Should i have a social worker, could they help?

[Marne]

Ok, please bare with me, i'm on holiday and trying to use a laptop/dongle .

As some of you know, we applied for a council house in another area (we are already top of the list in our area for a 3 bed house but nothing has come up), we took all our forms in 2 weeks ago and yesterday a letter come in the post (my mum who is house sitting opened it and rang us).

We are trying to get a 3 bed so dd2 can have her own room, both girls have ASD, both have sleeping problems, dd2's ASD is a lot more severe than dd1's and in order to get her to sleep i think she needs an empty room (a box room) with a stair gate on the door. Dd1's room is the only place in the house where she can get away from dd2 and the only place dd1's belongings/toys are safe fro dd2. Dd2 is very destructive, eats anything that fits in her mouth and breaks everything she lays her hands on. Dd2 is a danger to herself and at the moment is confined to one room (the sitting room) which we have ASD proofed, she plays,eats and sleeps in this room and is locked in by a stare gate. I feel she needs her own room so she has an area for sleep and an area for play. At the moment she sleeps on the sofa with me and wakes 3 times most nights.

The council have said we can have a 2 bed house but not a 3 (even though the council in our area says we can have a 3).

Dh has just phoned then to ask 'why wont they consider us for a 3 bed house?' and they said that maybe we didn't give enough evidence on the medical form? I gave them 2 Letters from dd2's pead, a letter from dd's SALT and a written letter from me. Our GP signed a piece of paper to say both DD'S are on the spectrum but he would not write a letter (apparently they are too bust to write a letter). The GP rarely see's dd2 and her sleep issues are delt with by the pead.

I really dont know what else i can provide? Maybe if i dump the dd's on their doorstep and ask them to look after them for a couple night then they might listen .

Would getting a social worker help out situation? or should we just accept that they are not going to let us have a 3 bed?

I think a Social Worker could help, it is another thread of evidence and, of course, focused on "social", e.g. living with others, sleeping, leisure/playtime etc. See what others think.

Yes, get a sw, just to provide another "professinal" opinion.

starlight- i tried getting him to sign a form which i had filled in for him (stating dd's needs and dx) but he jest sent me a letter saying 'they no longer sign housing forms . I think i will have to make an appointment and refuse to move from the GP's room until he signs a letter. All he has to do is write that he agrees with the peads letter (not hard at all).

I think when we get home from holiday i will try and get SS involved.

How do i get a SW involved?

I wish i could video her on holiday, we are in a open plan mobile home and she is putting toys in the oven, emptying soap/shower gel in the bathroom and has shut herself in the shower cubical 3 times and been unable to get out, we cant open the door or leave it unlocked because she gets out, its made me realize how bad she actually is.

I was on a course today Marne and met a lady who advised me to phone the local council asking for the Children with Disabilities team and then to request a SW from them.

She was very positive about her experiences with SS but I'm still weighing up the idea of having even more "personnel" involved with DS and time taken for meetings which would be better spent helping him but that's just me.

That's how one goes about it in my area anyway

The NAS have an online form for getting advice on accessing community care services. They also have a draft letter you can modify and send to social services to request a needs assessment (see the bottom of the page in the link).

In our council you just ring the main switchboard at the town hall and ask for a social services referral. They then put you through to referral officers who are jumped up gatekeepers who take all your details. It helps if you know what kind of help you want to ask for.

Do it in writing! You need a paper trail to prove when your request was made.
I know what you mean about weighing up the benefits against having more people involved. The balance tipped for us when DS was about 8 years old but its obv different for different people, and that is when DPs became available so I decided to "have some of that"!

I agree about putting things in writing. It seems less hassle to pick up the phone but in the long term it pays off. I didn't send my first letter to SS by recorded delivery and it's never been tracked down, but I sent another shortly afterwards by recorded delivery which they did act on. They say they don't know anything about the first one and as far as they know it never arrived

I would suggest that you stress the severity of your child's needs in the letter, particularly in terms of safety. The threshold for getting help from SS can be quite high and they often refuse to help milder ASD without LDs.

Thank you, we are home now (came home early as it was such hard work looking after dd2 ).

Dh is going to write to the council tonight to say we want them to reconsider us for a 3 bed house, i will write to SS asking for a social worker ASAP.

The past week has proved what hard work it is to look after dd2, she has almost come to harm a number of times, there is no way she could be in a room with dd1 or share a bunk (she's likely to jump off the top), i just want a safe space for her (her own empty room). The council seems to think we are lying about dd2's needs even though i gave them letters from the pead .