{"id":31963,"date":"2023-07-17T16:32:44","date_gmt":"2023-07-17T15:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/?p=31963"},"modified":"2023-07-26T17:09:13","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T16:09:13","slug":"family-respite-care-parent-carers-siblings-school-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/blog\/family-respite-care-parent-carers-siblings-school-holidays\/","title":{"rendered":"Families like ours could benefit so much from respite in the school holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Catherine lives in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, with her partner and her two sons, Marshall, 12, and Reuben, 9. Marshall has a diagnosis of autism and global developmental delay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this blog supporting our Give Carers a Break campaign<\/a><\/strong>, Catherine tells us about her life as a parent carer, and why respite care<\/a> for parent carers and siblings is so vital.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Catherine,<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Being a parent carer is challenging, rewarding and wonderful all in one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is never a dull moment in our house. It\u2019s full of laughter and emotions. On some days the challenges can be harder, but we do our best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summer holidays are a difficult time for our family<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On a typical day, it can feel a bit like a military operation making sure things run smoothly in our house!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s all the usual demands of taking care of two children, plus lots of extra considerations, like making sure Marshall always has ear defenders and sunglasses to help with his sensory difficulties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have to make sure our routine is always the same, and try to keep everything running smoothly, so that Marshall doesn\u2019t become overwhelmed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

School holidays are difficult for our family, particularly the summer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Even a little respite during this time would allow parents like us to refocus and have a small break. It would stop the cycle of exhaustion and allow us to refocus on priorities.”<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Six weeks of disrupted routines is hard for the kids, and it\u2019s hard to juggle work with accessing activities that cater for our children\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our local authority has provided us with a Max Card, which gives us discounts to some activity venues, but there aren\u2019t many places local to us where we can use it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accessing places during the school holidays is often expensive, and if it\u2019s busy it can be overwhelming for Marshall, so we don\u2019t stay for long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s during this time that we\u2019d really benefit from respite care<\/a>, giving us the ability to have a short break from caring. But as parent carers, we don\u2019t receive respite care in our area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The short breaks offered in our area aren\u2019t enough<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Catherine,<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In our area, we\u2019re offered short breaks of a couple of hours. This is welcome, but it\u2019s not enough time to actually allow a break. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019d have to travel there and back to drop the kids off, meaning there\u2019s very little time for an actual rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Registering with the service so that we can access these short breaks has also been a really time-consuming process, due to the local authority having staffing issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you\u2019re registered, it\u2019s difficult to book onto things, as the demand is so high, they are fully booked months in advance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even a little respite during this time would allow parents like us to refocus and have a small break. It would stop the cycle of exhaustion and allow us to refocus on priorities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an ideal world, there would be local groups in our town that could support people with disabilities. This way, disabled people would be included more, and others would have an opportunity to learn about their experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Siblings need respite too<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I think siblings should also have access to activities and respite, along with young carers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reuben is such a wonderful brother. He often makes changes to accommodate Marshall. For example, he often needs to adapt around Marshall\u2019s needs when we go out as a family. It can sometimes feel like Reuben has missed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our local authority doesn\u2019t offer any activities or respite for siblings. That\u2019s why we\u2019re so grateful for the opportunities offered by Sense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sense\u2019s siblings service<\/a> allows Reuben to experience new things, outside of the home, without all the extra stress of the whole family having to leave and go out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He always looks forward to the gaming session to play Fall Guys with his friends, and the book club. Without this project, Reuben wouldn\u2019t have access to these things locally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

All parent carers deserve support and community<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Being a parent carer has its difficulties, but a friend once told me, \u201cYou\u2019ll find your tribe\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were right \u2013 when I found others in the same position as me, I felt so supported and understood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We access our local parent forum groups, where we\u2019ve met other parents of children with additional needs. While it isn\u2019t a complete break, it\u2019s been very comforting and useful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been a huge help to me as a parent carer. Having more opportunities for this kind of support would be invaluable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love caring for Marshall. But having a break from caring allows you to refocus on just being you, and also makes everyone much happier and less stressed. Everybody needs that sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n
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Everybody deserves a break<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Being able to take a break from caring is essential, but many people struggle to access the respite they\u2019re entitled to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will you add your name and help give carers the break they need?<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

\n Sign now<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Catherine tells us about her life as a parent carer, and why respite care for parent carers and siblings is so vital.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":32018,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"display_author":[1231],"class_list":["post-31963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","display_author-catherine-2"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31963"},{"taxonomy":"display_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display_author?post=31963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}