We know that looking after a child affected by disabilities is challenging and will affect the whole family.
The Children with Disabilities Team support families who may require some additional help. They follow a set path to ensure that all are given equal opportunities and are supported to make informed decisions.
Getting started
Your local social work team can offer support and guidance without your child having a diagnosis letter.
This will depend on what support your family needs. They may decide to do an assessment to work out what support is needed or, in some cases, if funding may help the family.
Services you can access
There are many national and local services offering advice and support. These are called "universal services".
They enable you to get help from experts, and support from other parents and carers in the same situation. Anyone can contact these services, particularly if your child has a disability.
There may be other organisations or charities which focus particular disabilities. They can be very helpful sources of information and can help you to better understand the disability and how best to help your child.
Some of these services include:
- Dundee Carers (also cover Angus)
- Angus Carers will help adult carers to assess what support is available for them.
- Parent to Parent
- Angus Independent Advocacy
- PAMIS
- Scottish Autism
- Downs Syndrome Association
- Sunshine Groups: Peer support groups for Parents/Carers of children and young people with ASN. Four groups meet fortnightly using Microsoft Teams on Wednesday mornings: (to find out more call 0777 4008454)
- Angus Special Playscheme: 01241 439742
Other sources of support
Angus Special Playscheme
Holiday club for children with learning disabilities, developmental delay and ASD. Schemes are Monday to Friday during the holidays, £15 a session.
The Brae Riding for the Disabled
Horse riding lessons for children with disabilities.
Strathmore Community Rugby Trust Autism Friendly Rugby
Rugby lessons and classes for children between 5 and 12 with a diagnosis of autism.
High-5 Club
A youth club specifically for young people with high functioning autism or Asperger Syndrome. They meet Wednesday evenings at 6:30pm during the school term.
Fiona Sharp Music
Music therapy sessions, online and in-person.
The Yard
Adventure, creative and inclusive play experiences for disabled children.
Rainbow house, Dundee
Drop-in centre and creative space with Young Cook - free hot meal cooking and Computer Club as regular events. Email under12scoordinator@hotmail.co.uk
Quiet shopping hours:
- Tesco: 9am to 10am Wednesdays and Saturdays
- Asda: 2pm to 3pm, Monday to Thursday
- Morrisons: 9am to 10am on Saturdays
- Aldi: 6pm to 8:30pm on Tuesdays
- Lidl: 6pm to 8:30pm on Tuesdays
Montrose Playhouse
Family relaxed screenings every Sunday morning. The typical cinema environment can be stressful for guests with autism, sensory difficulties or learning impairments, as such we tailor the screens to the needs of the audience.
Dimensions UK
Dimensions work in partnership with various cinema chains such as ODEON, Cineworld, Vue and others to bring monthly autism friendly screenings.
RYZE Dundee
ASCEND Additional Needs Sessions run on the first Thursday of every month for £13 per person. It offers dedicated safe, active and fun sessions for guests with additional needs, their family and carers.
Leisure and Culture Dundee: Disability Sport
A range of sport and physical activity sessions are provided on a weekly basis for people with a disability. Other service areas of Leisure and Culture Dundee offer separate and integrated activities for children and adults with disabilities. For further information, please check what support is on offer by contacting the relevant officer for each programme.
Aquatics Aberdeen
Provides a comprehensive range of opportunities for individuals with ASN and their families. These include swimming lessons and relaxed family sessions, offering a quiet, safe environment with adapted equipment, available at an affordable price.
Perth & Kinross Disability Sport
PKDS is a charity that encourages and arranges activities and events for people of all ages with a physical, sensory or learning disability to get active
Innoflate
Relaxed sessions are available on the first Monday of the month between 5pm and 6pm where things are a bit quieter and adapted for individuals with additional support needs.
Salto Gymnastics Club
Disabled friendly gymnastics lessons and club on Saturdays 9am to 10am.
Sunshine Groups
Peer support groups for Parents/Carers of children and young people with ASN. Four groups meet fortnightly using Microsoft Teams on Wednesday mornings throughout Angus.
Little Rays
A fun session with music and stories for children with additional support needs delivered by a multi- agency team on Wednesdays 1:30pm to 2:30pm.
ASN Swimming Lizzie
Swimming lessons specially tailored to children with additional support needs.
Downs Syndrome Scotland
Family support, training courses and local events.
Enhance
Social services
Horizons
Accommodation and furniture for young people transitioning from care.
Angus Carers' Centre
Support for unpaid carers, independent advice, emotional, practical & mental health support.
Dundee Carers' Centre
Information and services for carers, SDS support and short breaks.
Parent To Parent
Support for parents of children with additional support needs which is associated with a disability.
Dundee & Angus ADHD Support Group
Parent support, youth group, coaching, family support, adult groups, 6 week course offered - 2 hours per week £150.
PAMIS
Family support, digital passport support, SDS support & activity organising.
Hillcrest Futures
Autism support, learning disability support, SDS support, substance abuse support, 1-1 support for young people, requiring a referral from your child's named professional at school.
Aberlour
Support for keeping families together.
Family Nurture Team
Groups and services for parents and carers, helping to build positive relationships.
Parent Sensory Training
Service providing a training model for parents and carers who children may have sensory difficulties. Lessons are available on YouTube, Teams or in- person.
Quill Accounts
A payroll service specialising in helping individuals who employ personal assistants.
Turn2Us
Turn2us is a national charity providing practical help to people who are struggling financially.
FamilyFund
UK's largest grant-making charity for families raising a disabled or seriously ill child, on a low income.
Self Directed Support Scotland
To work collaboratively to incorporate local Independent Support in every aspect of social care design and delivery. To ensure the needs and views of people accessing social care support and their support networks are valued and represented.
Independent Living Fund Scotland
Provide funding for disabled people in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Sleep Action
Provider of sleep support, training and resources who with professionals, families & employers to promote healthy sleep for everyone.
Healios
An online service who carry out mental health assessments & provide mental health interventions on behalf of NHS Tayside CAMHS (we cannot refer directly but CAMHS will use to help with waiting lists).
Penumbra
Pioneering mental health charity providing dedicated services for people experiencing mild to serious and enduring mental ill health.
CAMHS Tayside
Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services provided by the NHS.
Angus Speech and Language Therapy Service
A dedicated team working with children and young people with a range of speech, language, communication and swallowing difficulties. We work with our partners in a variety of settings including: clinics, schools, nurseries, clients’ homes and hospitals.
NEW Solutions
North East Wellbeing Solutions is a community interest company that provides help to young people and families with mental health problems and supports through interventions and programmes.
Place2Be
Mental health support in schools through one-to-one and group counselling using tried and tested methods backed by research. In addition, we also offer expert training and professional qualifications.
Autism Initiatives
Supported living and schools, a short breaks service, work placements to training, clubs and activities in locations across the UK.
Still need help?
It is important you have tried the universal services as they can offer a lot of support for you and your family.
If you need further support after this, you can ask for a Self-Directed Support (SDS) assessment.
The Children with Disability team can only help you if your child has a diagnosed disability. This means that your child will qualify for Self-Directed Support (SDS) and they can get help in different ways, ranging from advice and guidance through to a budget to help with caring needs.
You may be asked questions about you and your family as the assessment looks at the needs of the whole family.
To summarise, we can only work with families who have:
- a child or children with diagnosed disabilities (this does not include ADHD and some other behavioural difficulties. You and your family can be supported by your locality team (see below)
- tried support from other support groups (universal services) and you still need further support.
- been referred to us by their school, their doctor, other health and education professionals or a voluntary organisation to help you and your children with unmet social care needs.
You can self-refer as well by emailing dutycwd@angus.gov.uk. We would then ask to speak to a professional who works with your child.
Remember that these also need written confirmation from the NHS of your child’s diagnosis.
If you meet these conditions, contact us for advice, support, or an assessment for your child by emailing dutycwd@angus.gov.uk.
Meeting with one of the team
We will arrange to meet with you in person to discuss an assessment.
This will help us see what needs you may all have that are not being able to be met by school or NHS. This could be things like your child going to clubs, getting out in the community, doing things that make them feel listened to and included.
If a full 12-week assessment is agreed on, we will speak to the school, your GP or consultant and anyone else we agree will give the best insight on how to help.
It is important to understand that an assessment will not always lead to a financial budget and we could refer you to a service or charity where specific help can be given by professionals who understand your child’s challenges and strengths.
This can be confusing for families as there may be lots of needs that your child has, for example:
- Health needs – medication, types of therapy, equipment for washing, eating, or moving around.
- Education needs – special classes, more help from staff, transport, school equipment or clothing.
- Social Care needs – personal assistants, club membership, short break opportunities, social inclusion.
Our team understands and will consider all the needs of a young person with disabilities, but we can only provide financial support for unmet social care needs.
However, self-directed support is not necessarily financial support but can be help from a whole range of services including health, third sector and education.
What about the carers?
We look at the whole family and our experienced social work team will look at your caring role, responsibilities and how these may impact on your health and wellbeing.
Get more help from Angus Carers.
Who decides what services or budget my child might get?
A Resource Allocation System (RAS) meeting will be called if the assessment shows a need for longer term support. This allows a panel of social care workers to review the views and wishes of all involved.
They look for the best way to set, then meet positive outcomes for the young person. Their needs are assessed using Getting it right for every child” (GIRFEC) and the eight SHANARRI indicators which are being Safe, Healthy, Achieving, Nurtured, Active, Respected, Responsible and Included in their family, school and community.
How do we spend our Self-Directed Support (SDS) budget?
The Resource Allocation System (RAS) does not always look at money to help you get the support you need, but if you are given a budget, your social worker will support you to choose which type of SDS payment suits you and your family best.
You can find out more information about SDS and the different options available to you here:
SDS Guidance
Option 1 is the choice to take direct payments. If you choose this option, the money cannot be paid to you until you show the service, such as a personal assistant, has started.
The SDS budget will have to meet outcomes agreed between families and the panel, and it must be shown that spend is for social care needs. There is guidance on which items or services the money can be spent on, and a member of the team can help you with this. The budget will be reviewed at least once a year and can change, depending on you and your child’s changing needs.
Living without a diagnosis
Once you realise your child may have a behavioural or learning difficulty or health problem, getting a diagnosis may take some time.
The Genetic Alliance UK estimates that about 50 per cent of children with a learning disability have no definitive diagnosis. Some families may be told that their child has global developmental delay (GDD), if they are slow to reach two or more milestones in all areas of their development. Other children can exhibit challenging behaviours.
ADHD
ADHD, ODD or Global Developmental Delay, by themselves, do not meet the threshold for support from our team. If you care for a child or children diagnosed with ADHD, there are several sources of support. Please contact these for help and advice:
You can also contact Welfare Rights or Citizens’ Advice Scotland for financial advice as families with children with ADHD can get additional support.