition or disability – and buy it from whoever they like – rather than having it decided and provided by the NHS.

Charities for the elderly and disabled have broadly welcomed the initiative, which has been trialled for three years, but there are worries about some people misusing the money.

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Carers’ rights: what you need to know

November 30, 2012   Carers, disability, Older care

What advice and information can professionals working in the sector give to people caring for older or disabled loved ones?

 

Carer’s assessments are intended to look not just at carers’ caring responsibilities but at their ability to work too.

The theme for carers rights day, which takes place on Friday 30 November, is getting help in tough times. To mark the day, there are three things that are pivotal for carers to receive help.

Get a carer’s assessment

Older or disabled people needing care should always have a community care assessment for their needs, but carers also have the right to request a carer’s assessment from their local council. Importantly, they don’t need to be caring full-time to have an assessment of their needs.

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I love my disabled child – but I’d give my life to make her normal

November 28, 2012   autism, Carers, disability, ukcuts

The mother of a severely autistic girl makes a painfully honest confession

  • Meg Henderson writes a reply to Dominic Lawson who said he would never want to ‘cure’ his daughter from Down’s syndrome
  • Daughter Louise is brain-damaged and autistic and mother says disability took an ‘intolerable toll’ on the family
  • At 34, Louise is now settled in a special village in Fife where she receives dedicated care

By Meg Henderson

PUBLISHED: 00:59, 28 November 2012 | UPDATED: 10:13, 28 November 2012

Most nights, for more years than I can remember, I have had the same dream. I’m walking along the street, arm-in-arm with my beautiful, dark-haired daughter.

Her brown eyes are sparkling with joy, she’s chatting 19 to the dozen, making me laugh and giggle along with her. But every morning I wake to the same chilling reality. My 34-year-old daughter, Louise, is disabled.

Her speech can be almost unintelligible even to us, she will never hold down a job, have a family or even live by herself. Louise is a scared, anxious little girl imprisoned in a woman’s body.

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