Couple sue to force council to help care for their disabled son

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Couple sue to force council to help care for their disabled son

29/02/2008

By Dana Gloger

THE parents of a man with Asperger's Syndrome are urging others to

follow their lead after winning a legal battle against their local

council.

Bernard and a Hart, from Hatch End, Middlesex, took Harrow

Council to the High Court, claiming that it was neglecting its duty

to help care for and support their son , 40. But even before

the case was heard, the council conceded and agreed to fund a place

for him at a specialist facility.

His parents, both retired, said they had to fight the council for

years and that only legal action had worked.

Last June, the JC launched its " Forgotten Parents " campaign, calling

for better local-authority care and provision for the parents of

disabled children.

Mr Hart, 64, said that was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome

only in 2001, after previously being misdiagnosed with paranoid

schizophrenia. Until then, he had been receiving some help from the

council's Intensive Community Support Team, for people with mental-

health issues.

" When he was diagnosed, experts made several recommendations for

, " Mr Hart said. " We took them all to Harrow but they said they

didn't know what Asperger's was and that they were going to withdraw

the help he had been receiving until that point, as Asperger's was

not a mental illness. "

The family was left with even less outside help and Harrow placed

in a flat, but he could not cope there. " He wouldn't shop or

clean and there was no support from Harrow at all. Eventually,

began to get very paranoid, and thought that his neighbours wanted to

kill him. So we moved him back into our house, " Mr Hart said.

But living at his parents' house proved trying. , who is

extremely sensitive to loud noises, became agitated at normal

domestic sounds such as a vacuum cleaner or washing-machine, leaving

his parents feeling they had to creep around.

Eventually, with his condition fast deteriorating, the Harts asked

Harrow Council to fund a place for him at a specialist residential

home.

Harrow refused, so Mr and Mrs Hart felt they had no option left other

than to begin legal proceedings. Ultimately, Harrow agreed to fund

's care indefinitely. He is currently living at the Springs

Community in Kent.

Following their legal victory, the couple, who also have a 38-year-

old daughter, set up a support group, Asperger's Syndrome Access to

Provision (ASAP), in September last year, to help other carers, and

to urge them to take legal action against Harrow.

" In light of the fact that Harrow reacts only to legal action, there

is no other route and I would encourage anyone to go through the

legal process, said Mr Hart. " It is the only language they understand

and respond to. "

The Harts help others to take such action by providing advice as well

as practical help such as writing letters for people whose first

language is not English. " At least five of our members are now taking

legal advice, " Mr Hart said.

Earlier this month, the JC reported the case of Sugarman, a

child with special needs in Harrow, who had been at home with no

school to go to for over six months as the council had failed to find

him an appropriate school.

Cllr Silver, portfolio holder for Harrow Council's Adult

Services, said: " The council offers assistance to people suffering

from Asperger's syndrome within its mainstream services where the

condition creates problems for the client that meet the council's

criteria for help. Where and when appropriate, this will include help

of specialist staff and/or provision. "