For Esther Joseph the morning routine is far from simple. She has fourchildren, ranging in age from two to eight, but most significantly, herseven-year-old son Devante has severe cerebral palsy.
To help her cope, the council gives her direct payments so that she canpurchase a flexible package of care. As far as Esther is concerned, thisarrangement has improved her life beyond measure. "We've got two greathelpers who really understand my children, and it's a very flexiblesystem," explains Esther.
Devante has right side hemiplegia, which means that he is extremely weakon that side. He attends a mainstream school, but his behaviour iserratic and he can often be unreasonable and even violent with hisbrothers. He can't dress himself and can only feed himself if the foodhas been chopped up. His speech is limited and he has trouble expressinghimself.
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