Recently in Disabilities Category

Morning all. Here's another quick round-up of today's news, views and interesting things, starting with good news for Essex council's children's services department which has been released from two years' of government supervision after making improvements.

The latest court statistics, published today by the Ministry of Justice, have revealed care proceedings took 55 weeks, on average, to complete between July and September 2011.

Mothers of disabled children have opened up about their experiences of family life, describing to the Daily Mail how they felt when they learnt their children would have different futures to the ones they had expected. Fiona Wilson, 41, recalls her father-in-law telling her to leave her newborn son, who has Down's Syndrome, in the hospital, warning "he'll ruin your life".

Although Wilson adores her son, who was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy and autism too, life has been far from easy. She describes the exhaustion of having to "fight for your child at every step", something parents of disabled children will undoubtedly relate to.

In more positive news for disabled children and their families, a number of charities, including Mencap and Scope, have backed Ambitious about Autism's Finished at School campaign - lobbying for a clear legal right to educational support for young disabled people aged up to 25.

Third Sector reports that a Wolverhamptom charity supporting young offenders is to close after an investigation found its activities were likely to mislead potential donors.

Another day, another Facebook scandal - this time involving a 24-year-old man who attacked a 13-year-old girl he groomed online after she logged onto the social networking site during a difficult time at school. (Changes in a child's online behaviour could indicate they are being exploited. For more details of this warning sign, and others, see our online tool.)

Picture credit: ZoeLouisePhotography

Nearly three quarters of families with disabled children have experienced anxiety, depression, isolation or family breakdown, according to the latest research by Contact a Family.

A survey of over 1,100 families, published today, found almost half had asked their GP for medication or counselling, while 65% said they felt isolated frequently or all of the time. One in five said feelings of isolation had even destroyed their family or marriage.

Over half (56%) said their feelings of isolation were due to a lack of support from social services and the education system, while 57% believed it was because they could not work as much as they wanted to and 54% blamed a lack of time and money.

Half of the families had experienced discrimination or stigma due to their child's disability.

Srabani Sen, chief executive of Contact a Family, said isolation is having a "devastating" impact on the well being of many families with disabled children. She urged councils to provide more early intervention services, including support groups and short breaks.

A boy with special educational needs lost a year's education because of failures by two councils, according to a review by the local government ombudsman.

In her report, published today, Dr Jane Martin criticised Peterborough City Council and Cambridgeshire County Council for failing to work together to support the young man, known as Harry, after changes in his behaviour prompted a review of his care and education post-16.

The teenager missed out on a crucial year of education, and may also have missed the opportunity of a residential placement with 24-hour support, because both councils delayed assessments and disputed which had responsibility for maintaining his statement of SEN.

The ombudsman found maladministration causing injustice by both councils, ordering Cambridgeshire council to pay £2,750 in compensation and Peterborough council to pay £1,750 and provide appropriate therapy for Harry. Both councils agreed to pay the sums, to apologise to Harry and his family and to review their arrangements for the transfer of statemented children who are moving to post-16 education. Click here for the full report.