Taking part in activities at home with family and friends is important to all children, but sometimes this can be more difficult for children with a disability. Sometimes you may need to change the home around to help your child manage more easily, for example by moving their bedroom to one nearer to the bathroom or downstairs. It is also important for parents to provide the appropriate level of supervision needed to keep a child safe. If you find you need more ideas to help your child, take part in activities at home have a look at the other sections of this website and take some time to try the suggestions. If, after doing this, more specialist advice is needed please consider getting in touch with your local therapy team to discuss this further or make a request for an assessment using the referral form [WORD 567KB]
Equipment
Sometimes you may need to purchase some additional equipment to help your child and there are lots of options you can find online. Some examples of this may be higher stair gates, magnetic locks for cupboards or an adjustable highchair to use as your child grows. Try using a search engine such as Google to find what you need as what is available commercially can change very quickly. There are also websites which provide more adapted commercially available items and you can find details for these in the Links and useful resources section.
If, after exploring commercial options, it is felt that a more specialist item of equipment may be needed an Occupational Therapist can carry out an assessment which could involve a representative from one or more companies to identify the most appropriate item of equipment to meet your child’s needs. This item will be provided on a loan basis and will be ordered, delivered, maintained and returned to your local Community Equipment Service (Social Services). It will be your responsibility to look after and use the equipment correctly. You will be given any relevant contact details when the piece of equipment is handed over.
Home adaptations
As part of our assessment, we may recommend that you make some changes to your home. If you live in privately rented or local authority housing the Occupational Therapist may liaise with your landlord to support recommended changes. As a homeowner there may be some changes that you would take responsibility for yourself. In a small number of cases, it may be appropriate to carry out more significant adaptations to the property when they are assessed as ‘necessary and appropriate’ and ‘reasonable and practicable’, in which case the Occupational Therapist will work with the local Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) team. The role of the Occupational Therapist is to make recommendations based on the clinical needs of the child and the rest of the process is carried out by the DFG team, including the final decision on whether an adaptation will be funded through a DFG.
Below is a video that explains what Disabled Facility Grants are and who can apply.
Home safety
Safe home environments are a priority for all families, and you can find lots of advice online if your concerns are related to your child’s safety participating in activities at home due to a disability. Your health visitor or social worker may also be able to give you advice. Using a home safety checklist can also be useful and you can find these online on websites such as The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents or the NSPCC. We’ve also put together:
We hope these will be useful for you to work through to come up with ideas as needed.
The Challenging Behaviour Foundation
Child Accident Prevention Trust also have information and advice to support safety in the home.
After you have followed these steps and allowed plenty of time to trial the different suggestions if there are still significant risks with your child’s safety at home due to their disability, the Occupational Therapy team may be able to work with you and the team around your child to find other solutions. The service offers a tiered approach to home safety. Universal advice can be accessed using the links provided in this website including the home audit tool and recommendations. Targeted intervention may be offered in the form of support and advice to parents or other professionals involved.
Where a child has a disability, and structural adaptations are identified in line with the relevant legislation the children’s Occupational Therapy service may offer specialist intervention. Disability is defined as being ‘substantial and (having a) long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day to day activities’.
For these children, the Occupational Therapy service will work to support others involved with the child to maximise safe participation in meaningful activities in the least restrictive environment through structural adaptations. This work is always undertaken as a multi disciplinary team approach.