Couple’s care plea over autistic son
Mum urges council to do more as deadline looms
A Fallin couple worried about the care of their severely autistic son believe Stirling Council are not doing enough to find him suitable accommodation.
Debbie and Steve Robertson’s 24-year-old son Sean has been attending a National Autistic Society school in Ayrshire for more than a decade and returns home at weekends.
On reaching the age of 21 residents there are scheduled to leave the facility to live in their own local authority area. Daldorch House School needs Sean’s place for someone younger and The Care Inspectorate have issued a March deadline for him to return to Stirling.
The Robertsons, of King Street, who also have a 25-year-old son Steven and daughter Jay (27), are growing increasingly concerned that no accommodation has been found for their son closer to home.
Learning support assistant Debbie said: “We’re very worried about Sean’s long-term future. I may have to give up my job to care for him, which I don’t want to do. That would be the last resort.
“If he does come home to Fallin we are going to be left with the situation.
“He does have complex needs, but Stirling Council should be working harder to find a suitable caring environment for Sean. I want them to listen to us.
“This has been going on for too long. The council has known for years about Sean’s situation but it seems to me have done little about it.”
Forty-nine-year-old Debbie said Sean has been getting extensions from The Care Inspectorate to stay on at Daldorch while the social work department try to find accommodation for him, but March 4 is now the final deadline. She added: “I had a meeting with officials on December 21, but they still hadn’t found any accommodation for him.
“Every meeting we’re told they haven’t found anything. The council have let things slide.”
Debbie has raised the matter with Bannockburn councillor Alasdair MacPherson who said this week: “I can totally understand Debbie’s frustration at the time this has taken, but I have assured her that I will keep pressing officials until we get the best outcome for Sean.”
A spokesman for Stirling Council said: “Clackmannanshire and Stirling Health and Social Care Partnership recognise that Sean’s needs are complex and that specialist housing and services are required to fully support him and his family.
“There are a limited number of these adapted homes in Stirling which are detached and currently there are no suitable properties in Fallin.
“We are commissioning a service from a national service provider to address Sean’s complex needs. The family are aware of this work and have been kept up to date on the progress.
“A property has been identified and internal adaptations have yet to be made.”
Stirling Council should be working harder to find a suitable caring environment for Sean