Developing Advocacy for Children and Young People by Christine Oliver Jane Dalrymple

Author:Christine Oliver, Jane Dalrymple [Christine Oliver, Jane Dalrymple]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Politics, Social Services & Welfare, Social Science, Social Work
ISBN: 9781846427893
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Published: 2008-04-15T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

Providing Advocacy for Disabled Children, Including Children Without Speech

Abigail Knight and Christine M. Oliver

Introduction

It is well documented that children and young people have traditionally been excluded from participating in decisions affecting their everyday lives. For several reasons, disabled children and young people are even more likely to be excluded in this way. First, they are growing up in a society that tends to value passivity in children and views disabled children as particularly vulnerable and in need of protection. Second, disabled children are more likely to be the subject of abuse and neglect (Marchant and Page 1993). Third, they are more likely to enter the care system, where some are still at risk of abuse (Russell 1995). So that the well-being and rights of disabled children are safeguarded, it is crucial, therefore, that disabled children and young people have the opportunity to access independent advocacy (Sherwood 2004).

The need for disabled children and young people to be able to access advocacy has been recognised by government policy. The Social Services Inspectorate report of 1994, Services to Disabled Children and their Families, made the recommendation that social services departments should provide advocacy schemes for disabled children to enable them to express their wishes. More recently, the Strategy Unit report (2004), Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People, states that disabled young people will need increased opportunities to access advocacy in the future.

Advocacy for disabled children is indeed important. Yet, how does it differ from advocacy provided for non-disabled young people? What are the potential benefits for this group and what might be the particular challenges when advocating for disabled children? Of course, disabled children do not constitute a homogenous group. For many disabled children, the practice of advocacy does not differ at all. However, for young people who experience severe learning disabilities and/or do not communicate using speech, providing advocacy may present greater challenges and dilemmas.

Drawing on the findings from a research study carried out at the Thomas Coram Research Unit (Oliver, Knight and Candappa 2006), this chapter will discuss some of the possible benefits of advocacy to disabled children and some of the difficulties facing advocates working with this group. The study involved a telephone survey of advocacy schemes in England between October and December 2003, followed by qualitative face-to-face interviews with advocates, young people, parents and professionals within ten advocacy services across England in 2004.

This chapter makes reference to the findings that emerged from both the survey and the qualitative interviews of the study that relate to disabled children. Most of the examples of disabled young people presented here are drawn from research carried out in a specialist advocacy service working with disabled children in the north of England, although some reference is also made to other disabled young people from other advocacy services included in the research. Data was obtained from 12 disabled young people using advocacy services, as well as interviews with a small number of advocates, parents and professionals working with disabled children. Further information on the research can be found in a published summary of the findings (Oliver et al.

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