Physical Difficulties and Mobility

Overview
Motor co-ordination is the ability to control your body’s movement.
Gross motor skills need whole body movement and use the large muscles. Skills such as walking, running, climbing, kicking, jumping and balancing are gross motor skills.
Fine motor skills need controlled movement of the fingers and hands. Skills such as doing up buttons, threading, drawing and writing are fine motor skills.
If your child is having difficulties, you can get advice and support from your child’s:
- health visitor
- doctor
- teacher or Special Education Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) at nursery or school
Schools can offer activities and programmes which support the development of these skills. However, if these have been tried for a sustained period of time, without improvement, the school might wish to discuss a referral to Children’s Integrated Therapy and Equipment Service (CITES) with you, in order to get further advice.
East Sussex School Health and Children’s Integrated Therapy Services
The Children's Integrated Therapy and Equipment Service (CITES) is a specialist service that provides occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and physiotherapy to children and young people aged 0-16 years and 16-19 years if in full-time education.
As a specialist therapy service, they provide training and guidance to enable pre-schools, schools and other settings support children with:
- speech, language and communication difficulties
- fine and gross motor skill development needs
- strategies for managing children’s sensory needs.
CITES loan specialist equipment to families, as well as schools and other settings supporting children with additional needs:
Adaptions
They also provide a multidisciplinary pathway involving Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy and Integrated Therapy Assistants.
Their service aims to support the safety and independence of children in their own home where alterations or adaptations are assessed as being required to meet essential needs.
The children’s adaptation occupational therapists (OTs) are part of East Sussex Children's Integrated Therapy and Equipment Service (ESCITES). The team work closely with the other professionals who may be involved in your child’s care such as physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, paediatricians and the social work team for children with disabilities.
They provide help for:
- Children from birth up to 19 years
- Children whose main residence is in East Sussex
- Children who have a permanent and confirmed medical diagnosis
Find out more by visiting the NHS East Sussex Children website.
Equipment and orthotics
The Children’s Integrated Equipment Service (CIES) provide equipment for children and young people under the age of 18 (or 19 if still in full time education) who meet the criteria for a service from CITES. The types of equipment they provide includes daily living equipment, complex equipment, and orthotics.
Find out more by visiting the NHS East Sussex Children website.
Other topics covered by this service include:
- Cerebral Palsy GMFCS I-III
- Hypermobility
- Neuro-disability
- Motor skills
Find out more by visiting the NHS East Sussex Children website.
Millbrook Healthcare Group
The Millbrook Healthcare Group provide healthcare services on behalf of the NHS and local authorities for:
- Community Equipment
- Technology Enabled Care
- Home Improvement Agencies
- Wheelchair Services
- Sensory Impairment Services
- Specialist Seating and Postural Management
You can find out more by visiting the Millbrook Healthcare Group website.
Accessibility in School
All schools, in line with the SEND Code Of Practice and the Equality Act 2010, make reasonable adjustments to ensure that children with physical and mobility difficulties are not discriminated against in their settings. They take an inclusive and accessible approach.
They are also required to create an accessibility plan. These plans outline their current accessibility and how they intend to improve access for all pupils, moving forward. They are written by schools and reviewed every three years.
They can usually be found on each school's individual website, often alongside their policies and SEND information.
We also send out a survey yearly, asking for schools up-to-date accessibility information. This includes whether their setting has:
- Accessible drop-off / pick-up points
- Level access throughout academic areas
- Wheelchair accessible playground / outside areas
- Ramps / lifts
- Changing tables
- Hoists
- Wash dry toilets
- Wheelchair-accessible wash hand basin
- Accessible shower
We then apply the selected answers to our directory, where they can be used as filters. You can then use as many filters as you need, to find the most suitable school setting for you.
Accessibility Around East Sussex
AccessAble is a website that provides accessibility information for venues across East Sussex and the UK, which includes shops, pubs, restaurants, cinemas, theatres, railway stations, hotels, colleges, universities, hospitals and more. AccessAble can be used to find wheelchair friendly venues or check out disabled access and what facilities are available:
Visit Eastbourne have created an Eastbourne Access Guide and Eastbourne Accessible Toilet Guide:
Disability Payments
Disability payments for children and young adults with a disability include:
- Disability Living Allowance (DLA) which is available to children under 16
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP) which is available for anyone aged 16-64 with a disability
DLA and PIP are benefits paid to cover the extra costs of a person’s disability or health needs. They are both split into two components:
- daily living/care, and
- mobility
The government's website has more information on the disability living allowance and personal independence payments:
- Find out more about Disability Living Allowance for Children
- Find out more about Personal Independence Payments
Additional Help and Support
Amaze SENDIASS
Amaze SENDIASS (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service) are a local charity who offer free, independent, and impartial advice for all matters relating to SEND. Contact Amaze SENDIASS:
- Phone: 01273 772 289
- Email: sendiass@amazesussex.org.uk
East Sussex Local Offer directory of services
You can visit our SEND-specific online directory, hosted on East Sussex 1Space, that lists many different services both throughout the county and online. Services include advice, guidance and support groups, activities and events and mental health and wellbeing support among many other topics:
All services on 1Space have been split into categories. Once you have selected the category that you wish to visit, you can then use the filters and search function to further refine the results, depending on your need:
NHS - Health A to Z
While the East Sussex Local Offer aims to provide as much information as possible, there may be some conditions that aren't covered in thorough detail. The NHS website has pages that list all conditions, with information and advice on how to get extra support:
This website also provides information on what support can be offered by:
Glossary of East Sussex SEND Terms
Some of the terms used on this website are explained on our page, Glossary of East Sussex SEND Terms.