Information received has revealed startling attitudes towards those applying for the Disabled Facilities Grants (DFG).
Following on from a feature on Radio Suffolk, the housing association has so far refused to comment. However. now it would seem that Occupational Therapists (OT) are refusing to accept the advice and opinions from doctors and specialists.
My son Harry needs a stairlift, but OTs, despite doctors stating that stairlifts are the safest way to move a child with epilepsy up and down stairs, say they know better and refuse to provide him with one. I struggle to carry Harry (who weighs six stone and is epileptic) up and down our stairs. I’m petrified he’ll have a seizure.
They also seem to feel that they have the right to demand that we turn our homes upside down and leave a sick child to sleep on their own leaving me to climb the stairs 6-7+ times a night, in addition to the complex and strenuous tasks needed to keep my child safe and feeling secure.
OTs want to turn a dining room into a bedroom - who will pay for the renovation where needed (in my case £2,000) - have they forgotten about how little money we carers get?
What about helping a child to develop basic social skills like sitting at a table and learning how to feed themselves? What about the impact on allowing a single parent family to have a degree of normal life, to have a few friends over for supper from time to time for example, to distract us from the isolation that we already feel as carers? In addition, I have been reliably informed from a social worker that the DFG is to be frozen, despite reassurances from local authorities that the money is there. I’m at my wits end...
Chantal Chaervey
We're social, follow us!