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Thursday, November 20, 2008, 12:00
I would like to ask parents what expectations they have for their children when they leave school at 16/18 years of age.
The whole point of special education is to enable disabled children, particularly those with significant learning disabilities, to participate in as normal a life as possible.
The level of supported housing in Tamworth is abysmal; very few facilities exist to enable parents to carry on the stimulating work carried out at these splendid schools.
My 21-year-old grandson attended Saxon Hill Special School in Lichfield until he became 18, he received optimum education, tailored to his specific needs, he grew as an individual, his epilepsy well-controlled, many of his autistic features understood and strategies developed to deal with them, both by himself and family.
He currently attends Strathmore College for Young Adults with Learning Disabilities. With supervision at all times he can now work in a Salvation Army Shop, he attends a horticulture course at Newcastle College, he can prepare simple food, has learned the importance of road safety, he has attained Bronze Award in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, his communication skills have greatly improved and he enjoys the company of his friends at college.
The staff at Strathmore and his family feel it imperative that his needs are best met in supported housing with 24-hour care, to enable him to carry out his basic personal needs. He also needs support while travelling and during activities.
There is a place for him, which he likes, but as this is just over the county boundary in North Warks, there is an issue about funding out of Staffordshire at the moment. There is just one place in the borough that is suitable for his needs and they have a waiting list.
Tamworth's policy appears to be 'go back home'. What is the point of investing money, time and dedication to open up this young man to the possibilities that life can hold as an adult, then, because funding for housing for young people with learning disabilities in Tamworth is not a priority, he is expected to return to being a child instead of carrying on the road to independence?
This letter is a wake-up call to parents of children with learning disabilities to raise questions about what the future holds for them.
The housing department should be taking numbers at a strategic level to move towards providing supported housing in the future. Parents should make demands for their children's needs a few years before they reach adulthood. Parents must be vocal for these young people and make demands for their future needs.
After all Gordon Brown's talk about 'The Age of Responsibility', it wasn't very responsible to invest millions of taxpayers' money in an Icelandic bank, was it? How can that amount of money be surplus, when deficiencies exist in the provision of supported housing, residential care and day centres? Was it also necessary to waste public money on altering the entrance to Marmion House? A graceless building now rendered downright ugly.
Surely the mark of a civilised society is to provide optimum care for its weaker members, especially those whose disabilities are not a lifestyle choice.
Mrs C Plant, Fazeley.
The futuristic library at Two Rivers School. (PB10502-7915TH)
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