SUPPORTING DEAFBLIND PEOPLE INTO WORK

That this House welcomes the report from the charity Sense, Realising Aspirations for All; notes that there are over 100,000 working age people with dual sensory loss and complex needs in the UK, 80 per cent of whom are currently not in work and are unable to reach their full potential; regrets that the low employment rate of people who are deafblind is a consequence of the multiple barriers they face getting into and staying in work, such as low expectations from the professionals who are supposed to support them into work, inaccessible recruitment processes which are particularly challenging for people with additional communication needs, and existing support programmes failing to provide the right level and type of support to those with complex needs; endorses the report's recommendation that Access to Work assessments of deafblind people should be carried out by specialists who are trained in deafblindness; and calls on the Government to ensure that people who are deafblind and those with complex needs benefit from efforts to halve the disability employment gap and confirm that they will not be left behind.