Could you start a caring activist forum for disabled teenagers stuck at home after leaving school?

Peter Limbrick writes: In every country there are teenagers with physical, learning or sensory disabilities (or a combination of them) who have left school and now have no study, employment or social activities.

They are stuck at home with none of the learning, play and social activity they had at school. They feel unwanted and unvalued and have no opportunities to contribute to society.

Parents and carers come to feel their daughter or son is discounted. They no longer have the regular breaks from caring that the school day provided and, probably, have to face increased challenging behaviour from a frustrated and bored teenager.

The situation is worsening in countries in the grip of austerity programmes

A caring activist forum is a group of local citizens who decide to do something about this for families in their neighbourhood. They keep a watching eye for teenagers in this situation and collect concerned people to support them with shopping trips, visits to leisure and learning centres, evening social activities and weekend excursions. They might also be with the teenager at home while parents or carers take a break to recharge their batteries.

The caring activists work in partnership with families (and any professionals who know the teenager), are unpaid and are asked to bring all of their integrity, imagination, energy and creativity into the work.

This is caring activism as conceived in Caring Activism: A 21st century concept of care.

Visit the website at www.caringactivism.com