May 22, 2013 (The Guardian) - My daughter was ill at the weekend. Just a heavy cold; but when your child has profound and multiple learning disabilities, even a minor illness can send her life-threatening condition spiralling out of control, so we needed to get some antibiotics.

As so often, it was a dispiriting experience. First, the 111 operator asked what language our daughter spoke and whether she could come to the phone, despite being told she was non-verbal.
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