Schools

The article discusses the British Young Carers in School program which is designed to provide information, staff training, and other resources to schools to help them improve the support which they provide to students who have caregiving responsibilities. It notes the program is led by the nonprofit groups Carers Trust and The Children's Society and cites an award under the program received by Applemore College secondary school, Hampshire, England.

The study's rationale: Most people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) choose to live at home without known consequences for their children.

Aims and objectives: To study the personal experience of being a young caregiver of a chronically ill parent diagnosed with MS.

Methodological design and justification: Phenomenology was the methodological approach of the study since it gives an inside information of the lived experience.

This article discusses some of the findings of a small-scale, localized, qualitative study involving children and young people identified and processed as young carers, that are providing 'substantial care' for an adult while in primary and/or secondary school. It explores their views on managing to 'care more' whilst at school and the role that teachers and schools do and could play in supporting them. The voices of young carers suggest that educational support should be available 'as soon as' children become primary carers.

In this article the authors explore the day-to-day lives of two groups of young people. Both were the subject of research activities carried out between 1997 and 2000. The outcomes of that work into the lives of young carers and young people with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) have been extensively documented elsewhere; here we draw out some of the common factors that serve to socially isolate and exclude young people who are heavily reliant on, or are drawn into supporting, home-based caring relationships.

Better diagnosis has played a key role in identifying the children and adults with autistic spectrum disorder. Current figures estimate that 500,000 families throughout the UK are affected. And because autism is a spectrum disorder, it affects people at differing levels of cognitive functioning with three distinct areas of impairment.

Yet further evidence has emerged of the huge number of young carers whose caring roles are not known to their school and who are therefore not receiving the support they need. Almost 500 young carers who were previously unknown to their schools were discovered during a project to offer young carers better recognition and support. The 35 schools taking part in the Young Carers in School programme reported a dramatic impact on the attendance, achievement and confidence of pupils who care for a loved one.

This paper reports key findings from a study of young people’s engagement in ‘atypical’ activities in their families. The project focused on young caring and language brokering as two roles that are not assumed to be ‘normal’ activities for children and young people. The findings presented are from a survey of 1002 young people and from one‐to‐one interviews with a sample selected from the survey sample. The voices of young people in the interview study are used in the paper to illustrate the diverse range of childhood experiences.