Stuck At Home
New research from Mencap, which finds that one in four adults with a learning disability are stuck at home due to cuts to day services. Nearly a third of local authorities have closed day services in the last three years, says Mencap, which issued a freedom of information request to 151 local authorities in England that provide day services. The charity also conducted a survey of 280 people with a learning disability and their families and 194 professionals working with people with a learning disability for its report, Stuck at home: the impact of day service cuts on people with a learning disability . Mencap says 88% of the people with a learning disability who took part in thei research did not feel that they were adequately consulted about changes to services, with 64% not having been asked for their views at all, even though local authorities have a legal duty to consult service users when closing or significantly changing services.
Same Difference 
It serves no purpose for people to sit at home all day. Many people with physical disabilities sit at home too – for the same reason, the closure of centres that cater for them, places where they meet other people, take part in many programmes and get out on organised trips. Local authorities have to save money, the government says so, what they don’t recognise is that people become isolated at home, need family to care for them, and the disabled person will lose all contact with friends who they have probably known for many years. This will be like a prison sentence for many!
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