Hi there.  I've just been told about an application for iphones/ipods which was designed by a speech and language therapist who works extensively with Downs Syndrome Ireland and has years of experience living and working with people with learning disabilities.

If it makes someones life a little easier then great.  Here it is:  http://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/pay-with/id517216077?mt=8

BDGriffiths

(was given detaisl of this site by my mother who is a Mencap care assistant in Derbyshire.)

Hi KevinForgive me for asking this but do you have a proebm with the concept of supporting some of our society's weakest members?Thank you for your suggestion of using public transport. If we could use it we would. However for many disabled people like my son (wheelchair user, complex needs, sensory issues) who despite his difficulties actaully wants to go out like other young people, there is no way he or myself as his carer can cope with the inadequacy of public transport. (We have a train station near us but cant use it as we cannot get from one platform to another and this is a large station on a main line!) Withdrawing the Mobility component of Disability Living Allowance will affect the 80,000 people in the UK who have physical and mental disabilities and live in residential accommodation. It will result in serious detriment to the quality of life of some of the country’s most vulnerable people.In effect it will mean that parents of a child living in a residential care home will lose their grant towards the transport (usually specially adapted) that they rely on to take their child home at weekends, go to appointments etc.Disabled adults under 64 and children with learning disabilities will lose their small grant to get the bus into town. (This is in stark contrast to the fact that anyone of pensionable age, irrespective of income, is given a free bus pass).It will also mean that disabled people in residential care will be left with a322.00 per week personal allowance to live on. This will need to cover clothes, toiletries, mobile phone, gifts, entertainment etc and the cost of any transport they might need in order to “escape” to the outside world. That of course will depend on whether specially adapted transport is actually available – which is very unlikely. Putting it in financial context, this grant costs a3 135 million per year. The Winter Fuel Payment (not means tested) costs a32.7 BILLION a year. If, instead of paying the Winter Fuel Payment to rich and poor alike and was restricted to only those eligible for pension credit there would be a SAVING of a31.3 BILLION!Believe me Kevin, life is hard enough brining up a disabled child and supporting them doesn't just end when we can cope no longer and they have to go into residential care. It is precisely at this point when it is imperative that we have a specially adapted vehicle to take our children out and about and enable them to visit their home.Thank you for taking the time to read this.