4 Comment on the audio clips
4.1 Why was change needed?
Brenda Nickson highlights the absence of any support when her son was young; ignorance in the medical profession; the need for respite care, leisure provision, and some contact with other parents with similar problems.
Ann and Michael Tombs also mention the need for more services; the importance of a pressure group demanding changes; the need for a campaign to ensure that people with learning difficulties got treatment in hospital for things like cataract operations; alternatives to hospital care for long-term provision.
Beryl McLennan talks of the need parents had for information, for befriending, for practical support in applying for benefits. Latterly she has added Asian families to her list because their needs were not being met.
However, the need to exert pressure for change is not just a thing for the past. Kim Bell, a younger parent, with a 16-year-old son, believes Mencap needs to change more radically, to reflect the interests of younger people who expect more than special schools and residential provision.