Based in Birmingham. Created and run by award winning SEND parent carer. Chair of PCF before I quit. Staunch SEND campaigner.
#SpeakTruthToPower
Views my own ❤️
As the bank holiday comes to an end, I reflect on this. Tonight I was bathing my 18 year old severely disabled son. I remembered vividly, bathing him when he was teeny tiny…born 12 weeks early so still on the small side when we were finally able to bring him home from hospital.
Today, I received the decision that my severely disabled son's specialist transport, which costs £18,000 a year, will be replaced by a personal transport budget. Under this new arrangement, I am expected to provide the same level of specialist service for only 45p per mile. The
@geohollifield
@LinthorpeSchool
Immediate sacking and criminal charges for inciting hate and violence and making threats. We cannot have people who hold these views teaching the next generation. This is a very dangerous situation.
@vicgoddard
Unforgivable dismissiveness. The SLT at my kids mainstream school are the same. Very clique and no regard for the staff or pupils who are the fabric of the school community. I hope your sister knows that the kids appreciate her and they are the future. My daughter and her friends
This
#LearningDisabilityWeek
, I am asking
@BhamCityCouncil
, ‘Do You See’ my son?
You are stripping him of his transport to school, you are consulting on closing day care centres, you are making cuts to social care.
I want you to ‘See him, Hear him and Value him.’
@JonathanPieNews
A childminder looking after children whilst simultaneously condoning the burning alive of children 😐
But she’s a good person and not racist 😐
@carolvorders
This situation serves as a clear illustration of why it is crucial for those impacted by decisions to have the chance to directly engage with the decision makers. Well done young man 👏🏼
There is extensive research that highlights the high levels of stress experienced by parents with children who have special needs. From my personal experience, this stress mainly stems from the constant struggle to access the services that our children are entitled to. It is
Spent this evening in a room full of fellow utterly exhausted send parents. Here we are again, empowering ourselves with the law so we can continue our fight. It’s so cruel. The feeling of exhaustion was palpable and visible on people faces in the room. Not a level playing field.
Mr Sunak. I worked during all the gaps I wasn’t a full time carer. I am the proud daughter and wife of men who began working from the age of 16. All my children are in full time education with 100% attendance and my daughters plan to work when they have completed their education.
I am struggling today. It’s bad. My head feels like it’s going to explode. All related to the send fight that none of us should be battling. Attended a ‘consultation’ where it was made clear that parents will be forced to go through a completely unnecessary appeals process. One
It’s now established that local authorities up and down the country are breaking the law every day when it comes to send. The question is, what is being done about this? Individual parents going mad trying to find legal support and broke if they do, is not a solution 😡
@ElissaNoves
@Warwickshire_CC
The sad thing is this isn’t an isolated incident. I have no doubt that comments like this are commonplace amongst members and officers in areas up and down the country. It’s concerning that people are feeling so emboldened to publicly externalise such inner thoughts and feelings.
@I_amMukhtar
Proud mum alert! On the day able bodied and minded young people like him, with better upbringings, are collecting their A level results. Tut tut.
@StevenEdginton
@GBNEWS
this guy is your US correspondent 😐
Speaking as a British Pakistani who has grown up encountering racism and being familiar with this derogatory word, I find solace in the fact that such discriminatory language is no longer prevalent in British pubs.
Unlike Mr Edgingon,
@Mooglet1
Wow! My sisters husband fainted. My husband bless him had been fasting all day but sat patiently and diligently with me till our son arrived just before midnight. Hours after the fast broke. It was Ramadan but I wasn’t fasting as I was pregnant. His brothers visited soon after
Another dreadfully sad week for send families. I despair. More and more I’m being made to feel like my family are such a burden on the world. Neither us nor our children asked to be in this situation. We are not at fault. Who will care and fight for them when we’re gone 😞
@davidkurten
It's interesting how perceptions can vary when it involves a specific demographic, isn't it? Why is she attempting to push her way through a police cordon, using her powered mobility scooter as if it were a weapon? If any of those officers were injured, they should consider
I know some of you are aware but for those who aren’t…I am legally challenging this issue in Birmingham. Will keep everyone posted. I know there’s issues with transport up and down the land so I’m hoping this fight will help us all. There may be an accompanying piece on Midlands
Wish I could say this is an isolated case 😞
I’m starting to believe these are deliberate tactics. Birmingham city council are using the tribunal delay to buy themselves time 😡
@jodymcintyremp
Having been very close to your campaign and witnessing first hand how much more challenging it was with all the hate you endured with such patience, you are the true winner. I don’t know why Brummies keep voting in the people that have ruined the city 🤷🏻♀️
It was extremely close
Dedicated to all send mums. 18 years on and I’m still waiting for my first born to call me mum. Still waiting to hear his voice. Have a conversation with him. I won’t ever give up hope ❤️
@narindertweets
@GMB
@Ofcom
And it’s always the same demographic who do the belittling. Stale. Pale. Male. As a SEND mum and disability campaigner, I have sat in many rooms with many old, white men and the micro aggressions are the same. They really struggle to hide their contempt, their misogyny and their
@LutsandDefoe
We want ‘are cuntry’ back now! First, it’s not your country. Second, you should probs be more concerned about getting your teeth back! The state of em!
#TheHillsHaveEyes
@GregScottTV
Or brown. Or Muslim. Or disabled. Or being unable to work because you’re a full time unpaid carer saving the country the equivalent of a second NHS every year. Imagine the hell that comes with being in all these groups at the same time 😐
Hearing from desperate parents, same as every year, still waiting to find out what the transport arrangements are for next month. Same issue every year! The head of service who has conveniently effed off to a higher post assured me it would all be sorted by July this year. Nope.
@CPMumma79
It’s a different world. I’d love to prioritise myself. I get the whole ‘you can’t look after him if you don’t look after yourself’ well meaning rhetoric. It’s not possible in real life though. x
Genuinely shocked, saddened and angered tonight to learn a fellow send parent carer, high profile, has shared truly awful racist comments. They might be old comments but that doesn’t make it ok. Knowing they harboured these thoughts at some point, enough to post them, makes me
Never get used to hearing the sheer despair of send parents when it comes to services. At last nights event a fellow send parent who is a GP & from Pakistan,said in an exasperated voice how shocked she is to see how one of the richest countries in the world treats its vulnerable.
@loftys10_09
@pixel8foto
Because they’re having to protect their homes, businesses, families and places of worship. If you took your racist, Islamophobic, bigoted specs off, you’d know 🤦🏻♀️
And these aren’t protests. They are RIOTS 😡
Currently dealing with a solicitor from the legal team of my delightful council. The sheer arrogance and awfulness of the man. Absolute worst of humanity. These are the types parents are up against when fighting for services. The fact councils employ people like him says a lot 😒
@OT_CarersUnite
Thank you. We have already made the financial contribution the previous two years as he turns 19 in October. That contribution has also been massively increased under the new policy. I have already initiated steps to challenge the decision legally and take it all the way to the
LGO insisting council complaints procedures are exhausted before they get involved is wrong.Councils are making their processes more onerous and lengthy and not meeting their own deadlines.Parents suffer from complaint fatigue and give up resulting in false claims of improvements
This one’s dedicated to all of us who make complaints and see them through. Councils are making their complaints processes more and more lengthy and onerous making it a really exhausting action. Everyone is backlogged. It takes masses of resilience to keep going ❤️
Who’s looking after us? I don’t even have the space to deal with the emotional side of my situation because I’m always fighting to get the services we’re entitled to. No other cohort is treated so poorly 😞💔
This is the stuff of every send parents nightmare and seeing it dealt with so blasé, means it has the potential to come true for so many of us 😔💔
This here is why some of us find comfort in the awful thought of burying our darling children before we ourselves leave this earth.
We can’t find the words adequately to describe our horror with this... this comes with a massive trigger warning for all parents of disabled children: Children mocked and held in headlocks by staff at special needs school
The reality that numerous SEND families in Birmingham are confronted with another summer battling for a crucial service instead of enjoying quality time with their children is absolutely unacceptable. It is truly unforgivable. Just as the short break service chose to implement
Congratulations on your win
@jessphillips
The SEND families of Yardley and Birmingham really need you to fight to protect the rights of disabled people and support their families and carers. We look forward to seeing and hearing more from you in this space and helping us to stop
Heartfelt apologies or annoyance that they got called out? The only positive here is that a light has been shone on what decision makers up & down the country really feel about send families. I have experienced this in the senior officer & member space.The contempt is widespread.
The following statements have been shared in response to comments made at the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 25 January 2024.
@ShehabKhan
I don’t think any of us in minority groups are expecting positive changes under a Labour government. Just more of then same. Here in Birmingham we are painfully aware of how useless they are. Not much difference in the two main parties anymore. Only party I’d put below them both
I'm not sure if this is considered a positive or negative outcome, but I created this account just over a year ago, when I quit the PCF, and today I reached the milestone of 1k followers. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who has, and continues to, support me on
It's not difficult to understand that if the government and local councils continue to cut services that unpaid carers rely on, it will leave us with no alternative but to place our disabled loved ones into care. This will ultimately result in a much higher cost to the country.
@mumof3amigos
Indeed. I’m interested to hear what the LGO has to say because if this is a lie, it’s being fed to cllrs and commissioners which is extremely damaging. They ought to be questioning such claims and asking for evidence rather than just believing it at face value because they want
This is a huge slap in the face to all SEND families! I don’t understand how elected members are signed up to the Nolan principles, are allowed to so blatantly disregard them but somehow haven’t breached the code of conduct 🤔
‘An insult to disabled children and their families’ says charity as complaints against SEND row councillors are dismissed | ITV News Central
@DisRightsUK
@ITVCentral
Vetted and checked in for Newsnight tonight! Really hope I get the opportunity to ask my question and get some of the spotlight shone on the impact of council cuts on send. It’s on live on BBC2 at 10:30pm tonight. x
This man is amazing! Professor Luke Clements telling it as it is. Such an amazing person and advocate for disabled families. I am in awe of him 😊
@CerebraCharity
I’ve been in the send arena for over three decades and this is by far the WORST I have ever seen things. We are concerned about my two year old nephew. Good luck to my sister in law trying to get any support now. Have already warned them that the current wait for diagnosis is
Everyone who sat in that room with those bile spewing councillors and said and did nothing, this one’s for you. Any person or organisation that sits quietly or worse, helps the evil, this one’s for you too. You know who you are 😒
I will walk through the very depths of hell for this boy. As long as there is breath in my body, he will always have mummy tigress fighting his corner 🥰