What do social services do and can I self-refer?

[Jenkeywoo]

I am struggling to cope with dd who is 2 and has spastic diplegia. I am suffering from insomnia and anxiety and am seeing the GP on Friday to ask for something to help that. I have had a Homestart volunteer but after 6 months that has finished. I have applied for portage but they can't even assess dd until July at the earliest. I need help, I have none locally and no idea how to access it. What sort of help is out there? Should I be contacting social services? any advice greatfully received.

yes contact ss. you need a sw who will sort through the oprions. be prepared for a battle though as I found them bloody reluctant to offer respite to a small child.

Request a carers assessment in addition to your childs assessment. Does your DD attend nursery? Maybe SW could assist with a referral which may provide some respite for you.

HTHs

thanks for the advice- dd doesn't attend nursery at the moment as I don't really know where to start with finding one that would know how to look after dd properly. I'm going to investigate how to contact social services - I have no idea where to even get the numbers and who to contact but am off know to have a look on-line.

Check your local council website for the duty social work numbers. You will more than likely be directed to the children with disability team. They will take some background information and then (usually) allocate a worker within 4/6 weeks. (Thats how it works in my local authority).