Fairer Scotland

Tom’s story

April 24, 2019 by fairer-scotland No Comments | Category Disabilities

Tom’s story is part of a series of life stories about disabled children and young people and how the information in the Supporting Disabled Children, Young People and their families has helped them.

Tom’s mum Laura tells their story.

Caring for a child with exceptional health care needs is an intense and often stressful job, which can feel lonely at times.  I often feel like I am running on empty just to keep on top of the day to day medical demands of Tom’s care.  So, when a difficulty arose which needed escalated such as the issues with school, it felt very overwhelming and like we had to find time and energy we just didn’t have to keep our son safe.

Kindred offered practical help by completing paperwork and pulling together the information for a placing request within a couple of days – something which would have taken us weeks to get finished and would have held the whole process up even further, causing even more distress.  Just as importantly, they also offered emotional support at a very upsetting time.  I felt someone really heard and understood our issues.

Kindred showed empathy and acknowledged the human side of the situation, all the while directing to us towards potential solutions.  We were not just a case or a set of circumstances…. we were a family in crisis who had been let down and urgently needed help.  All of this helped ease the isolation and stress, and progressed our case forward much quicker.

Tags: supporting disabled children, young people

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