Who gives a damn about intellectually disabled people and their families? Care-less spaces personified in the case of LB

Chrissie Rogers*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

On 5 October 2015 the inquest into Connor Sparrowhawk’s death began. A young autistic man, aged 18, died in the bath on 4 July 2013. He had a seizure. The rolling tweets from @LBInquest are harrowing to say the least. Unimaginable torture for Sara and Richard (his mother and step-father), as well as his siblings and others caring. Comments from the inquest such as ‘I felt that Connor should be checked on every 5 or 10 minutes when he was in the bath because of his epilepsy’ and ‘ensuring someone was outside the door when he was bathing was basic nursing care’ sound all the alarm bells for lack of care, because allegedly this did not happen. Clearly there was no one person looking out for him when he needed it the most. On 16 October 2015 the inquest jury found Connor’s death was contributed by neglect. This article will explore the absence of care in a care-less system.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1439-1443
Number of pages5
JournalDisability and Society
Volume30
Issue number9
Early online date27 Nov 2015
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015

Keywords

  • care
  • care-less spaces
  • Connor Sparrowhawk
  • death
  • family
  • intellectual disability
  • LB

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