Asking - 'what can be done?' and (more) research.
Campaign to Challenge Blame 2024
Hello once more and welcome to June’s edition of ‘Campaign to Challenge Blame’.
In early July I’m due to attend a conference around ‘systems generated trauma’ (hosted by Cerebra Legal Entitlements and Problem Solving Project - LEaP). The focus will, in part, be around parent-carer blame and the trauma that can be created for families (of disabled children) by accessing public services.
The conference aims to include discussion around the following topics:
Complex Systems Generated Trauma: what needs to be done?
What can we do to bring meaningful change?
I would love to be able to present the views from subscribers to this newsletter - please do contact me with your thoughts and opinions around these discussion points. (alicerunningwriter@gmail.com)
A similar question was included within our 2022 / 2023 survey (Parental Blame and the PDA Profile of Autism) where we asked parent-carer respondents ‘What changes would parent-carers like to see?’
Responses included:
greater access to education around the legal rights of parent-carers,
a legislated system to ensure social workers are sufficiently competent in understanding autism,
a separate social care pathway for autistic families that does not use Working Together Guidance / or uses revised Working Together Guidance,
a public review into how support for autistic families is delivered (with specific reference to the lack of suitability of the Camhs pathway),
enhanced training around the PDA presentation for first tier professionals, such as teaching staff,
reducing the reliance on emergency services for mental health crisis / autistic distress.
I hope to feedback from the conference in July’s newsletter.
RESEARCH: ‘Babies in Care Proceedings’ - parents with ‘learning difficulties’, including ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia …
An interesting piece of research has been released regarding parents with ‘learning disabilities and difficulties’ (researchers terminology) and their experiences within the UK Family Courts. Researchers (using Public Health England definitions) included neurodivergent parents within their study cohort, specifically parents with ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia (autism was not included).
The research found that (using a sample of 200 cases) 1 in 3 parents at risk of having their children removed from their care had ‘learning disabilities or difficulties’.
Other findings included:
“In approximately three quarters of the reviewed children’s case files, parents’ learning disabilities or learning difficulties had been identified at a very late stage – that is, within care proceedings … Professionals of all types thought this was far too late and that there were missed opportunities to identify at an earlier stage ... The main barriers to earlier identification described by professionals of all types included: the costs for local authorities in getting an assessment done earlier and social workers not having the right training, experience, authority, or time to screen effectively or to trigger a further in-depth assessment ... Late identification of parental learning disabilities or learning difficulties meant that social worker communications, key (parenting) assessments and parenting support services were very unlikely to be tailored to parents’ learning needs. Professionals of all types considered that, in these circumstances, parents were less likely to be engaged effectively in pre-proceedings work …”
One of the recommendations proposed by the research team is to:
“Explore with Social Work England the extent to which social work qualification training includes a sufficient focus on the skills and knowledge base required to work effectively with parents with learning disabilities or difficulties.”
Such recommendations match suggestions made by respondents to ‘Parental Blame and the PDA Profile of Autism’ - are social workers sufficiently competent to recognise neurodivergence in parents / families and tailor their practices to fully include neurodivergent parents?
The research team also note the use of parenting capacity assessment tools (such as PAMS) within the family court arena and suggest that by using such as a standalone assessment, parents were not given opportunity to make improvements. This finding is of interest to me as I would suggest that standardised parenting capacity assessment tools are not designed for neurodivergent parents and may very well place neurodivergent parents at a disadvantage should they be utilised. (This is an area in which more research is needed, however concerned social work professionals are seeking to develop new tools for assessment.)
Read the full research at:
Burch, K., Simpson, A., Taylor, V., Bala, A. and Morgado De Queiroz, S. (2024). Babies in care proceedings: What do we know about parents with learning disabilities or difficulties? Nuffield Family Justice Observatory.
Until next time,
My very best wishes,
Alice X