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Parenting toolkit: helping Partnership Boards meet the needs of people with learning difficulties
Rachel Fyson, of the School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Nottingham, UK, reviews Parenting toolkit: helping Partnership Boards meet the needs of people with learning difficulties, by the London Network of Parents with Learning Difficulties, May 2009. Available from: London Network of Parents with Learning Difficulties c/o Diane Simcoe The Elfrida Society 34 Islington Park Street London N1 1PX Tel: 020 7359 7443 E-mail: elfrida@elfrida.com Web: www.elfrida.com
This new toolkit has been created by parents with learning difficulties in London, with the support of the Elfrida Society.
The toolkit sets out both the problems that parents with learning difficulties often face and what must change in order to provide effective support for these parents and children. In doing so it lays down a clear challenge to Learning Disability Partnership Boards, the bodies responsible for strategic planning to meet the needs of people with learning difficulties at local level. It is written in clear and accessible language, accompanied by pictures and photos; each section is colour-coded to further assist navigation.
The toolkit starts with a blunt assessment of existing support available. It contrasts what the government says about the right of people with learning difficulties to become parents, and to receive support if needed, against people’s actual experiences. This clearly demonstrates the current gulf between a political rhetoric of ‘rights ’; and ‘choice ’ and a reality of often limited or non-existent support and genuine fears that children may be taken into care.
Having set out the scope of the challenge facing Partnership Boards, the toolkit then moves on to address
the following key issues, including planning a baby; pregnancy and birth; health; housing; money and benefits; groups and getting out; getting help and being assessed; communication; and listening to us. In relation to each of these topics, the same format is followed: quotes from parents with learning difficulties; an overview of their collective needs; and a set of questions. Cumulatively, the questions are designed to act as a checklist for Partnership Boards to help them assess whether the needs of parents with learning difficulties in their area are being met.
The toolkit draws attention to many important matters, but answering the questions raised – let alone implementing the changes they imply are necessary – will not be easy. Many require solutions which lie beyond the limited sphere of influence which Partnership Boards can realistically hope to affect. Other questions, such as those which focus on the process of Partnership Board meetings, seem to shift the focus away from parenting matters. It is hard not to feel that the toolkit would have benefited from more rigorous editing. In particular, reducing the list of questions might have been advised. In its current format, some Partnership Boards may simply glance at the toolkit and be overwhelmed at the enormity of the task, or will address minor issues but fail to respond to the broader and more complex unmet needs that are identified.
However, these reservations should not detract from the value that this toolkit has in raising awareness of the existence, and needs, of parents with learning difficulties. In the foreword, Professor Linda Ward notes that “Sadly, there is still a long way to go before the right support is routinely available to parents with learning disabilities and their children”. Hopefully, this toolkit will support progress towards ensuring that the right support is available, as and when parents with learning difficulties and their children require it.