I was both saddened and enraged to read John Harris’s article about the continuing abuse and torture of people with learning disabilities and autism (Learning-disabled and autistic people are being neglected and tortured. How much longer?, 24 April). When will we realise that human services are not suitable fodder for money-making, shareholder-favouring companies? Although the fact that similar abuses have occurred in NHS systems in the past suggests other factors are at play.
The Zimbardo prison experiment at Stanford University in the early 1970s showed how quickly people can fall into controlling or submissive roles if they do not have positive management and role models available, and if nobody dares blow the whistle. There are excellent services in some parts of the UK, with individualised support for people, but they are under constant pressure to cut costs.
We have also long known the benefits of early intervention for children with learning disabilities and autism, but parents struggle to access this in many areas. If the monies spent on sending people out of area to “specialist” institutions were instead spent on developing local services, using existing local talent and skills, we would be some way to supporting individuals with the respect they deserve. The only worry is that I can hear myself posing the same arguments I was making 25 years ago.
Dr Sally Cheseldine
Retired consultant clinical psychologist
• John Harris’s compelling article raised my anxiety levels. As a parent with a son with a complex learning disability with autism, who is now in very good residential provision, I should feel at ease. But as mentioned in this article, and one in the Observer , everything to do with adult social care hangs by a thread – precarious funding, councils in financial crisis, short-term contracts and sometimes dogmatic ideas about care delivery (for example, supported living does not suit everyone).
We are lucky that our child resides in a place run by a charitable trust, which means the operating surplus goes into investing in the staff and facilities, not a private equity group. What keeps us awake at night is who fights for our son when we are gone (he is our only child)?
Name and address supplied
• My 18-year-old son is autistic with a communication learning disorder, but is in many ways extremely bright. He was thrown out of his special school at 15 because it couldn’t cope with him. Since then, he has been at home. I have given up my job and fought tooth and nail for a personal education budget. The only other option the council had to offer was a residential school that has since been outed as abusive and shut down. So-called schools and hospitals are run by US conglomerates and hedge funds. No surprise that there is Tory reluctance to change the system.
Name and address supplied
• This scandal is deeply frightening and distressing. Vulnerable young people being subjected to this level of cruelty is evidence of a disturbing dynamic in our society that involves us all abdicating our authority to a central government structure that is not fit for purpose. It is abhorrent that public funds are allowed to be used in this way, financing placements with private providers where support and care are provided for private profit. We should all demand immediate change now.
Tara Kierans
London
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