NHS Review Support For Children With Learning Disabilities

This report produced by Cerebra, The Challenging Behaviour Foundation, The University of Warwick, Council for Disabled Children and Mencap looked at the need for early intervention to support children with learning difficulties and their families.

The impact of the inequalities in health and social care on children with learning disabilities or special educational needs (SEN) means that added to the increased risk of dying, these children are less likely to get the needed help to reach their full potential.

The Early Intervention Foundation defines early intervention as follows:

“Early intervention means identifying and providing effective early support to children and young people who are at risk of poor outcomes. Effective early intervention works to prevent problems occurring, or to tackle them head-on when they do, before problems get worse. It also helps to foster a whole set of personal strengths and skills that prepare a child for adult life.

Early intervention can take different forms, from home visiting programmes to support vulnerable parents, to school-based programmes to improve children’s social and emotional skills, to mentoring schemes for young people who are vulnerable to involvement in crime. While some have argued that early intervention may have its strongest impact when offered during the first few years of life, the best evidence shows that effective interventions can improve children’s life chances at any point during childhood and adolescence.”

What Rights Have Children And Young People With Learning Disabilities?

The right of a child to access early intervention support is set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the SEND Code of Practice. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Article 23 emphasises the right of disabled children to have effective access to a range of services and support to enable their full participation in society and maximum possible individual development.

Key Recommendations Of The Report

The report recommended the following;

Indisputable Need to Empower Families to Cater for Child Needs

There is a need to develop programmes tailored to the needs of families who have children with developmental delays. Families caring for a child with a learning disability thus need early intervention support to equip them to meet their child’s additional needs.

Investment Towards Family Carers

The family is vital in the development of the child and so a whole family approach needs to be adopted to improve outcomes for children with learning disabilities. This means that the parents have to be supported so that they remain in good physical and mental health which increases their capacity to effectively support their child.

Equipping Frontline Staff

The report also recommended the need to intervene early and increase the range and availability of early years support with a particular focus on support that is targeted to meet the needs of families who have a child with a learning disability.

This can be done by equipping the workforce with the right skills and expertise to deliver evidence based early intervention support.

Early Specialist Intervention

Additionally, there is need for every local area to provide timely access to a range of specialist local services for both children and their families that support the implementation of early intervention such as speech and language therapy.

These services should be available 24 hours a day seven days a week to respond effectively to crisis situations.

How Can We Help

If your child suffers from a disability or conditions like cerebral palsy caused by medical negligence, you may be able to make your claims. These could be birth or head injury claims, among others. Our expert solicitors are ready to assist you.

Our firm also works with organizations such as Cerebra which offer help to families who are having a hard time caring for their child with disabilities or special needs. We can help you claim a deserved compensation for your suffering.

All you need to do is to reach out to us on our helplines to speak to one of our solicitors and let’s discuss your claims.