Global Development Delay

Quote of the Day

Excluded from primary school aged five: Parents say the SEND system is ‘broken' | ITV News The mother of a five-year-old boy with special educational needs who has been excluded from school has told ITV News a ‘broken’ system has failed her son. | ITV National News

Our famous and fabulous Family Fun Day is back by popular demand!!
This year its on 1st August and booking details are below.
https://bit.ly/carersleedsfamilyfunday2024

We appreciate life happens and sometimes you might book for things but then can't go but if you do realise you can't come then please let us know. Last year we had a lot less than people than expected on the day so a few people missed out.

Neurodivergent, Stronger Together- A
disability support group for adults only. To support adults, that have or suspect
themselves to have a disability,
Tuesday 23rd, July
11-1pm,
At,
Bitmo Gate Belle Isle TMO
Aberfield Gate, Belle Isle,
Leeds LS10 3QH
We welcome you to join our lovely group session. For adults with disabilities. A safe space. Judgement free. To talk, rant, ask questions or for advice. We offer peer support, emotional support. And we usually can help with any questions or advice. Within our group sessions.
Usually using our group collective minds.
We often do some art and crafts activities too.
With tea, coffee, water and snacks available.
We're really looking forward to seeing you soon.
Run by fellow Neurodivergent individuals Shelley & Kate,

Anyone in who has a child of any age needs to take notice of this post-16 transport consultation and input if you think it may impact/be needed by your child once they reach the age of 16 (especially if they are much younger than this currently). Please share.

The post-16 transport consultation closes on 23 July.

You can access the survey via this link:
https://surveys.leeds.gov.uk/s/A2SUD1/

There are also consultation events taking place as shown on the image below.

Background:
Leeds Council is currently consulting on how to revise their post-16 transport provision.

Transport for SEND children who need it, and are of compulsory school age, is governed by statutory requirements.

Transport for post-16 SEND learners is not covered by such statutory protection. It is therefore vulnerable to cuts and changes if the council runs out of money (which most councils are currently very short of!)

There are going to be changes made, and there are a number of different proposals on the table. Therefore if you want your views, and the needs of your child/children to be represented in this consultation, then you need to act by 23 July.

Image description: poster entitled have your say - with QR code link to post-16 consultation survey and details of virtual consultations taking place on 18 July (10-11.30 and 18.00-19.30). Zoom login details on the poster, please comment if you need those and I will type out in reply.

Gary Lane is really highly regarded for his work in the field of trauma recovery for children and young people. Which is why we are working together to better understand how school can traumatise some children, and how we help them to recover.

Gary will be presenting this webinar as part of School Avoidance Awareness Week.

💛 SCHOOL AVOIDANCE AWARENESS WEEK 💛
******** 23-27TH SEPTEMBER 2024 ********
Read more, sign up for webinars and get involved: https://www.schoolavoidance.co.uk/events

1️⃣ Watch our in-depth webinars ‘on demand’ on School Attendance Difficulties (we have a huge collection looking at things from many different angles) which will help you pin point exactly what is going wrong and how to fix it. You can watch this within our Sunshine Academy learning platform for parents here: www.sunshine-support.org/academy

2️⃣ Read our article on School Attendance Difficulties, a great starting point and contains a 3 step approach to helping your child: https://www.sunshine-support.org/school-attendance-difficulties-and-school-related-trauma

3️⃣ Request a call from our advice team by completing the contact form here: https://www.sunshine-support.org/advice-and-support

Need more immediate help? Here are our details of our advocacy service..

➡️ ADVOCACY SERVICE - If you need help please do complete the application form here: https://tinyurl.com/Sunshinesupportadvocacy

📕 Dept for Education’s guidance is also very helpful: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63ee20a3d3bf7f62e5f76ba4/Summary_of_responsibilities_where_a_mental_health_issue_is_affecting_attendance.pdf

We are looking forward to supporting you 💛

Creating social stories for your children with additional needs can help them to understand new places and cope with different situations, as well as helping them to keep safe.

👉 Join our Discover Digital workshop this Friday, 12 July at 10:30am, to learn how to create a simple visual tool to help your family.

Sign up for free: https://www.familyfund.org.uk/support/discover-digital/workshops/ipad-workshop-make-social-story-12jul24/

School summer holidays have started in Scotland and are on the horizon in England, Wales and Northern Ireland ☀️

We have updated our holiday web pages (https://ow.ly/KO3l50SvkPC) recently which include information about early bird sessions, carer passes, leisure discounts and much more.

Read more here: https://ow.ly/Fwmc50SvkPB

See the UK's Most Accessible Beaches according to Age UK: https://ow.ly/lmAa50SvkPF

Don't forget to think about toilet accessibility wherever you plan to go, use this map to check: https://ow.ly/NYtp50SvkPE

Please see dates, times and login details for the 2 remaining online (Microsoft Teams) consultation sessions regarding proposed changes to Post 16 Transport.

Please note...❗️This is still relevant if your child is under 16 as the changes will affect the services your child/children will receive in the future. Everyone needs to share their views! ❗️

An additional session has also been requested and we will share the date when we have it.

All info is on the leeds.gov website:
https://www.leeds.gov.uk/consultations-and-feedback/post-16-transport-policy-review

Online survey also available.

DID YOU KNOW: If you’re someone on Universal Credit and as a result of your child’s DLA renewal you now are in receipt of the highest rate of care component, you should inform Universal Credit to ensure they also increase the disabled child addition within your UC payments.

If you receive DLA but your award doesn’t include the highest rate for care, you should be eligible for the lower disabled child addition (UC) at £156.11 pm.

Those receiving highest rate care component (DLA) should instead be eligible for the higher disabled child addition (UC) at £487.58 pm. (Correct figures at time of posting).

The extra Universal Credit payments should be backdated to the date your child’s DLA was increased.

If you get child tax credit instead of Universal Credit and your child’s DLA award has been increased to include the highest care component you should tell the Tax Credits Office who will add a severely disabled child element to your tax credits. This is an extra £32.20 per week. With tax credits the extra amount will only be backdated in full if you let the tax credits office know within one month of the date on the letter telling you that your child’s DLA is being increase to the highest rate care.

For more information about Universal credit, see our website here: https://ow.ly/fJkQ50StGsM

For more information about DLA, see our website here: https://ow.ly/YmXh50StwVg

A World Beneath Us is a new sensory show for families arriving in the post this summer holidays!

A World Beneath Us is a sensory theatrical experience sent in the post, including a sensory film and sensory boxes to keep
The show celebrates each family as its own ecosystem. You can find out more about the show here: https://oilycart.org.uk/shows/a-world-beneath-us/
It has been created for and with disabled young people who experience the most barriers to accessing live theatre and their families to enjoy together
It is sent out from the end of July / early August
Booking is Pay What You Choose - we don’t want ticket price to be a barrier to any families receiving this project
Created by award-winning theatre company Oily Cart
You can express your interest in receiving A World Beneath Us by filling in this short form: https://forms.gle/B3eJ4SB1iwugpjVE9
Any questions, please contact [email protected]

Summer can be a challenging time for families with disabled or seriously ill children, with changes in routine, crowded places and overwhelm in warmer weather. Finding suitable family days out, that are right for your whole family, and fully accessible venues and activities can be time-consuming.

😨 Only 26% of families said they can get the information they need before deciding if a place is accessible to their child or young person before they go.

To help you get started with finding suitable days out for the whole family, check out our website news link in the comments 👇

❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜🤎🖤🤍🩶
Stronger Together- A
Parent/Guardian, carers support group, for those who look after children and young people under 25 with disabilities,

The face to face group session,
Will be held on the
9th, July,Tuesday, 11am-1pm

At
South Leeds,
Bitmo Gate, Belle Isle TMO
Aberfield Gate, Belle Isle, Leeds LS10 3QH

Please drop by if you can.
Followed after. By our usual emotional peer support group session.
Have a cup of tea or coffee. Chat, moan, rant, download. Or listen to other parent, carers. All judgment free! Hopefully we all can pick ourselves up mentally. As often the lack of support & help. Can often become mentally draining, overwhelming 😔 and challenging. Sometimes we need someone to just simply hear us.That truly understands.
Supporting each other by listening to one another and using our collective minds and experiences to help one another.
As together,
We are Stronger Together,
Group leaders, And fellow parents and carers, Kate Craven and Shelley Marie Sheridan

Neurodivergent, Stronger Together- A
disability support group for adults only. To support adults, that have or suspect
themselves to have a disability,
Tuesday 25th, June
11-1pm,
At,
Bitmo Gate Belle Isle TMO
Aberfield Gate, Belle Isle,
Leeds LS10 3QH
We welcome you to join our lovely group session. For adults with disabilities. A safe space. Judgement free. To talk, rant, ask questions or for advice. We offer peer support, emotional support. And we usually can help with any questions or advice. Within our group sessions.
Usually using our group collective minds.
We often do some art and crafts activities too.
With tea, coffee, water and snacks available.
We're really looking forward to seeing you soon.
Run by fellow Neurodivergent individuals Shelley Marie Sheridan & Kate Craven

Here For You Leeds – formerly the Well Bean Café – is open today in Beeston, from 6pm. Call in to refer if you would like some support.

💗

📣Join our FREE online event for parents & carers: 'Talking about toileting children with additional needs '. 📣

📅Tuesday 25th June
🕧7pm-8.30pm (via Zoom)
❗️booking closes at 12pm on Mon 24th June❗️

This webinar is led by our Family Services Team. We'll be discussing how we can prepare and support children with additional needs with their toilet training.

We'll focus on the challenges they may meet and how we can support them in feeling comfortable using the toilet at a pace that reflects their needs.

Find more information and how to book your place via the link in the comments.

🗣Please share this post so that other parents and carers can benefit from this free event.

❗️️PLEASE NOTE: these free events are for parents and carers. If you are a health, education or early years worker interested in events to support you in your professional capacity please see our programme of training courses for professionals on our website.