Who We Help

At Hop Skip and Jump we provide day and evening respite care, seven days a week, to anyone in need: no condition or behavioural issue is too complex.

Below is a glossary, giving examples of some of the conditions our children and adults suffer from. It is not intended as a tool for medical diagnosis and should be used as a reference guide only.

Disabilities

Multiple Sclerosis – A condition affecting the central nervous system, producing a number of symptoms, including vision and balance problems, fatigue, stiffness and spasms.

Motor Neurone Disease – A progressive disease that impairs motor neurone function in the brain and spine, leading to muscle weakness and wasting.

Muscular Dystrophy – Encompassing a variety of different types, muscular dystrophy affects various body parts, causing progressive muscle weakness.

Down Syndrome – A naturally occurring chromosomal defect that causes a varied range of physical and intellectual disability.

ADD /ADHD – Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder is a behavioural diagnosis, with a range of symptoms including inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness.

Epilepsy – A condition that affects the brain, causing repeated seizures and fitting.

ME – Myalgic Encephalopathy is a condition that causes severe and debilitating fatigue, pain in muscles and joints and difficulty in sleeping.

Deaf /Blind – Prohibited vision and hearing.

Alzheimer’s / Dementia – Dementia describes symptoms that may include memory loss and difficulties in mental processing and language. This is often intensified when the brain is damaged by conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified – Often called atypical autism, a disorder sharing many of the characteristics of autism, whilst not satisfying all of the relevant criteria.

Sensory Processing Disorder – A disorder that exists when sensory signals do not get organised into appropriate responses, leading to difficulties in processing information received through the senses.

High Functioning Autism – A term applied to people with autism who are deemed to function at a higher cognitive level than others with the condition.

Meningitis – An acute inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, causing headaches, neck stiffness, fever and a characteristic rash.

Cerebral Palsy – A movement disorder that causes physical disabilities, mainly in bodily movements. Cerebral palsy affects muscle tone, posture and movement.

Global Development Delay – Global Development Delay describes a child for whom a combination of motor skills, speech and language, cognitive skills or social and emotional skills develop at a later time than would normally be expected.

ODD – An ongoing pattern of disobedience, hostility and defiant behaviour towards figures of authority that goes beyond the bounds of normal childhood behaviour.

Prader-Willi Syndrome – A rare chromosomal disorder that leads to low muscle tone, short stature, cognitive disabilities and problematic behaviour.

Pica Syndrome – An appetite for substances that are largely non-nutritive, such as clay, chalk, dirt or sand.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy – A condition that causes muscle wastage and mobility impairment.

Schizencephaly - A brain condition that can impair cognitive function, cause seizures and lead to hydrocephalus.

Special Educational Needs

Dyslexia – A relatively common learning difficulty that affects the skills involved in reading and spelling and decoding words.

Dyspraxia – Dyspraxiais a disability that affects basic motor function (such as walking or sitting upright) and fine motor skills (such as writing or picking up small objects)

Dyscalculia – A similar condition to dyslexia, that affects a child’s ability to grasp numbers, rather than letters.

Autism – Autism is characterised by difficulties with social interaction, impaired language and communication skills and unusual patterns of thought and physical behaviour.

Asperger Syndrome – A higher functioning form of autism that is often characterised by increased levels of intelligence, particularly in areas that require logic, memory and mathematics.

Childhood Disintegrative Disorders – Also known as Heller’s Syndrome, a rare condition characterised by late onset of developmental delays in language, social function and motor skills.

Statement of Special Educational Need from Local Authority

Speech and Language Disorders

Emotional Behavioural Difficulties

Severe Anxiety