 | Disabled Parents Network (DPN) is a national organisation of and for disabled people who are parents or who hope to become parents, and their families, friends and supporters. |  Contact Us 0300 3300 639 |
| Disabled Parents Network (DPN) is a national organisation of and for disabled people who are parents or who hope to become parents, and their families, friends and supporters. | Contact Us 0300 3300 639 |
DPN provides information, advice and peer support to disabled parents, their families and supporters. We campaign on a local and national level to improve services for disabled parents. We also provide training and workshop facilitation to social and health professionals.
If you feel we can help please Contact Us.
YoungMinds Launches Survey for Disabled Parents
YoungMinds is the UK’s leading charity committed to improving the emotional well being and mental health of children and young people and empowering their parents and carers. Check out our website at www.youngminds.org.ukto see more about what we do. Our helpline, the YoungMinds Parents Helpline, is for any adult concerned about the emotional problems or behaviour of a child or young person up to the age of 25 . We offer support, information and expert advice. Call us on 0808 802 5544 (free to landlines and mobiles), or email parents@youngminds.org.uk
We do hear from disabled parents about their children’s emotional or behavioural issues, and many talk about the difficulties they have had getting help from services. Some say they feel they have had to fight extra hard to get help for their children as well as themselves. We’re trying to find out more about what problems disabled parents experience with their children, what help they have been offered, and how we can improve services, so we’ve set up a survey on our website. We’re also surveying parents of disabled children too. We’ll use the survey results to lobby government and stakeholders, in order to get a better deal for disabled families.
Click on the link to help us out!
Disabled Parents Network Advocacy service officially began on the 1st of April.
Our service aims to empower disabled parents to access the services they are entitled to around a wide range of parenting issues. The service is free and is open to all disabled parents in England.
To find out more information on when an advocate can be referred to, different meanings of advocacy and how to contact our advocate click here.
Would you like to be part of a TV documentary?
Marc Lewis says:
I work for Ricochet TV, makers of Channel 4 series Born to be Different. I am currently developing a new documentary series about disabled parents and the challenges faced by parents who have additional needs. I am interested in speaking with parents and parent-to-be. I am particularly interested in speaking with those thinking of starting a family, expecting their first child or those in the early months of parenthood
At this stage I am simply hoping to talk to people who are directly affected by this issue to gain a greater understanding about the subject with no pressure to commit to any filming. I would like to welcome anyone to call me on 01273 224 800 or email me at marc.lewis@ricochet.co.uk
Membership fee scrapped
The Full Membership fee has been £10 a year for some time now, or £2.50 a year to those on means-tested benefits, but at our AGM on 28 March 2009 it was agreed to remove the membership fee in an attempt to make membership accessible to more people. There is still a cost incurred to us for each member, however, so we will continue to ask members to make a voluntary donation wherever possible. The website will be updated this week with new membership forms and information.
DPN introduces new phone number to save callers money
DPN now has a new phone number for enquirers to contact us on, costing less than the previous number. Calls to our new number - 0300 3300 639 - should be charged at the same rate as standard landline calls (ie, numbers beginning 01 and 02), and as such should also be included in any 'inclusive calls' package or bundled minutes.
Our old number - 0870 241 0450 - continues to operate alongside the new one, and we will be updating all our publicity and publications over the next year to reflect the changes.
We have also introduced a menu enabling selected calls to be routed directly to the most appropriate person, but if no key is pressed calls will still be placed directly into the main helpline queue as before.
We hope that the change will encourage disabled parents who are concerned about call costs to contact us still, and improve the speed and efficiency with which we handle calls.
"I saw my GP on Friday who was amazed I'd even got a community care assessment in the first place as he said they normally have to be referred by the Dr's etc. I explained that I was beginning to understand just how much I was on my own and that if I wanted anything I'd have to fight for it myself.
Actually, having just written that I am on my own, I've now realised that this isn't the case - thank goodness for DPN and it's members!
Anyway, off to fight a battle at the dentist now - his clinic is at the top of 2 flights of stairs...! "
Find out more by visiting our Forum & Discussion Group Section.
last updated: 28 Jun 09
tags : Home
Registered Office: Disabled Parents Network, 81 Melton Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham, NG2 8EN. Registered Charity No: 1087662
Download this article as PDF