The law that parents of disabled children and their supporters may have to deal with can be very complicated. We know from talking with them that they can find it confusing and that it’s often difficult for them to understand what the government expects public services, such as schools, social services and health services, to do to help their children and their families.
Fortunately, in many cases the government produces guidance where it usefully sets out what it expects the relevant public bodies to do, for example with regard to school transport, how to carry out care assessments or provide short breaks.
We also know that parents are frequently unaware that guidance exists or, when they do know it exists, where to find it. Once they do know about it and read it parents have fed back that they find it useful in understanding their rights and helpful in dealing with public body practitioners and even making complaints.
So, we have put together this factsheet to help parents in England find the most frequently used guidance all together in one place covering the areas of:
- Social Services
- Education/Health Needs at School
- Health
- Housing
- Decision-making
- Equality and Disability Discrimination
- Elective Home Education
Please check the factsheet on our website regularly to make sure that you have the latest versions of the guidance. It’s not unusual for professional to be working from an outdated version!
If we’ve missed out anything you think other parents would find useful, please let us know!
This guide is the latest in our range of parent guides which can all be downloaded from our website free of charge.
