Sadly I suffer from complex mental and physical disabilities. Over the years I have had significant problems in finding the right care and support that I need to live my life on a daily basis. The main form of help and support that I do get is from my teenage daughter who fully understands the difficulties I face and how to support me without judgement, apart from this I would not know where to find the help needed in my local community. However since settling down in my work with changing realities both online and in person, I feel that I do receive support without being judged or looked down on by all staff and participants that I have worked with.

I have disabilities which include different chronic health conditions and I am not getting proper treatments form the GP or hospital as intended. The GP is not listening my health histories and have only seen one symptom. They only provide treatment for that, ignoring others. The government should take initiative to create a holistic approach for disabled people with multiple health conditions to provide better care of service.

As an unpaid carer, I don't think disable people are well looked after. Firstly there is no recognition for unpaid carers or no allowances for them despite the time and effort they spend for caring their loved ones. Disabled family members have also limited say to their benefit entitlement. Benefit case workers don't always listen claimant's concern but decide based on what they understand. This needs to stop and they should value the concerns of disabled people and what they want to say.

I am not really sure if there is support for my caring responsibilities. I guess that answers the question to an extent as if there is support available, then I am clearly not aware of it. I have three children, one is still at home, another at university and another independent and living alone and with a good job. They all have their difficulties even when they are not at home. We are a neurodivergent family and support has always been hard to find. At the moment with a cultural and political swing to the right, support for these kinds of issues as well as mental health seems to be getting harder and even developing a stronger stigma around it due to media and propaganda that it is over diagnosed. At a recent university interview for my youngest we were investigating what the support would be for them and we came up against many barriers to even find the right people to speak to and ask. It was a very bleak scenario. A male member of staff was actually very aggressive towards me, in a public place and made other students, my child, and their friend feel very anxious and uncomfortable, just because I said the provision for support at that university looked bleak! Support generally is waning I think. I feel like organisations/institutions don't even have to keep up the illusion of support any more.

Support in the community is there on information sharing but doesn't cover the financial side of things. There are organisations for training young people and teaching parents/guardians on how to support children with disabilities. These are generally available to cover all people regardless of their ability or lack of access to public funds.

This being the thorn in the flesh because it highlights the disparities between children who have access to financial support and those without as poverty follows them. Children without support don't travel and socialise as expected due to limited funds to cover activities and meals/snacks while out of the house, limited budgets to use for engaging with friends online. If only, and only support can accommodate these children.

My concern revolves around the disparity in support for families raising children with disabilities. Specifically, families with recourse to public funds often receive essential support, while those without such recourse are left without. This exacerbates existing financial inequalities between these families and negatively impacts their children.



Families typically without recourse to public funds often consist of parents or guardians working in demanding, low-wage jobs. The hard-earned, yet minimal, income from these positions significantly deepens their poverty.



Furthermore, when considering children with non-physical disabilities, such as learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, or ADHD, these families face additional struggles. The 'invisible' nature of these disabilities often means they are overlooked for support, especially when public funds are inaccessible. This drastically lowers their standard of living and can lead children to feel inadequately provided for compared to their peers.



I hope this helps! Your message is very powerful, and I wanted to make sure the language supports that.

I have mental health issues, along with hearing difficulties and chronic migraines. I take high doses of medication which help to an extent but also have side effects of drowsiness. I am also a full time unpaid carer to my adult teen daughter who has autism. I have no family support.

We had a reasonable amount of support from social work for my daughter and a Carers Support charity for myself which were removed as Covid Lockdowns ended. Council budgets were cut ending social work support as we were assessed as being " better at coping". Charity funding was cut too. Carers Support tell me I just need to phone if I am in need of support. However, staff shortage meant nobody was available to talk with me and it would be 3 weeks before someone could call me back. The carers charity for Aberdeenshire is based around 50 miles away. I do not drive.

We have been isolated due to the withdrawn support. There is an emergency number I can call if we get to crisis point, in my file at the Carers Support charity. Nobody from the charity or social care services check in on us.

I have had a few episodes of illness, such as flu and chest infections. I have had an accident where I needed stitches in my knee. I have had to pay a taxi driver to pick up prescriptions from the chemist and drive me to the hospital.

A&E for treatment. These incidents were not crisis point enough for Carers support. I fear the day something serious happens to my health and my autistic daughter gets overwhelmed unable to call for help. We have learned that we are an inconvenience if we ask for help. My GP says I need to look after myself, so I can look after my daughter. I get no break to do so.

The best offer was an app for mindfulness. It's physical support to help clean up the flat, pick up prescriptions and groceries, make some food to feed my daughter. I'm supposed to use the disability benefits for this. We haven't had enough to pay a cleaner or home help as waited months for DWP to decide if daughter is worth her benefit with a health assessment. Also, we are paying half of our benefits into pre payment meters for gas and electric. We are aware of how wealthy politicians in Westminster decide our worth.

I do not feel supported at all and feel pretty much alone. And feel that the local council can do a lot more to help those with disabilites and those caring for others. Maybe have outreach events where carers can come together or arrange a fun session out once a month for those with disabilities and caring responsibilities.

No, I don’t think so, everything is still expensive and although it looks like the prices are going down, the quantity is reducing too.

This week was a nightmare, at home we are having boiler problems in our lower ground flat that we have rented from an agency since Christmas. The big problem is when there is no free help for private renters that are being played by the agencies or landlords. I wish the borough had free lawyers to support tenants to know more about their rights.

The expectation of services to feel it is a family matter gets to me to scream about equality yet in reality if someone is forced to put their life on hold to support a loved one family member or friend, it brings many emotional and mental issues along with the physical challenges. I believe society is very good at voicing concerns yet does nothing about it. An individual should never feel trapped into caring by guilt or fear of what people think. They say yes there's respite care etc., yet you are made to feel shame and guilt if you ask for help. We need to ensure that the primary carer of any individual feels valued, appreciated and supported to look after their mental emotional physical wellbeing and so they are empowered and encouraged to continue to give

It’s Friday. A bittersweet day tbh.

Having the children and a weekend to look forward too. But the weekend is too short.