Hi, I'm Tillypop! Care provider changing rules about son's car trip, any advice?

Tillypop

Hello everyone, this is my first post on this site. My 59 year old son has complex learning and physical disability and is non-verbal. He lives in a single person flat in a supported living environment alongside 9 other people with a diverse range of needs. He has his own adapted car and for the past few years has gone out once or twice a week with his support worker, one of his neighbours along their support worker. My son’s neighbour pays a nominal fee towards the cost of petrol. They both get on very well and enjoy each others company. I’ve just heard that the care provider has said my son can no longer allow his friend to travel in his car because he cannot consent due to the fact that he is non-verbal. After all these years I feel sad that two friends can no longer share a social outing and I find this extremely petty. I’m interested in hearing if anyone has any thoughts on this.

Rosie_Scope

Hi @Tillypop. Sorry to hear you and your son are facing this, that seems really disappointing that the two friends can't continue on as they have been.

I'm afraid I don't have first-hand experiences of this so I hope one of our members might have something to share soon. How does your son usually communicate with others? Could his consent be gathered in another way?

Have the care providers given any more information about why they'd be concerned about it continuing other than the lack of consent?

Tillypop

hello Rosie, thanks for your reply. I’ve been really upset for my son and his friends that management made this decision and it would appear that their decision is service led rather than being person centred. I’m meeting with senior members of staff to arrange a best interest meeting which I now know I’m entitled to do.
kind regards
Tillypop

SheffieldMan1976

It pains me to say this but I've seen it happen frequently where care providers make up the rules as they go along, due to a lack of support from senior management.