The challenges facing disabled children, young people, and their families are many. Without support and understanding, it can be difficult to lead ordinary lives.

Our vision is to help create a world where families with children and young people who have physical disabilities, learning disabilities and ongoing health conditions receive all of the support they need.

We want you to feel valued and included in your community – and in our community – so you can achieve the best outcomes for your children.

The Unique Ways mission

At Unique Ways, our overarching mission is to support the families of disabled children and young people, empowering them to build their resilience and ensure their voices are heard.

We’re a parent carer-led organisation, working to create change so that all children and young people can learn, make friends, and be part of ordinary school and community life.

How do we do this? By focusing on six key outcomes:

  1. Helping families feel more informed about the support and services available to them – tailored to their individual needs, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach to care.
  1. Helping families feel supported in relation to their child’s disability and needs.
  1. Helping families to become more resilient, and better able to cope with the issues that being a parent carer can bring.
  1. Providing a sense of inclusion and understanding, building connections with others in similar situations.
  1. Ensuring families feel like their voices are heard and taken into account when talking about their child’s disability and needs.
  1. Ensuring that the collective voice of parent carers and their children, as well as young people with disabilities, can influence the planning, shaping, commissioning and delivery of services.

Providing this person-centred approach to care and support has helped children, young people and families across Calderdale get involved in communities, find the support they need, and ultimately lead ordinary lives.

Our core values

Our values have developed over the years to ensure we always put the best interests of disabled young people and parent carers at the heart of everything we do.

These values underpin all of our services, and guide us as we work to provide the best possible support for you and your family.

  • Our approach, and our services, are person-centred. Parent carers and disabled people themselves are the experts in their own condition and needs, and we always recognise this.
  • Our staff will always be experienced and knowledgeable in supporting people with disabilities of all kinds. Both our staff and Unique Ways as a whole will always be welcoming, approachable, trustworthy, and independent.
  • Confidence is essential for disabled children and their carers, and we will always focus on building the skills and resilience of parents, carers, children and young people.
  • Our services will be confidential, and of a high quality.
  • We are the link between families, support services and the wider community, and we’ll always help to empower families to ensure their voices are heard.

These values are, in turn, underpinned by the social model of disability. We don’t restrict our services based on a medical diagnosis or scientifically defined eligibility criteria. We exist to support any family that feels they need our support. We believe that strong, resilient parents are better placed to support their children to meet their outcomes.

 

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