Cecilia Anim describes how she was told to take her disabled daughter for a test to see if she could get a job Link to this videoRuth Anim needs constant one-to-one care, has no concept of danger and attends life skills classes to learn practical things like how to make a sandwich or a cup of tea. So it came as a considerable surprise to her mother, Cecilia, that an official assessment of her daughter’s abilities classified her as someone who would be capable of finding work in the near future.
Tag Archives: Learning difficulties
Norwich young carers on the Broads
By stephen pullinger broads correspondent
Monday, October 15, 2012
8:42 AM
Taking part in fun activities on the Broads has been a rite of passage for generations of youngsters growing up in Norfolk.
Young carers at How Hill
However, for one group of eight to 13 year olds visiting How Hill, near Ludham, on Saturday, a boat trip and adventure on the marshes were far removed from their everyday lives.
For the children are all members of Norwich Young Carers and take on responsibilities beyond their years in helping to look after sick or disabled parents or siblings.
For Georgina Mason, 11, it meant a day off from helping her mother, Lisa, who has multiple sclerosis and uses a disabled scooter; for Joshua O’Toole, nine, it meant a break from supporting his disabled father, Mark who has to use sticks to walk; for Sophie Peach, 10, it meant a day away from helping to care for her 12-year-old brother, Sammy, who has learning difficulties.
Get ready for work: what woman who needs constant care was told
Ruth Anim has learning difficulties, a heart problem and epilepsy. A work capability test by Atos said she should prepare for a job
‘Joey has opened my eyes’
Joey has just celebrated his 16th birthday but unlike his peers who’d have stayed up late partying, he went to bed early. His father describes the challenges – and joys – of raising a boy with profound, multiple learning difficulties
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Stephen Unwin
- The Guardian,
Stephen Unwin and his son: ‘Joey has opened my eyes to another way of thinking about human beings.’ Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi for the Guardian
Some people would say that my second son is stupid. I understand what they mean. But it’s a word that I’ve come to use less casually than most. Just a few days before the opening ceremony for the Paralympic Games, he had a pretty significant birthday. But while most boys would have celebrated turning 16 by tasting the forbidden fruits of adult life and drinking too much cheap cider, Joey blew out the candles on his birthday cake with a giggle of excitement, jumped up and down with pleasure unwrapping the presents he’d been given and went to bed – entirely sober – at 7pm.
Because, you see, Joey is very different from most 16-year-olds. He has profound and multiple learning difficulties. His condition is still undiagnosed, although it’s almost certainly the result of a genetic glitch. He’s an attractive boy, with a shock of brilliant blond hair and a dazzling smile. But he’s very small, sometimes painfully thin and suffers from severe epilepsy. His coordination is poor and he’s extremely timid. He’s terribly vulnerable and when the epilepsy is bad, he’s pitiful. Most significantly, he has very restricted cognitive abilities and only a limited understanding of what is going on around him. He communicates in rudimentary Makaton sign language (and makes noises with a clear commitment to what he wants) but has never uttered a single word: not “mum”, not “dad”, nothing. What at first was termed “developmental delay” is now quite clearly a profound and serious learning disability.
