What we do
Giving Information
We know that information about disabled children's services is often incomplete, out of date, or hard to find.
It seems that every time we speak to someone, we learn something new. Any useful information we come across gets added to this website.
Our Resources section contains a wealth of information about key topics, such as education, childcare, short breaks, transition or direct payments, as well as contact details of local and national support organisations.
If you can't find what you're looking for, please get in touch and we'll try to help.
Visit our Resources section
Ask us a question
Researching
In order to be representative, we regularly ask parent carers in Sheffield for their views on a range of issues. This provides us with valuable information to feed back to decision-makers. The research is carried out in a variety of ways, including meetings, questionnaires and telephone interviews.
How you can help
Please become a member and select any or all of the three consultation options on the form (email, telephone or post).
Members who join our email or text messaging list will automatically receive invitations to upcoming consultation events.
Become a member
See current consultations
Representing
We work in partnership with Sheffield City Council and NHS Sheffield to improve services for our children. Our parent representatives sit on high-level strategic groups to voice the opinions and concerns of parent carers. You can read, and comment on, their meeting notes in the Resources section of this website (from September 2011).
How you can get involved
Join a subgroup: Our friendly, informal subgroups on Education and Health meet regularly to provide mutual support and influence policy in Sheffield. All parents welcome!
Visit the Calendar for meeting dates
Become a parent representative: This needn’t be a huge commitment - all it takes is a few hours per month! No special skills needed, as full training and support will be provided.
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Influencing
We run targeted campaigns on issues that our members have identified as priorities, and urgently need more volunteers to help with this work.
Campaign on Speech and Language Therapy
At almost every event and consultation we have organised over the past two years, parents have raised concerns about a lack of Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) input for their children.
A review of SLT provision in Sheffield shows that:
- There are significantly fewer children on the active caseload of the SLT service than would be expected for Sheffield's child poplulation.
- The capacity of the service is 40% lower than the national average.
- The service itself estimates that it only meets 25% of identified need.