My son is now 32, but in my role as Chairman of a Charity concerned with disabled children, I remember pleading with the authorities to change the system so that the "professionals" came to the children in one place, rather than the children being dragged here there and everywhere. We waited for 6 months for a test to see if he was colour blind, essential for his statement according to the professionals. I was an ex social worker who used to run a Brownie pack, there had never ever been any indication that he had difficulty with colours, but what did I, as a mother, know? I only live a few minutes away from the local hospital where this particular consultant was holding a clinic. I rang in advance, explained my son's disability, and asked them to ring me if there was likely to be a delay, then I could come down at the last minute. Nevertheless, we waited in a general hospital outpatients department for well over an hour, by which time he was climbing over everything, scowls at me from all directions (my other son was always perfectly behaved). Then finally it was our turn to see the consultant. The colour charts had numbers in dots of one colour, surrounded by dots of another colour. My son had SLD and did not recognise numbers - so the whole appointment was a complete and utter waste of time! I still remember the way I felt about it all 25 years later, so the idea of a SWD team seemed great. Shame it doesn't work in practice. Parents with young disabled children need all the support they can get.
