Name: Ren Barrowman
Parent Carer experience: I am mum to 18-year-old twin daughters. My eldest daughter (by nine minutes!) has quadriplegic cerebral palsy which means she is a full-time wheelchair user and she finally received an ASC diagnosis in 2021. My younger daughter is profoundly deaf in one ear. Both girls have always been in mainstream education, my eldest daughter with an Educational, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), and whilst this has not been without its challenges (including school changes and a repeated year) it has in the main worked well for both. We now find ourselves in full transition mode to adult health and social care as well as considering the options for higher education/employment once my eldest finishes college in the summer.
Role within PaCC: I am new to PaCC having just joined in the summer and I’m currently in training, gaining insight and experience to enable me to make a positive difference as a PaCC Rep. I submitted an expression of interest to join the PaCC Steering Group because I hoped my experience of navigating a broad range of services over the years would prove helpful and I am continuing to learn on the job with my daughters in terms of transition to adulthood! I will be representing SEND families at the Transitions and Positive Futures work stream of the Brighton & Hove SEND Strategy, with a particular focus on health transitions to adult services. I am really looking forward to sharing my experience and working with other Reps to help to inform pathway development that will hopefully make things simpler, easier, and better for young people with SEND and their families.
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