Education and care and support services

There are disadvantages and advantages of educating children and young disabled people in separate schools. A girl with restricted movement in one side tells how the cruelty of other girls in school led her to ask if she could attend a special school. She says that in the special school:

It was much easier to make friends and I didn’t feel an outsider any more. Everyone had a disability and no one was self-conscious about it. They treated each other as human beings and you could be friends with anyone.

 

This young woman is however aware of her loss of contact with the outside world. Another woman who suffered from a disease called brittle bones tells of her isolation until she went to a boarding school for girls with disabilities. Here she learnt the joy of sharing doubts and fears.

If people with a disability are to lead a full life in the community, practical help and support are needed. These services are provided either by health authorities or by local social services departments. Services provided by local authorities can vary from area to area but are likely to include the following: of daily living and organise aids and adaptations for the home;

· social workers providing advice, information and counselling;

· home care stuff to help with personal care at home;

· meals-on-wheels;

· occupational therapists who provide advice on the practicalities

· day-centers offering a variety of educational, therapeutic and recreational facilities.

All of these services may be charged for, although usually on a means-tested basis.

(By Y. Pat, Mastering Social Welfare.)

21 Explain the meaning of the words and phrases underlined in the passage ‘Education and Care and Support Services’. Make up sentences using these words and phrases.