Services for children with disabilities and additional needs and their families

Wrexham Council would like to gain insight into the lived experiences of families accessing services that support children with disabilities and additional needs, specifically what works well and where there is room for improvement. Your feedback will help to inform future service development and improve collaborative working between organisations.

Respondents

45 parents responded to the survey to provide information on their experiences and that of 59 children and young people aged 2-24 years.

Service provision

Services that received praise and positive comments from responders included: Wrexham Family Information Service (WFIS), Together Achieving Change (TAC), North Wales Adoption Service (NWAS), Ty Ni Family Centre, Your Space, Dynamic, Direct Payments, Welfare Rights, Home Start, Inspire, Young Carers, Contact Cymru, Action for Children, Parent groups/peer support.

Almost unanimously parents responded that there is need for greater investment in services and staff training to deliver activities for children and young people to socialise independently of their parents.

The use of isolation booths and restraints in school should be stopped.

Services should not be time limited and instead be needs led.

Many families stated that they prefer face to face contact with support.

Diagnosis / eligibility

Parents report that the need for an assessment of having a ‘learning disability’ before being eligible to access some services does not take into account the needs of the child and is not person centred.

Waiting times for diagnosis, need for a diagnosed learning difficulty, criteria to access services too high and not listening to the concerns of parents were all stated as barriers to getting timely help and support.

Flying Start should be available to any child born with a disability and not just those in the postcode area.

Needs

An increase in needs for both parents and children have been reported in relation to mental health, anxiety, self-harm and suicidal ideology, loneliness/isolation and challenging behaviours.

Respite

Another area cited was a requirement for more respite and activities for children and young people.

Lack of social skills and understanding social norms, anxiety, low self esteem, poor impulse control were stated as factors in children and young people being unable to access the community.

Many respondents stated that they would take up respite if it were available to them.

Finding out about provision

The majority of respondents stated that word of mouth or web searches are the most common ways to find information.

Information on what services are available should be easier to access.

This consultation has contributed to the development of services for children with disabilities and additional needs, and their families in Wrexham. In particular a focus on carer support and better joint working.