ARU Final Report

20 Young people with disabilities’ experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic Yes I have kept contact going and have attended all my pathway plans and reviews with all professionals. It has been useful as I got on with my worker and can talk to him. No improvements required. Although young people with disabilities were complementary of the supports they had received, some felt that improvements could have beenmade during the pandemic to help them, particularly around mental health concerns, the consistency of support, and the lack of face-to-face contact: I really do need more mental health support, because I don’t get the support I need from mental health services. Mental health – yes it could be improved, I’ve not got much to say as didn’t see them very much I only had two appointments before lockdown and then the service stopped other than telephone calls and I didn’t have many of those. It could have been improved with more contact. Yes, kind of feels a bit obvious. During the lockdowns when not physically at college things could have been improved by having consistent carers. I would have felt better in a managed routine, still jumbled, but I could have kept my daily routines going. I had two new socialworkers since the pandemic started. I would have rather kept the same social worker. Similarly, Toseeb et al. (2020) draw attention to the disparity between the needs identified by parents and carers of children and young people with disabilities and the support provided. There was a wide variation in the support that was actually received, with just 40 per cent saying that the support they received was adequate, while 37 per cent felt it was inadequate in meeting their needs. Many parents and carers struggled to meet the needs of their young people at home and this was compounded by reduced support from social services (Children’s Commissioner, 2020). On the other hand, Shakespeare, Ndagire and Seketi (2021) and Street doctors et al. (2020) recognise a sense of community spirit and mutual aid in certain communities during the pandemic. Shakespeare, Ndagire and Seketi (2021) further recognise that people with disabilities often fair better if they are surrounded by supportive communities. However, these authors also acknowledge that face-to-face and virtual participation requires several resources including financial.