Families hail benefits of early intervention for disabled
Greater co-operation and awareness across support services is the key to early intervention for disabled children, according to a report from a leading charity for families with disabled children.
Helena with parents Anne and Peter Bodo
Contact a Family's report, Our Family, Our Future, features the stories of 30 different families across the UK. It highlights wide differences in experiences and the positive effects of early intervention.
Contact a Family is calling for a Government campaign to raise awareness of the needs of families with disabled children and a greater focus on awareness teaching in early years settings and schools.
The campaign is being promoted by Peter and Anne Bodo, whose four-year-old daughter Helena has Myotonic Dystrophy. Their experience has been helped by the Aiming High for Disabled Children campaign adopted by Durham County Council.
'Helena has been attending nursery with a one-to-one outreach worker since she was three,' said Mr Bodo. 'The social interaction is great - she is fine with adults and older children but used to cry with younger children. The nursery children love her and cuddle her and now she happily holds hands with them, thanks to the nursery staff and our amazing outreach worker.'
Mr Bodo attended the report's launch at the House of Lords last week. He said, 'I spoke in front of children's minister Ed Balls enthusing about how well the campaign is going, saying, "Please, please continue to push it and fund it."
'What we've learned about the importance of communication has been invaluable. I think if Helena was born today the services would be even better and easier to access.'
Another supporter is Daisy Etuk, whose ten-year-old son Christopher and eight-year-old twins Michael and Jonathan all have autism. Ms Etuk had to fight for Christopher's diagnosis but gained support for the twins from 17 months. 'The early intervention has had a hugely positive impact on their progress,' she said.
FURTHER INFORMATION
www.cafamily.org.uk/ourfamilyourfuture.pdf
