CARING: Yolanda and Neil with their children (from left) Shana, five, Kylie, 11 and Christian, nine. Left: Yolanda in the bathroom, where she needs a shower because she has difficulty lifting the children A MUM of three has slammed council officers for refusing to help her care for her two disabled children.

Yolanda Hillman claims she was told to give her children up if she couldn't cope with them, but was refused respite care to give her a short break.

Her two eldest children, 11-year-old Kylie and nine-year-old Christian, both suffer from Albright's Syndrome, inherited from their father, Neil, who has a milder form of the disease.

Christian, is partially deaf, partially sighted and has speech and behavioural problems. He attends Newfield school and needs constant supervision as he can hurt himself and others. Kylie, who goes to Crosshill School, is also partially deaf with speech problems and also has behavioural problems -- she likes to wander off then can't find her way home.

Yolanda also cares for five-year-old Shauna, who has a hyperactive thyroid gland and said she was reaching the end of her tether. Last year, Kylie and Christian went to Hargreaves House respite care home for a week and this year she again asked for both her older children to be cared for to give her a break.

But she said she was told by Blackburn with Darwen social workers based at Queen's Park Hospital that the council could only provide a place for one child at a time as they needed so much attention.

At home, Yolanda sleeps with the girls while Neil sleeps with Christian, as the two eldest children get into trouble if they are left together.

Yolanda, of Hareden Brook Close, Blackburn, said: "I know they are hard work, but I have to cope with them both on their own and if the staff are college trained, why can't they manage? Perhaps they could go to separate homes for a week.

"Every time I ask they say: if you can't manage with them, we can have them put in residential care. How can I have my own flesh and blood put away? I know they are disabled, but they are my life and joy and I know no-one else would care for them the way I do."

Yolanda said she also needed a shower unit fitted as Christian was becoming too heavy to lift into the bath and Neil is not capable of lifting.

Yolanda is also finding lifting more difficult as she recently had her seventh bowel operation after a rupture, which she was told was brought on by stress.

Two years ago, she was given a shower to plug over the bath taps, but says this doesn't solve the problem. A spokeswoman for Communicare, which carries out assessments, said she had been on a waiting list for re-assessment since June.

Stephen Sloss, Assistant Director of Social Services for Children & Families at Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, said: "We are keen to meet the needs of the children and the Hillman family in what are clearly demanding circumstances for a caring mother.

"We have been trying to contact the family and we would be pleased for Yolanda Hillman to contact us."

Yolanda said a social worker had contacted her and arranged to visit since the Lancashire Evening Telegraph contacted the department.