Being a parent of a disabled person isn’t always easy. We all want our children to have the best in life and when we have a disabled child we have to try much harder for this to happen. Parents of disabled children and adults have more challenges to deal with in many ways and it is important that we recognise this.
At Careers with Disabilities, we do recognise this. And we want to help. We want to help provide parents with the support and guidance they need with all of the challenges they may face.
With this in mind, we have compiled a list of helpful organisations, pages and guidances that can provide you with that extra support and guidance when you need it. We hope that you can benefit from this list both now and in the future.
Contact
Contact is a U.K. charity that aims to support families with disabled children. The charity supports families by providing information and guidance on a range of topics. They also offer an online advice service which can help with things such as finances, benefits and education.
In addition, they run services such as:
- Local contact offices for support across the U.K.
- Facebook groups for connection and support
- Workshops and events for both the children and their family
- Parent carer forums
- A 1-1 listening and befriending service for parents via phone
Contact is an incredible source of support for families all across the country. They make a big difference in the lives of many. There are lots of different ways in which they might be able to support you, so it is worth taking a good look at everything they have to offer. You never know what might help you and your family more than you could even imagine.
To find out more about the services Contact offer, visit their website.
Scope
Next up, we have Scope.
Scope is a disability equality charity that provides information and guidance for disabled people and their support systems. This includes parents.
The charity campaigns to create a fairer society for disabled people, in the hope of achieving everyday equality. They do some incredible work and their vision is one very much grounded in what disabled people really need and want.
There are lots of things that the charity offer, including volunteering roles, fundraising campaigns, jobs and research. Most importantly for this page, they have an excellent range of support services available for disabled people and their families.
Scope offers dedicated helplines for support and guidance, options for emotional support for parents, family activities, employment support, and even help with water and energy bills. All of these resources come together to provide a top-quality service for parents of disabled children and adults. There is so much that they have to offer and it is important that everyone is aware of their services and how to use them.
To read about the support and advice they provide to parents, visit their dedicated page.
Action for Children
Action for Children is a charity that supports children in lots of different ways, including support with issues such as fostering and adoption, mental health, neglect and abuse, young carers, and more. The charity specifically works with families with disabled children too and they offer a couple of different avenues of support to this group.
The main three ways that AFC support disabled children and their families include:
- Short breaks for children
- Provision of a key worker
- Local support guidance
All of these services aim to reduce the strain felt in everyday life by parents of disabled children and help the parents access a wider network of support.
To find out more, visit their page for parents, here.
Careers with Disabilities
As well as information for disabled people looking for and currently in active employment, our own site offers a range of support for parents with disabled children.
Some of our pages that may be the most relevant to you include:
Finding Financial Help in Your Area
This page is designed to help you find out more about the benefits disabled people are entitled to. There are more benefits and entitlements out there than people usually think, so it is a good idea to check that you know about all of the options and how to make use of them.
On this page, we provide information and support specifically for carers of disabled people. Including signposting of where to find more support in your area. If you are both a parent and a carer, you will find lots of useful support and guidance here.
There are several grants and schemes available to disabled people to help make employment more accessible. This includes the Access to Work scheme that helps to cover the costs of any necessary adjustments within the workplace setting. If your child is beginning their journey to employment, this is very worthwhile information to know.
We have created a hub dedicated to providing tailored information and guidance for specific disabilities. This hub includes individual pages relating to different kinds of visible and invisible disabilities. The pages can help you learn about certain conditions and how they can be managed within a work setting too.
Hopefully, our guides will help you even further with finding the information you need. If you have any more unanswered questions, feel free to reach out to us directly so we can help.
