Why is ‘listening’ so difficult?
The Shropshire Parent and Carer Council has just published a powerful report ‘Mad, Sad, Glad’ that reflects on the feedback Parent Carers across their county have provided. Parent Carers were asked to share their thoughts on what makes them Mad, Sad, and Glad about their lives caring for a child/ young person with special educational needs and/or disabilities. It is an important report and an exercise that many other Parent Carer Groups might adopt. It is, as the report makes clear, a ‘unsurprisingly hard’ read.
The responses are listed under various headings such as ‘Fight for support’; the ‘System’; lack of understanding; and so on. As with other surveys of this kind – a cross-cutting theme that emerges from this powerful report is ‘listening’ (sadly, in the sense of ‘not listening’). What is so hard about ‘listening’? Why is it that so many senior officers in so many authorities are not prepared to find time to sit down, on a regular basis and listen to the voices of the families that they are employed to support?
To access the report, click here.