The Disabled Children’s Partnership

Together with 120 charities and thousands of parents, we are campaigning to make disabled children a priority in government. We want to end the battle for education, social care and health support.

Disabled children want nothing more than the ‘ordinary’ things that other children take for granted.

Fight for Ordinary is our latest campaign, which sets out a positive vision for a reformed special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system in England, while also protecting existing legal rights.

What we want

Disabled children and their families should have a right to access the services and support they need to live a good quality of life and have the same opportunities as any other family.  This is an injustice and must change. That why Contact set up and leads the Disabled Children’s Partnership (DCP).

Fight for Ordinary highlights the simple fact that disabled children and young people and their families want nothing more than the ‘ordinary’ things that other children take for granted.

The campaign report lays out a five-point plan to make ‘once-in-a-generation’ changes that will improve the lives of disabled children, young people and their families. 

Key recommendations

The Fight For Ordinary campaign is calling for:

• Legally guaranteed support for all children who need it, not only those with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
• The correct provision of training and specialist support to ensure that nurseries, schools, and colleges are set up to properly support disabled and neurodivergent children.
• Comprehensive local area plans that ensure the right mix of mainstream and specialist school places along with sufficient specialist staff.
• Systems which can adequately measure the progress and experiences of children and young people with SEND, to ensure no child is left behind.
• Adequate funding and the right incentives within the SEND system to ensure reforms succeed.

A parent’s view

Linda Taylor Cantrill, from Exmouth, Devon, is mum to seven-year-old twins. Reddington has complex needs including visual and hearing impairment and Teddy is autistic.

She said: “I have come to think of children with special needs like my sons as “throwaway children” because that’s how the system treats them. They are an inconvenience and just figures on spreadsheets – not living, breathing children with potential. Even before lockdown, the entire system that was supposed to support them worked against them. It is so complicated, it’s a full-time job for a parent to fight for their child and slash through the red tape.

“We were abandoned in the pandemic and our children are still paying the cost. The government has a chance now to change this situation for the better and fund support for families who are on their knees.”

What we’ve achieved

The DCP has: 

• Published five major research reports, with significant media and parliamentary interest.
• Secured £30 million for a short breaks innovation fund.
• Campaigned for the Law Commission review of the legal framework for disabled children’s social care.

DCP ‘s vision

• Make disabled children a priority. Those at the heart of politics need to prioritise the needs of disabled children and their families. They must acknowledge disabled children and their families as equal, valued members of society. We want the new government to commit to the appointment of a Minister for Disabled Children and to produce a cross-party disabled children’s strategy. 
• Clarify and enforce rights, and review the law. The government must commit to stronger accountability within the SEND system; to making the education system inclusive; and to ensuring that disabled children and young people receive the support they need across the education, health and social care systems. 
• Address funding shortfalls and create a dedicated fund for disabled children. Making disabled children the priority and having a system that is fit for purpose with effective accountability will help make this happen. But the right level of funding is also vital.

Visit the DCP website for all our latest campaign and research activity.

Who’s in the DCP?

For the full list, visit the DCP’s website.