Disabled children and families

Families face a constant battle to get vital help

Whether it's getting your children into the best local school, keeping them fit and healthy or just making sure they are happy, being a parent can be tough. Imagine if choosing a school also means finding a school with the expertise in place to help your child learn. Or if booking holiday activities isn't just about what your child enjoys doing but is also about finding a play scheme that knows how to communicate with a child who doesn't speak. It can be hard to find these things close to where you live. Suddenly already stressful decisions become virtually impossible and can push many families to breaking point.

The parents of disabled children face difficult decisions like this each and every day often with little support. Many face a constant battle to get their child even basic help, fighting authority after authority, and having to spend time travelling to where they can get the right support for their child.

Keep Us Close: local services for disabled children

Scope's campaign Keep Us Close is campaigning for better provision of local services for disabled children.

The Government in England is putting a Children and Families Bill through Parliament and the Welsh Government will be publishing a Bill on Special Educational Needs reform. These Bills provide the perfect opportunity to address this issue affecting many families. We want both Governments to include a duty to provide adequate services locally, to ensure that disabled children can get the support they need, without excessive travel or staying away from home. By ensuring that the right services are available in the right places, families can focus on what matters; spending time together and supporting one another.

So we are calling on families to join us and ask MPs and AMs to fight for better local services for disabled children.

Share your stories with us by emailing campaigns@scope.org.uk.