Nursery World - Services exclude disabled parents

Children's services in the UK have been urged to assess how they support disabled parents. The National Family and Parenting Institute (NFPI) last week said that there are at least 1.2 million disabled parents -including adults with learning difficulties, mental health difficulties, physical and sensory impairments - in Britain who often face additional barriers in getting their needs recognised and met, and in accessing mainstream services. These barriers range from not being able to access parent and toddler groups or school buildings to information only being available in printed form.

The National Family and Parenting Institute (NFPI) last week said that there are at least 1.2 million disabled parents - including adults with learning difficulties, mental health difficulties, physical and sensory impairments - in Britain who often face additional barriers in getting their needs recognised and met, and in accessing mainstream services. These barriers range from not being able to access parent and toddler groups or school buildings to information only being available in printed form.

Clem Henricson, NFPI head of research, said, 'Disabled parents may come up against barriers in many aspects of their role, from feeding their baby to attending a school parents' evening or being able to go on holiday as a family. While many local authorities are beginning to recognise the parenting responsibilities of disabled parents, there is still much to be done.'

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