When a disabled person has a lifelong disability, or condition that will not change or diminish, they should not have to go through Light Touch Reviews at 10 years. If someone cannot self-advocate, they can be taken advantage of and can be manipulated. Medical Consultants give enough evidence through their reports that 10 year Light Touch Reviews are un-necessary. Our daughter Holly is Certified Sight Impaired, On the DeafBlind Register, cannot use phones or fill in forms, yet we are still being told she will need a Light Touch Review at the 10-year mark, HOW? Terminally ill people need to be fast tracked & the current system is too slow, people are dying before they are in receipt of benefits!
Why is this important?
Young people and Adults with special educational needs and a lifelong disability cannot self-advocate, nor can we rely upon the system to protect them. Advocates and social workers come & go, we need to address the shortage of social workers in the SEND system. These genuinely disabled and terminally ill people are not
work shy, they are being told that despite evidence to the contrary they must work, or that they don't qualify. They cannot defend themselves and quite frankly, our government should be doing its level best to protect them, instead poorly qualified assessors employed by US companies, who’s aims are profit driven are in charge of assessment. Assuming everyone is a criminal & treating genuinely disabled & terminally ill people like this is unacceptable! Terminally ill people need to be fast tracked as soon as they are diagnosed!
