Council support for people with physical disabilities

Physical disabilities include (but are not limited to) conditions such as:

• degenerative progressive illnesses (for example: Multiple Sclerosis, Huntington's Chorea, Parkinson's Disease, Motor Neurone Disease and other neurological conditions)
• acquired brain injuries
• physical trauma
• strokes
• paraplegia and quadriplegia (limb paralysis) from a traumatic neurological injury
• bone diseases

To talk to us about getting support, contact Adult Social Care as a first step.

When you contact us, we'll have a conversation about the best support for you. We will talk about your strengths and things you can do independently. This is called a 'strengths based approach'. We will also talk about how your family, carers or community can help. We want to support people so that they can live as independently as possible, preferably within their own home.

We might also look at whether you are eligible for care and support from the council. This is called a care and support needs assessment.

How we can help

We can help by offering:

• expertise, knowledge and experience
   
• information, advice and connecting you with other specialist services
   
• routine reviews to make sure that care arrangements are still meeting your needs and are of an acceptable quality
   
• legal expertise and advice, and where appropriate, mental capacity assessments and best interest assessments
   
• help at home to support people to look after themselves and perform essential daily tasks
   
• supporting carers to enable them to continue in their role; we recognise the value of providing carers with good support
   
• looking at whether you are eligible for NHS Continuing Health Care
   
• safeguarding adults at risk - we work with other agencies to prevent abuse of adults at risk and investigate any concerns

If you do get care and support from the council, we will offer you a financial assessment. This assessment will help you to understand how you will pay for your care. We can also offer advice when someone lacks the capacity to manage their affairs and finances.

You can also search for groups and services related to your disability on our West Berkshire Directory. Use the search bar at the top of the page to search for what you need.

Occupational therapy

In addition to the list above, we can put you in touch with specialist occupational therapists. They can provide equipment and technology to keep you living as independently as possible.

You can find out more about how occupational therapists can help here.