I have spent the last month of my life literally fighting for my twins to be able to access an education - not even a decent education, but an education that can actually teach them. They are 3 years old, already diagnosed with multiple disabilities. It should be straight forward to get them what they so obviously need, that’s supposed to be the purpose of early diagnosis. Without the help they need now, their chances of ever being able to even speak, let alone learn and succeed, fall every year.
And yet this government has slashed local authority funding to the point where they’re £3bn in deficit, predicted to be £8bn in deficit in five years.
The entire system is set up to prevent disabled children from getting the help they need. Even if you manage to get an EHCP that’s useful in any way, there are thousands of children who’ve gone through all this and still don’t even have a school place. This will only worsen over the next government term if the tories get back in. I read the other day that 70% of local authorities say they won’t be able to fund any non-statutory services in five years time.
And that’s before we talk about the last three years of errors and battles I’ve endured within then NHS, including doctors missing something that may well have caused my son’s brain damage.
The battles I’ve had to endure with the DWP to get them what they need.
The appalling lack of therapy we’ve encountered, the complete absence of support for sensory behaviours that put my children’s life at risk every day, the monthly battles to access a medication that’s prescribed for him but no one wants to pay for, not to mention the monitoring supplies that protects him from experiencing a stroke, brain damage and death but that they don’t want to pay for.
And we don’t yet have to face the appalling treatment of disabled adults in this country under this government. The enormous rise in recorded hate crimes against disabled people - from about 1200 a year in 2011 to almost 9000 last year.
So no. If Labour win, I won’t be leaving the country, I’ll be breathing a sigh of relief that the party who’ve caused so much damage to my children and myself in such a short time are out on their ear, as they should be if anyone actually cared about disabled people. I don’t know if people aren’t aware or what’s happening or they just don’t care.
120,00 people dead because of health and social care cuts. Disability benefits slashed, the government paying hundreds of millions to ATOS et al to get people off disability benefits despite admitting the fraud rate was below 1%. Disabled people found fit for work despite being close to death (or actually dying). Disabled people disproportionately affected by homelessness, poverty, bedroom tax, universal credit changes etc etc.
Any of us could become disabled. Any of our children could. People need to wake up to what’s happening.