UK Conservative leader David Cameron writes in the [UK] Independent about his plan for ending the red tape nightmare faced by the families of children with disabilities. He draws on what he learned from his family’s experience with his six-year-old son, Ivan, who died last February. Ivan had cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

Life for the parents of such young people is already “complicated enough without having to jump through hundreds of government hoops”, Cameron said.

He called for a streamlined system that would give parents more control over their child’s care, and improve access to education, respite, early intervention and health care. He also argued against what he called “the gospel of inclusion,” and pledged to give parents more educational choice by halting the closure of special schools.

Cameron will deliver a keynote speech on the subject at the Research Autism conference in London today.

An excerpt:

“Having your child assessed and getting the help you’re entitled to means answering the same questions over and over again, being buried under snow drifts of forms, spending hours on hold in the phone queue.

“I am determined to make life simpler for parents.”

Readers, what’s your take? Would David Cameron’s critique also hold true in the U.S.?

See related stories:

David Cameron urges end to ‘bureaucratic pain’ for parents of disabled children—Guardian

David Cameron calls to end ‘bureaucratic pain’ for families of disabled children — Telegraph

Tories to cut disability red tape—BBC News

Tories ‘will cut bureaucracy for carers’—Independent

Leading article: Compassionate Conservatism—Independent

Earlier posts here.

(Photo from UK Independent)

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 16th, 2009 at 9:44 am and is filed under benefits, international, law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.