The Covid Inquiry will be looking into the impact of the pandemic and the Government’s Covid response on children and young people in its next phase. As part of this, they are interested in hearing from families of children with additional needs and parent carers. They are asking that parent carers share their stories with them. We know it was a devastating time for many families as services were closed overnight and some schools shut their doors. Some families are still dealing with the repercussions as waiting times for support, assessments and services continue to suffer backlogs. Contact joined parents of clinically vulnerable children in campaigning for access to a vaccine, which far too long to be approved. You can submit your story and experiences here. ShareCopy URLCopied!Share via EmailShare via FacebookShare via TwitterShare via WhatsAppShare via LinkedIn
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Come and say hello to Ellie and Lisa from Contact at the free Kidz to Adultz Exhibitions coming up across the UK. We’ve teamed up with Kidz to Adultz to create a new and welcoming space at each exhibition where parents, carers and disabled children and young people can come together, share experiences and learn from each other. Find an exhibition near you and register your free place: www.kidzexhibitions.co.uk/our-events Live near Manchester? The next Kidz to Adultz exhibition is in Manchester on Friday 11 October. Find out more and register your free place: www.kidzexhibitions.co.uk/kidz-north-2024/. We hope to see you there! Kidz to Adultz exhibitions are free and dedicated to children and young people with disabilities or additional needs. Parents, families, carers, and healthcare professionals are all welcome to attend. Come along, try out the equipment and products, join in the fun and participate in the activities taking place throughout the day. ShareCopy URLCopied!Share via EmailShare via FacebookShare via TwitterShare via WhatsAppShare via LinkedIn
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We’ve got some free online workshops for London parents caring for autistic children coming up. Please use the links below to find out more and register your free place. Tuesday, 24 September, 7-9pm. Senses Inside body, balance, body awareness, stimming This workshop focuses on the senses – inside body, balance, body awareness and stimming – and how best to support them. Book your free place. Friday, 27 September, 10am-12. Supporting Sleep At this popular online workshop you’ll get an overview of common sleep issues alongside tips and strategies that can help. Book your place here. Are you a personal assistant (PA)? Our free online workshop, Understanding Sensory Processing, takes place on Wednesday 25 September, 10am-12 and is aimed at personal assistants who want to understand more about sensory processing. Please book your free place here. ShareCopy URLCopied!Share via EmailShare via FacebookShare via TwitterShare via WhatsAppShare via LinkedIn
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Families on Universal Credit who have a disabled child usually qualify for extra payments. You should get an extra Universal Credit payment – a disabled child addition – for each child in your family who receives a qualifying disability benefit. Qualifying benefits include Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or their Scottish equivalents. Depending on your circumstances, you may also qualify for an extra payment as a carer: the carer element. Read more about these extra credits. Sometimes there can be a delay in the Universal Credit service finding out that you are eligible for a disabled child addition or carer element. This means there’ll be a period in which you get Universal Credit, but your award is missing the additional elements. The law says that the extra payments can in most cases be backdated, i.e. paid from an earlier date. But sometimes the Universal Credit service refuses to backdate to the correct date. This is an issue we know affects many families. Use our new template letters to get your elements backdated To help, we have developed a number of template letters. You can use these to ask the Universal Credit service to revise their decision not to backdate the disabled child addition or the carer element. Note! These template letters are for use in certain circumstances only. For that reason, we recommend that you first read our page about backdating of the disabled child addition and carer element of Universal Credit. You’ll find a link to the template letters from there. We’d love to hear your feedback If you use our template letters, we’ve like to know how you get on. This really helps us measure the impact of our work. Please share your feedback by emailing [email protected] ShareCopy URLCopied!Share via EmailShare via FacebookShare via TwitterShare via WhatsAppShare via LinkedIn
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Next week, most children in England, Northern Ireland and Wales will return to school after the summer holidays. Children in Scotland will be settling into another week. We know this can be an anxious time for children and parents alike, especially if starting a new school for the first time. Top tips for starting school We’ve compiled lots of tips on settling into a new school. These pointers were put together by a special educational needs teacher and parents themselves. Our tips include what to talk to the school about, how to help your child prepare for the change, and some particular advice for children starting secondary school. You can also listen to your podcast episode, Top tips for starting school. And don’t forget, we have lots of information on our website about what support schools, nurseries and colleges should be offering your child. Get kitted out for school Our online Fledglings shop offers a range of sensory school wear and adaptive shoes. We also have aids that can help children with concentration in class and communication tools that can help prepare children and young people for the transition back to class and help calm any anxieties. Take a look at all our back-to-school aids. Talk to other families like yours Sometimes the best advice comes from other parent carers who’ve been there before, or are going through similar situations. Join our private Facebook group to join the conversation. ShareCopy URLCopied!Share via EmailShare via FacebookShare via TwitterShare via WhatsAppShare via LinkedIn
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Children, adults, family and loved ones will be able to speak to a trained mental health professional when they call NHS 111 from this week. Call handlers will be able to direct callers to existing services like talking therapies. They can help them refer to face-to-face support or direct them to crisis services, including A&E. Previously, local health services provided mental health crisis lines for people experiencing mental health problems. Ministers said the change forms part of “plans to help fix the broken health system”. We welcome the new service, but children in distress also need concrete, quality mental health support in the community. The NHS has launched the phone line as The Guardian publishes its findings that more than 500 children a day in England are being referred to NHS mental health services for anxiety. This rate is more than double the pre-pandemic rate. Amanda Elliot, Contact’s health lead, says: “Having a single number to call if your disabled child is in crisis is a helpful, very positive first step. But a phone line isn’t an ongoing service. People need services that provide regular, useful support for disabled children with mental health needs, whether they are self-harming, have difficulties with emotional regulation, depression, obsessive compulsive behaviours or eating disorders. “Community services need to be revitalised so they can help families in crisis can rely on them. We urge ministers and the NHS to make sure they deliver this next as part of their commitment to improve children’s mental health services.” Read more about mental health services for disabled children on our website. ShareCopy URLCopied!Share via EmailShare via FacebookShare via TwitterShare via WhatsAppShare via LinkedIn
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This story applies to England only. Last week, parent carers attended our Facebook Q&A on Social Care, Rights & Processes to get expert, live advice from our parent advisers. And for those who missed it, we’ve summarised the most frequently discussed topics that came up and our advisers’ answers, below. You can see all questions and answers on our Facebook page. How do I ask for a needs assessment? You can ask for an assessment verbally. But it is best to ask for a ‘Section 17 Children in Needs assessment’ in writing. You can do this yourself, or a professional who is helping you can do it for you. If you’re not sure which local authority you come under, type your postcode into the search bar at www.gov.uk/find-local-council We have template letters you can use to request an assessment. How long should it take from assessment to getting the final ‘care plan’? From the day of request, it should take 45 days. Our parent guide ‘Services and support from your local authority’ has more information about this on page 16. You could make a complaint if your assessment isn’t meeting this timeframe. What is a carer’s assessment? A carer’s assessment is an opportunity for you to discuss your needs as a parent carer with your local authority. The aim is for social services to know what services and support would make things easier to look after the child or person in your care. It’s also an opportunity to discuss how your caring role affects you. All carers (including young carers) can ask for an assessment at any time. The Children and Families Act 2014 explains the rights of carers with ‘parental responsibility’ to have an assessment upon request. In addition, the local authority can carry out a carers assessment where there is an appearance of need for support. Take a look at our carer’s assessments factsheet for more information. What happens if we are refused a carer’s assessment? You have a right to a carer’s assessment. Your way to challenge this is to make a complaint. We have specific information on how to do this on our “Making a complaint about services” page. The law says that a child and family should be assessed at request or appearance of need. Make sure to always put requests in writing by email to give you a good log of correspondence. If the local authority continues to refuse to do an assessment, you may have to make a more formal complaint. Can I record phone conversations with the local authority? You would need a worker’s permission to record meetings and visits. If the worker does not give consent, you should not record them. If you are looking to keep a log of any conversations you have with the local authority, it might be worth keeping conversations to email only. This way they’ll all be in writing. What happens if the local authority refuses to discuss our child’s transition to adult services? If a child is likely to have needs when they turn 18, the local authority must carry out a ‘child’s need assessment’ before then to determine what these will be. The local authority will carry out the assessment if it considers it a ‘significant benefit’ to the child to do so. There is no specific age or time before a child turns 18 at which the assessment must take place. The statutory guidance suggests that these assessments take place when it is easier to understand what the needs of the child and carer will be beyond the age of 18. There’s more information about these processes on our page ‘Moving into adult services’. What is a ‘personal budget’? A personal budget sets out the amount of money that is available to spend on support for your child, to meet their assessed needs. This money may come from your local social services team, local education department, or in some cases from your NHS integrated care board (ICB). If you receive funding from the NHS, this is known as a personal health budget. You can read more on our website or in our factsheet. Can I refuse the support offered? Yes, you can refuse an offer of support. Or you can decide that an offer of support is not sufficient and challenge the decision about the level of support. Always ensure you do this in writing, by email. You can dispute the level of support on offer whilst also still using it in the interim. If nothing is done, you can make a complaint that the care plan is not meeting need. Can I decide what we use ‘Direct Payments’ on? Children’s services should make it clear what you can use ‘direct payments’ for. They should be for a child’s specific assessed needs. If they’ve not told you what the payments are for, you should ask for this information in writing. If you have an idea of the sort of service that might meet your child’s needs, you can suggest this to the local authority during the assessment process. ShareCopy URLCopied!Share via EmailShare via FacebookShare via TwitterShare via WhatsAppShare via LinkedIn
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Last week our Family Finance Team ran a webinar looking at the process of managed migration to Universal Credit.The webinar is now available to watch on our YouTube channel.You can also download the presentation used during the webinar.We have also produced a new guide to managed migration. Your questions answered This webinar was popular, with almost 50 parent carers in attendance. Our advisers took more questions than they were able to answer during the session. So, they have answered the questions they weren’t able to address on the day below. We’ve merged similar questions into a single common enquiry. I currently receive contributory ESA. Is there anything specific I need to do to be migrated onto Universal Credit? Income-related ESA is one of the benefits that Universal Credit is replacing. However, contributory ESA is not being replaced. If you get contributory ESA and not income-related ESA, you should continue to get this benefit as normal. You are not going to migrate to Universal Credit unless you are also getting tax credits or a means-tested benefit like housing benefit. I’m already on UC for myself and it is working well. I am concerned how it will work for my son who is currently on income-related ESA and in the support group. I’m worried he’ll be expected to look for work under Universal Credit. If your son is in the support group for ESA, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will already accept that he has a limited capability for work and work related activity (LCWRA). This means that when he migrates onto Universal Credit (probably next year), they too will treat him as having a LCWRA and he will be exempt from having to look for work and training as part of his Universal Credit claim. Is it true that you get transitional protection if you are currently getting the severe disability premium (SDP) and move to a new LA and make a claim for Universal Credit. The general rule is that you can only be transitionally protected if you move to Universal Credit under the managed migration rules. That means after you have received a managed migration notice and within certain deadlines. Normally, you are not eligible for transitional protection if you claim early as a result of ‘natural migration’ i.e. a change of circumstances such as your housing benefit stopping because you’ve moved to a new tenancy in a different local authority area. There is an exception to this general rule. You can still get some limited transitional protection if you move to Universal Credit as a result of natural migration so long as you are a disabled adult who receives a payment known as the severe disability premium as part of your income support, income-related ESA or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance award. This is known as the ‘transitional severe disability element’. However, in these circumstances you are only likely to get partial transitional protection, rather than full transitional protection. Seek further advice about your individual case. I was asked to migrate to Universal Credit last year, despite one of my sons being 19 and in non-advanced education. I didn’t know that families with 19 year olds in non-advanced education were supposed to be protected and that I could have asked for my migration notice to be cancelled. I’m on Universal Credit but my transitional protection has now stopped due to changes in circumstances. Is there anything I can do now? I’m sorry to hear that you received a managed migration notice in error. The only thing you can do now is seek local advice from a Citizen’s Advice or welfare rights unit about making a complaint to the DWP. You can try to seek compensation for any losses that you have experienced as a result of the DWP asking you to move onto Universal Credit in error. If you have not already done so, you should also get advice about any disabled child who has past the August after their 19th birthday claiming Universal Credit in their own right. My son is likely to go into supported living next year and will therefore be claiming Housing Benefit for the first time. Should I delay him entering supported living until he gets his managed migration notice so that he doesn’t have to naturally migrate without getting transitional protection? The rules around benefit payments in supported accommodation are extremely complex, and you will need individual advice. Please contact our free helpline to speak to one of our Family Finance Team about your son’s situation. I’ve heard that Universal Credit have agreed to extend the deadline for claiming Universal Credit where a child has ‘looked after’ status. Who do I need to speak to about this? If you have a looked after child and have received a managed migration notice, you will need to urgently phone the Contact helpline on 0808 808 3555. Universal Credit have agreed that where Contact’s Family Finance Team pass onto them the details of a family with a looked after child, they will extend that family’s managed migration deadline to February 2025. However, as far as we are aware, they only agree to do this in cases where Contact pass on an individual family’s details to them. Does the extension in the deadline date to February 2025 only apply to looked after children? Yes, the only group we are aware of who are having extended deadlines to February 2025 are families with a looked-after child, whose case our Family Finance Team flags to the Universal Credit office.. If you have a young person in university who lives in halls but comes home at weekends / holidays, are you allocated a bedroom for them in your Universal Credit award and are they considered as a non-dependent? It’s possible that Universal Credit will continue to treat you as needing a bedroom for a young adult who is away from home at university during term-time. In making a decision on whether to allow a bedroom for a student who is away from home during term-time, Universal Credit need to decide whether the student normally lives at home or normally lives at their university address. They can look at a range of factors in deciding this – including the frequency of returns home, whether they still receive mail at their home address, what address they are registered with for doctors and dentists, and the extent that they are liable for bills such as gas and electricity at their university address. If a student is treated as normally living with you, then it is possible that a non-dependant deduction may be applied to your Universal Credit. However, this will also depend on their age and what disability benefits they receive if any. I’ve only just made a claim for DLA for my child, if this gets granted after I have migrated onto Universal Credit, will it be deducted from any transitional protection I’ve got? If so, would this be a reason for them to grant an extension to my deadline date? This is a complex area. Universal Credit say that where a disability benefit such as DLA is awarded after you migrate, but the disability benefit in question is backdated to a date before migration, they will revise your universal credit award retrospectively and increase your transitional element if necessary. Some advisers are concerned that this goes beyond what the regulations require, but the DWP is adamant that this is what they will do in practice. Perhaps because of this, official DWP guidance is that awaiting the outcome of a disability benefit decision is not grounds to grant an extension in your deadline date. Despite this official guidance, we are aware of many cases where families waiting for a DLA or PIP decision have been granted an extension in their deadline day, so it is definitely still worth trying. If you are refused an extension, make sure that before you migrate you tell the offices paying you any legacy benefits that you are awaiting a decision on a qualifying disability benefit and ask them to carry out a supersession of your legacy benefit on the basis of an impending decision on a qualifying disability benefit. As a disabled person can I claim Universal Credit when I am studying at university? The general rule is that most students in full time advanced education cannot get Universal Credit. However, there are some exceptions to this rule – for example you are allowed to claim if you are a student who has dependent children or if you established a limited capability for work prior to starting your course. There are also special rules allowing students who manage migrate to be exempt from the student restrictions, for as long as they remain on a course that they had started before migration. Even if you are a student who is able to claim Universal Credit, the student income you receive such as a student loan, is counted as income and will reduce the amount of Universal Credit you are entitled to. In some cases, a student’s award may be reduced to nil because of their student income. I’m due to migrate soon but I expect to inherit capital later this year. This will take my capital above £16,000. How will this impact on my Universal Credit and what about the other benefits I receive like child benefit and widowed parent’s allowance? If you first start to receive capital above £16,000 after you migrate. I am afraid that this will end your Universal Credit award immediately. The other benefits you mention will continue as they aren’t affected by capital. Assuming you currently get tax credits, this would be grounds for asking the DWP to extend your managed migration deadline day until after you have received this capital. If they agree and you migrate after your capital has gone up above £16,000, it will be ignored for up to 12 months under the transitional capital disregard rule. If a young person is removed from your Universal Credit claim because they reach the 31st August after their 19th birthday does this mean that you stop getting a transitional element in your award.No, you do not lose your transitional element simply because a young person stops being treated as part of your claim. You will still continue to have a transitional element included in your Universal Credit calculation. However, your Universal Credit payments will drop as you will no longer be getting child elements for that young person. We’ve received our migration notice but our rent will be increased soon. Does it matter whether we migrate before or after the increase in our rent costs? It will be better if you migrate after your rent increase, if at all possible. The reason for this is that if you have a change in circumstances, that happens after the first month of your Universal Credit claim, any increase in your Universal Credit payments will be deducted from your transitional element. So, if the housing element you receive starts to increase, and this happens after your first UC monthly assessment period, this increase in help with rent is simply deducted from any transitional element you are being paid – leaving you no better off. If your rent increases before you migrate – or within the first month of your claim – you will receive the extra help with rent on top of your transitional element. If your rent is expected to increase after your deadline day this would be grounds for asking the DWP to extend your deadline date.Is Carer’s Allowance replaced by Universal Credit, or will that continued to be paid separately like child benefit? Carer’s Allowance continues to be paid as a separate benefit alongside any Universal Credit you get. However, it is treated as income by Universal Credit. This means that any Carer’s Allowance you receive is deducted from your Universal Credit award. Are we better doing the transition or doing a new claim for Universal Credit to be better off? We’re not sure what you mean by this. If you mean are you better migrating to Universal Credit or making a new claim for Universal Credit, it is important to understand that under the migration rules you are not automatically transferred onto Universal Credit. Instead, you will need to make a claim for Universal Credit as part of the managed migration process. The advantage of claiming Universal Credit after you have received a migration notice rather than opting to claim early, is that you are only eligible for transitional protection to make sure you are not left worse off if you claim under managed migration rules. I get child maintenance from my ex-partner. Is that included as income for Universal Credit? No. Child support maintenance is ignored as income by Universal Credit. When I claim Universal Credit should I send a consultant letter as proof of disability, or will it be enough to show that PIP is in payment? If you have a disabled child as part of your claim all you need to show is that they are getting DLA, PIP or one of the Scottish equivalents and a disabled child addition will be included in your Universal Credit. However, the situation is different if you are asking about getting an extra disability amount for an adult claimant or their partner. In order to receive an extra UC amount as a disabled adult it’s not enough to show that you have a disability benefit such as PIP. Instead, you need to show that you have a ‘limited capability for work and work related activity’. You may have already done this as part of a previous claim for ESA (or a credits only claim) but if you haven’t you will need to submit fit notes from your GP and then undergo a DWP medical assessment known as a work capability assessment. I’m a single parent on income support, with child benefit and Adult Disability Payment. I also currently receive kinship payments for my grandchildren. How will these kinship payments affect Universal Credit? The rules governing Universal Credit payments where you are a kinship carer are extremely complex and partly depend on whether that child you care for has ‘looked after’ status. You will need individual advice about this issue. Seek advice from a local welfare rights service, Citizens Advice or by calling the Contact Helpline on 0808 808 3555. I will become a student at university in September. In October I have my Universal Credit deadline. Citizens Advice told me to change my circumstances to that of a student claiming ESA in September. Then migrate to Univeral Credit in October. I am disabled and have a disabled child on DLA. I haven’t claimed carers for him, no-one has. Should I claim carers now? Or would it be a change which causes me to lose transitional protection? You will need individual advice about your situation. Carer’s Allowance cannot normally be paid to a student who is on a course, that is either defined as full-time or a part-time course if that part-time course involves 21 hours or more ‘supervised study’. If your course is defined as part-time and involves less than 21 hours study then Carer’s Allowance may be an option and you should call our free Helpline to discuss this further. 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Imogen with the GB women’s wheelchair rugby team Did you know that Contact’s policy lead Imogen Steele is a sporting superstar in her spare time? Imogen won gold in the 2023 Women’s World Cup as part of Great Britain’s wheelchair rugby team, and she regularly trains with some of the Paralympic team. And Imogen even features in the advert for the Paralympics, which will be shown on the TV in the run-up to the event. The Paralympics will take place on 28 August to 8 September in Paris. Over 4,400 athletes will compete in 22 sports, spanning 549 events over the course of the event. Imogen is looking forward to watching some of her teammates take on the wheelchair rugby teams from around the world. She said: “Wheelchair rugby is a fun and brutal sport. I started playing rugby at the age of 12, after the then GB captain visited my school to talk in an assembly. I fell in love with this tactical, high-paced sport from the moment I sat in a rugby chair. It is a sport where regardless of your physical ability, every player is valuable. Contact’s policy lead Imogen starring in the Paralympics 2024 advert “Wheelchair rugby gives me a sense of freedom, community and a competitive outlet for the stresses of daily life. I would highly recommend watching the wheelchair rugby. It’s taking place between 29th August and the 2nd September 2024.” Contact runs a range of disability sport sessions for disabled children and young people where funding allows. Earlier this year we held sessions in Wales and Yorkshire, which were fun, accessible for all disabilities and family-friendly. We list all upcoming event on our Eventbrite account. ShareCopy URLCopied!Share via EmailShare via FacebookShare via TwitterShare via WhatsAppShare via LinkedIn
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The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has announced its recommendations for the autumn Covid booster programme. The JCVI’s recommendation – which the government has accepted – is that the following groups receive a vaccine later this year: Anyone aged six months to 64 years in a clinical risk group (as defined in tables 3 and 4 of the COVID-19 chapter of the Green Book). Adults aged 65 years and over. Residents in a care home for older adults. This year, the JCVI is not recommending the booster for unpaid carers and household contacts of people with immunosuppression, as it has done in the past. If your child is eligible, the NHS will contact you to book an appointment online, attend a walk-in service or arrange the vaccine with your GP. Flu vaccine details Details for the 2024 flu vaccine programme are also available online. From 1 September 2024, the flu vaccine will be available to: All children aged two or three years on 31 August 2024. Primary school-aged children (from Reception to Year 6) Secondary school aged children (from Year 7 to Year 11) All children in clinical risk groups aged from six months to less than 18 years. Pregnant women. From 1 October 2024, the flu vaccine will be available to, among others: Those aged 18 years to under 65 years in clinical risk groups (as defined by the Green Book, Influenza Chapter 19) Carers in receipt of Carer’s Allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person. Close contacts of immunocompromised individuals. Usually, two and three-years olds are eligible for the nasal vaccine, which they’ll receive at the GP surgery. School age children up to the age of 15 will be offered the vaccine nasal spray at school. Babies aged six months to two years with a long-term condition will be offered the injected vaccine at the GP surgery. The nasal spray is not licensed for under-twos. Read more about the flu vaccine and the covid vaccine. ShareCopy URLCopied!Share via EmailShare via FacebookShare via TwitterShare via WhatsAppShare via LinkedIn
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We have free workshops coming up for parent carers living in the Midlands or London who have children with autism this August. Tuesday 20 August, 7-9pm: Supporting Sleep A child who does not sleep well can affect the whole family. This 2-hour long workshop looks at autism and sleep difficulties alongside ideas and tips to help promote better sleep for your child. If you are a parent living in London please register for your free place here. Parents in the Midlands please use this link to sign up to this workshop. Wednesday 21, 10am -12: Support for Siblings and Young Carers Parents often talk to us about the importance of siblings and the difficulties that can arise for the siblings of a disabled child. This online workshop will look at siblings’ relationships, the positives and challenges siblings and young carers may face and supportive strategies to help. Please register your free place if you live in London here. If you are a parent carer in the Midlands. Friday 23 August, 10am-12: Autism and Mental Wellbeing This online workshop aims to help increase your understanding of what it’s like to have autism and help support your child or young person develop a positive understanding of their autistic identity alongside strategies to achieve and maintain good mental health. Please register your free place here if you are a parent in London. Parents in the Midlands please sign up here. About these workshops and our Autism Central project Contact is one of nine not-for-profit organisations that make up Autism Central. The project provides parents and carers of autistic people easy access to autism education, training and support in regional hubs across England. Together with Ambitious about Autism, we run the London and Midlands hubs. Our hubs offer group and one-to-one sessions to help you and other parents and carers find the information and services available in your area. We may also run events such as workshops, drop-in sessions, coffee mornings or virtual meet-ups. Find out more about what’s coming up in the Midlands and London. ShareCopy URLCopied!Share via EmailShare via FacebookShare via TwitterShare via WhatsAppShare via LinkedIn
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If you are a parent carer living in London or the Midlands and care for an autistic child, please join our free online workshops coming up on 13 and 14 August. These workshops are designed to provide you with information advice to help support your child navigate starting or changing school. Both primary and secondary school online workshops will: • Help you understand more about the change to primary school or from primary to secondary school, including how to support your autistic child in this process • Tell you more about your options as a parent in terms of schooling, and educational support for your autistic child or young person. • Provide you with strategies and tips to make the change to primary or from primary to secondary as smooth as possible. Moving to secondary school, Tuesday 13 August, 10am – 12: If you live in London please book your free place here. For families in the Midlands please use this link. Moving to primary school: Wednesday 14 August, 10am-12: For parents in London, please book your free place. For families in the Midlands. Other workshops coming up in August include: supporting sleep; support for siblings and young carers; autism and mental wellbeing; supporting play; understanding meltdowns and shutdowns and understanding sensory processing. For more information about all of our Autism Central workshops we are offering this summer for London and Midlands families please take a look at our Midlands Autism Hub or our London Autism Hub. ShareCopy URLCopied!Share via EmailShare via FacebookShare via TwitterShare via WhatsAppShare via LinkedIn
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Universal Credit is the new benefit that is replacing the existing system of means tested benefits and tax credits – known as the legacy benefits. The process of moving existing legacy benefit claimants onto Universal Credit is known as managed migration. This process is now well underway with more than 60,000 claimants per month being asked to claim Universal Credit. However, no-one is moved onto Universal Credit automatically. Instead, you will need to make a claim. Universal Credit have strict deadlines for you to do this by, if you want to be eligible for transitional protection payments to make sure that you are not left worse off. Join us on 12 August Join our special webinar via Zoom on Monday 12 August between 10 and 11.30am, to find out more about what you need to do once you receive a managed migration notice, asking you to make a claim for Universal Credit. The webinar will look at: What you need to do if you receive a ‘managed migration notice, telling you that your legacy benefits are ending and asking you to claim Universal Credit instead The strict deadlines for claiming Universal Credit, if you want to be considered for transitional protection to make sure that you are not left worse off How transitional protection can be lost due to certain changes in circumstances and how it is eroded over time How to make a claim for Universal Credit and what the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) will expect of you once you have lodged your claim This webinar will be presented by benefits advisers from Contact’s Family Finance team. To find out more about this webinar and to sign up, visit our Eventbrite page. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. New to webinars? A webinar is a presentation live on the internet. You will be able to hear the presentation live, follow the slides and submit questions for the presenters to answer. You will need a home computer, laptop, tablet or smart phone. Book your free place and join us on 12 August. Can’t make 12 August? We have lots of information about managed migration to Universal Credit on our website. We will also post a recording of the webinar on our webpages, shortly after the event has taken place. ShareCopy URLCopied!Share via EmailShare via FacebookShare via TwitterShare via WhatsAppShare via LinkedIn
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We have lots of FREE online parent workshops for parent carers of children with autism throughout the rest of July and August as part of our work with Autism Central which aims to make it easier to learn more about autism and services available to parent carers. Friday 26 July and 6 August, 10am-12: Understanding meltdowns and shutdowns. This workshop will help you gain an understanding of how stress and anxiety can impact autistic people more about autistic burnout, meltdowns and/ or shutdowns alongside practical ideas to help you and the person you support Find out more and book your free place for the workshop on 26 July or 6 August. Wednesday 7 August, 10am-12: Supporting play. This workshop is designed to support you understand more about why play is important alongside tips and ideas for play with your child. Please book your free place here if you are a parent in London. Parents in the Midlands. Friday 9 August, 10am-12: Understanding Sensory Processing. This workshop is designed to support your understanding of sensory processing differences and explore different strategies to help. Book your free place. Wednesday 21 August, 10am-12. Supporting Siblings aims to help you understand more about how to support siblings and young carers in your family. Book a free place if you live in London. If you live in the Midlands. All of these workshops are commissioned by NHS England’s Workforce, Training and Education Team and are part of the Autism Central programme offering families and carers of autistic people high-quality and accessible autism information, education and coaching. Contact and Ambitious about Autism are the London and Midlands Regional Hub partners for the programme. ShareCopy URLCopied!Share via EmailShare via FacebookShare via TwitterShare via WhatsAppShare via LinkedIn
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A consultation on changes to the disability benefit Personal Independence Payment (PIP) closes on Tuesday 23 July, two weeks today. PIP is a non-means tested benefit that helps with the extra costs of disability for people aged 16 to pension age. PIP replaces Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for children when they turn 16 in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. In Scotland, Adult Disability Payment is replacing PIP. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has set out options for reforming PIP in England and Wales. The green paper Modernising Support for Independent Living includes: Redesigning assessments to target disabled people and people with a formal diagnosis. Making assessments more linked to a person’s condition. Moving away from a fixed-cash benefit system to vouchers or payments based on people submitting receipts for expenditure. Placing more responsibility on local services to better meet disabled people’s needs. At Contact, we are worried that a desire to make spending cuts could have a serious impact on disabled young people. You can respond to the consultation by completing an online form or email consultation.modernisingsupport@DWP.GOV.UK if: You would like to respond via email. You have any other enquiries specifically relating to this consultation. The consultation closes on Tuesday 23 July. ShareCopy URLCopied!Share via EmailShare via FacebookShare via TwitterShare via WhatsAppShare via LinkedIn
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School summer holidays have started in Scotland and are on the horizon in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We have updated our holiday web pages recently which include information about early bird sessions, carer passes, leisure discounts and much more. We recently held a Facebook Q&A for parents looking for help and advice about activities, childcare and holidays during the summer break. Almost 50 parents asked questions during the hour-long session. The top two questions were: What accessible activities are there locally? For families in England a good place to start is to look at your council’s Local Offer. It will include the support and facilities families can find in their area for children and young people who have special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland most councils have information on their website about playschemes and clubs locally for children with additional needs. What are the best places to go to for help with funding towards holidays and play schemes? Many charities can help families with this, ranging from small local charities to large national organisations such as the Family Fund – who often help with holidays. Our Grants webpage has information and tips about searching for a grant, as well as our own downloadable grants list with a summary of grant-giving charities and trusts. You can also use the online Grants Search tool on our website to search for available grants for holidays and play schemes. Equipment to help you and your child enjoy being out and about If you are looking for fantastic products to help you get out about during the holidays our Fledglings shop has everything you could need. Swim wear, ear defenders, changing mats are all available and more. Looking for something to do? Here is a list of wheelchair accessible beaches around the UK. The charity Kids in Museums last week revealed the 18 museums, galleries and heritage sites in the UK shortlisted for an award. They are recognised for being welcoming, fun and accessible venues. Why not try them out this summer? Best Accessible Museum Cooper Art Gallery Barnsley Streetlife Museum, Hull Wakefield Museum In the Best Accessible Museum category, the shortlisted venues use innovative ways to welcome families with children who have additional needs, including: exhibitions devoted to sharing stories of deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people, Makaton Monday video features on social media, weekly relaxed openings and sensory materials to support visits. Best Small Museum Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea Museum of the Order of St John, London National Civil War Centre, Newark Nothe Fort, Weymouth Story Museum, Oxford Best Medium Museum Discover Children’s Story Centre, London Museum of the Home, London Museum of Making, Derby Turner Contemporary, Margate Best Large Museum National Galleries Scotland – Modern One, Edinburgh Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester Young V&A, London ShareCopy URLCopied!Share via EmailShare via FacebookShare via TwitterShare via WhatsAppShare via LinkedIn
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Our friends at law firm Irwin Mitchell will be running a free online workshop for parent carers of children with rare conditions all about Deputyship and the Court of Protection. Please note: this workshop is aimed at parent carers in England. Join the workshop on Thursday 18 July, 7-9pm, to learn more about: The Mental Capacity Act 2005 and at what age this starts to apply. How best-interests decision-making works for somebody who lacks capacity. The role of the Court of Protection. What welfare deputyships are and who can be a deputy. What kind of circumstances makes a welfare deputyship necessary. Practical steps to seeking deputyship. The role and responsibility of a deputy. Is deputyship really requiredm and how do you maintain a voice in decision making? Book your free place at this workshop on Eventbrite. The workshop will be facilitated by David York, Chartered Legal Executive from Irwin Mitchell LLP. David is a Chartered Legal Executive in the Public Law & Human Rights team, specialising in Court of Protection and community care cases and represents vulnerable adults and their families in cases where disputes occur either in relation to mental capacity or best interests. Read more on our website about mental capacity and parental responsibility and rare conditions. ShareCopy URLCopied!Share via EmailShare via FacebookShare via TwitterShare via WhatsAppShare via LinkedIn
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Autism Central – a programme offering families and carers of autistic people high-quality and accessible autism information, education and coaching – have launched a new podcast to help parent carers learn more about what sensory processing is and differences autistic people can experience. Listen to the first four episodes which are available now. FREE online sensory processing workshop for parent carers in London and the Midlands We’re holding a free workshop to help you understand more about sensory processing on Thursday 18 July, 10am-12 for parent carers in London and in the Midlands. Often people with additional needs have different sensory perceptions of the world and they may find it difficult to process the information they receive through their senses. Understanding your child’s sensory profile (and your own) can help with developing approaches to reduce stress and promote wellbeing. This workshop will help you to understand more about sensory processing, how it impacts how we feel, behave and learn. as well as strategies to support your family. For parent carers living in London and the Midlands you can find out more about this workshop and sign up to your free place on our Eventbrite page. Contact and Ambitious about Autism are the London and Midlands Regional Hub partners for the Autism Central programme. L ShareCopy URLCopied!Share via EmailShare via FacebookShare via TwitterShare via WhatsAppShare via LinkedIn
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