Your news - 2006
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Furze Down School
October 2006 newsletter
Young people and adults with learning disabilities and
complex health needs
Because you’re gorgeous
The Larondina Dance Company
Teachers’ TV: Special Needs Week 31 July – 6 August
Putting ME into the media - making the most of TV and
newspapers
Heat advice from DoH
Disability
Rights Commission Regional Transport Forums
Sports, exercise and intellectual
disability conference
Autism Friendly screenings at the
Stratford Picturehouse
SEN Press - books for young people with special needs
Warrington Disability Awareness
Day
Liberty - London's Disability Rights Festival 2006 - 2 September 2006
Problems among Adults who have
Learning Disability
We congratulate Peggy Fray...
Look, Cook - designed to promote healthy eating
Holiday cottage in Wales
Using photosymbols - work by the Culture Speak
Out Group at Grapevine
Computer software for the voluntary sector in the West
Midlands
Positive aspects - a free email newsletter
A photographer with learning
disabilities
Non-BILD job vacancies and jobs wanted
Young people and adults with learning
disabilities and
complex health needs
Conferences organised by Jan-net, on:
3rd November 06 - Freeman Hospital, Newcastle
10th January 07 - Wolverhampton University
7th February 07- Kingston University and St George's University of London
A number of key health issues related to young people and adults with learning disabilities and complex health needs are emerging as national themes that health services need to take account of within their commissioning strategies:
Pain and distress recognition
Body shape protection (postural care)
Dysphagia
The experiences of young people and families who are living with medical technology
Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy (PEGs ) and findings in relation to people with learning disabilities and dementia
Who should attend? Open invitation to all health professionals working with young people and adults with complex health needs (a number of free places to families on a first come first served basis).
Sponsored by
CSIP and Valuing People Support Team
Supported by
BILD, Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities, North West Training
and Development Team, University of Wolverhampton, Faculty of Health and Social
Care Sciences Kingston University St Georges University of London
Download flyer/booking form (pdf format)
Because you’re gorgeous
A 2-day course by Heartfelt that looks at life and the tricky parts about falling in love, written by and for people with learning disabilities.
Why is this different? It is designed and delivered by people who use services, including two married couples. So, it’s not the same old nonsense written and delivered by people who actually do not have a learning disability! It looks at the things people really need to know…
A two-day event that looks at what people with learning disabilities really need to have loving and sexual relationships. This is not an open public course but can be arranged for a group. For more information download the flyer in Word format or pdf format, or contact heartfelt_ltd@yahoo.co.uk or Heartfelt, 85 Oswald Avenue, Grangemouth FK3 9AZ. You can phone David Douglas, Heartfelt’s Director on 07841485574.
The Larondina Dance Company
On 12 August, The Times Magazine featured an article by Sharon Maxwell about
the Larondina Dance Company, a Battersea-based troupe of people with Down’s
syndrome.
"Step by step, one visionary teacher and her inspirational dance troupe from
South London are challenging attitudes to learning disability around the world –
and having a ball along the way..."
Link to The Times site
The troupe have also featured in The Moscow Times
More information about the
Alessendre Special Needs Dance School
Teachers’ TV: Special Needs Week 31 July – 6 August
Find
dozens of programmes and resources to help schools educate and support pupils
with learning difficulties, autism and other special educational needs.
Here’s a taste of what’s on offer during Special Needs Week:
Secondary Special Needs: A Recipe for Success
In this inspirational programme, see how Orthodox Jewish school, the Menorah
Grammar School in north London, has set up an innovative scheme for its special
needs pupils.
Special Schools: Inclusive Classroom
Watch how pupils from Crosshill Secondary Special School, Blackburn, produce a
video based on Macbeth, thanks to state-of-the-art technology facilities.
Primary Special Needs: Hearing Impairment in Mainstream – Rosie’s World
This programme focuses on the needs of deaf children in the classroom and
explores the many ways in which mainstream schools can achieve full inclusion
for the hearing impaired.
Secondary Special Needs: Get Organised
Special educational needs co-ordinator, Hilary Gover, is six weeks into her new
job and already feels that she's drowning in a sea of paperwork. Find out how
expert advice enables Hilary to cope with all that SENCO paperwork.
And there are dozens more…
All programmes are available to watch online, for free.
More information from
www.teachers.tv
Sky Guide 880, Telewest 240, ntl 803, Homechoice 845, Freeview 88 (12-6am)
Putting ME into the media - making the most of TV and newspapers
People with learning difficulties watch a lot of TV. They also have interesting life experiences which would make great stories in the local newspapers.
BILD
are working with Learning Difficulties Media to host a series of workshops
looking at how the media works, and how we can all get more pleasure from TV,
newspapers and other media. The workshops are designed for people with learning
disabilities, support workers, relatives and friends and service managers.
They will give an opportunity to try out:
• Pleasures and problems of the media
• 3DTV – bringing the telly alive in your home
• Media clubs – what they are and how to set one up
• Getting your story into the local newspaper
Six workshops will take place around England and Wales. There is a special discounted rate of £25 plus VAT for a person with a learning disability, family carer or enabler, unwaged or small voluntary organisations.
The dates and venues are:
11 October 2006 - Kidderminster
1 November 2006 - London
6 December 2006 - Manchester
31 January 2007 - Leeds
6 February 2007 - Kidderminster
23 February 2007 - Wales (venue to be confirmed)
Download flyer and booking form (pdf format)
Heat Advice from Department of Health:
A Guide To Looking after yourself and others during hot weather -
download
Heatwave advice for care home managers and staff -
download
Disability Rights Commission Regional Transport Forums
The DRC will be launching a transport campaign from November 2006 which aims to:
1. Encourage disabled people to use public transport where it is accessible.
2. Let disabled people know about the new rights under the Disability
Discrimination Act (DDA) 2005 to challenge poor customer care; and
3. Improve dialogue between disabled people and transport operators so that
feedback is constructive and leads to positive outcomes in services.
As part of this campaign, the DRC plans to hold a series of six Regional Transport Forums in England (with possible later roll out to Wales and Scotland). The aim will be to bring together local transport operators (trains, buses and taxis), local disability networks, local authorities and other stakeholders to discuss local and regional transport issues. The overall desired outcome is to establish a long-term network between all parties.
The dates and precise locations of the forums will be confirmed in the autumn. A preliminary selection of 7 areas has been made. The intention is to hold a Forum in six of the following 7 areas. The locations are Tyne and Wear (PTE area), South Yorkshire (PTE area), Milton Keynes, Bristol, Norwich, Sleaford, Wimborne Minster.
Picturehouse cinemas offer the new Autism Friendly screenings at the Stratford Picturehouse
Picturehouse cinemas are now offering the new Autism Friendly screenings at the Stratford Picturehouse. You can download this summer's programme of Autism-Friendly screenings here (pdf format).
SEN Press - books for young people with special needs
SEN Press is a new publishing house focusing solely on special needs
education. It launched in May 2006 with ten titles, all written by experienced
authors, all dealing with everyday experiences within the experience of young
people aged 14-19, working at around Level 1. Further titles will be published
later in 2006 and into 2007.
Publisher Peter Clarke brings a wealth of professional, personal and business
experience to special needs publishing. He has taught in the fields of special
education and literacy for twenty years and is a published author in this field.
His son Adam, now 20, has Down’s Syndrome, and Peter has not only taken an
active role in his development, but has also been a governor of his school for
many years.
These highly-acclaimed titles make ideal introductions to key Life Skills and
Social Skills topics, and support key teaching objectives of the main accredited
SEN Life Skills courses.
Available for downloading in pdf format:
flier,
May press release.
Browse and order at
www.senpress.co.uk
Warrington Disability Awareness Day
Simon Bickerton is currently involved in a project in the North West, which
involves people with learning disabilities exploring the links between physical
health & activity and independence.
The picture was taken at Warrington
Disability Awareness Day, where the group ran an interactive stand, encouraging
people to think about what independence means to them.
Banana man (AKA Simon Bickerton) gave out fruit to visitors to encourage a
healthier lifestyle
Liberty - London's Disability Rights Festival 2006
Trafalgar Square, Saturday 2 September 2006
Liberty is a major festival that showcases the talents of disabled artists and performers and this year celebrates 20 years of the London Disability Arts Forum.
Includes performances by: CandoCo, Johnny Crescendo & Andy Morgan, Carousel, Marlo Donato, The Heroes, Ramesh Meyyappan, Rory Heap, Creative Routes and Kickin' Kangaroo Club.
Free. Liberty welcomes everyone and is organised to be inclusive and accessible.
Recorded information 020 7983 4277
Minicom 020 7983 4458
Website www.london.gov.uk
For further details email liberty@london.gov.uk
We congratulate Peggy Fray...
...who has received a Help the
Aged Living Legend award presented by Her Majesty the Queen. She also won the
Dame Thora Hird Award for Outstanding Achievement. Peggy has been active in the
field of learning disabilities for many years. Peggy Fray is Family Care
Adviser to the BILD Council.
Read more...
Look, Cook!
The
Look Cook Book, designed by Groundwork Oldham and Rochdale, has been a
project produced in partnership with Oldham Social Services, and a group of
clients from Springhead Community Centre. The book is designed to promote
healthy eating for people with learning disabilities, and the group from the
community centre were taught how to prepare simple, healthy meals by
Groundwork’s Health Officer, Alan Keane. Alan first met the group whilst on a
health walk, where it became obvious that after completing the physical
exercise, the clients were eating junk food such as chips. Since the completion
of the book, all of the group members have gained confidence and knowledge in
using basic kitchen utensils, and one has purchased a smoothie maker.
Groundwork is happy to receive comments and suggestions for developing this work further and you can contact Alan Keane on 0161 624 1444.
Download the Look Cook Book in pdf format by clicking here.
Holiday cottage in Wales
Minafon is a traditional Welsh stone cottage at the edge of The Snowdonia National Park. We are situated at the side of the River Teigl, beneath Manod Mountain, with 3 acres to explore. We offer quality, custom made, select holidays to people with Learning Disabilities, both ladies and gents. We usually only accommodate 2 people, therefore giving 1 - 1 attention, occasionally we may, in the right circumstances accommodate 3 people. People with serious behavioural problems can sometimes be accommodated by special arrangement, on a 1 - 2 ratio.
Activities and excursions are arranged daily, from a very varied long list of possibilities. All diets catered for. People Carrier vehicle for trips and excursions.
Chauffeur/Courier Service available to collect guests from home and return them to their home at the end of the holiday.
Costs from £500 - £750 per week excluding, chauffeur service, excursion costs and pocket money. Ring 01766 762222 or email minafon1@aol.com
Using photosymbols - work by the Culture Speak Out Group at Grapevine
The Culture Speak Out Group at Grapevine in Coventry have been busy working in partnership with Photosymbols in Bristol on how to make information accessible and user friendly. They would like to share their progress with you.
As we know this is a long standing problem. So the group thought rather than to fall into the category of making token gestures they would really think about how to tackle this. Which is why with photosymbols we are using images/photos of real people with learning disabilities doing positive things.
The culture speak out group thought this idea needed to be expanded to include BME Groups as they are under represented and the images that are used are inappropriate/dated/stereotypical or offensive and very rarely are BME people with learning disabilities shown in a positive role doing positive things. And so this was the basis of our campaign.
The photosymbols of participants from culture speak out will be added to the pack which is out very soon. Issues that are tackled are transport, health and employment. The group have been asked to work on a pack about faith.
There are two articles you can download (pdf format): About the project and Photosymbols explained.
Acknowledgements:
Grapevine - Doe Bank Lane, Spon End, Coventry, CV1 3AR, tel. 02476227900
Photosymbols Ltd - 4A Green way Business Centre, Doncaster Road, Bristol BS10
5PY. email Karl@photosymbols.com Web:
www.photosymbols.com
Free and open source computer software for the voluntary sector in the West Midlands
MOST - Midland Open Sources Technology - is a ChangeUp Project to improve the IT infrastructure of the Voluntary Sector using Free & Open Source Software.
Clients of the project include the Birmingham Disability Resource Centre, and MOST's work in the sector has led to project manager Dave Nichols becoming regional accessibility champion for the West Midlands.
Free Software is a matter of freedom, not price, and consequently Free Software projects like the Mozilla Firefox web browser and the OpenOffice.org office suite are not tied to any one vendor. Software builds its own community of users and developers - as a coalition of volunteers and paid professionals - just like any project in the voluntary sector.
Most of the Internet, and many of the largest computers in the world, are run by Free Software systems like GNU/Linux. Now the software is revolutionising the office desktop - freeing users from viruses, spyware and an expensive upgrade treadmill.
SOFTWARE FREEDOM & ACCESSIBILITY
BVSC's MOST project has chosen to work with the Free Software GNU/Linux platform to deliver IT upgrades and improved accessibility to voluntary groups across the West Midlands region.
Free Software platforms like GNU/Linux have accessibility built in to the GNOME desktop from the ground up - no need for expensive add-on screen-readers and other bolt-on fixes that don't always integrate well. Applications like the OpenOffice.org office suite support readily adapt to most needs, are compatible with Microsoft file formats, as well as with open standards, and integrate well with the GNU/Linux platform http://ui.openoffice.org/accessibility/disabilities.html
Positive aspects
A bi-monthly email bulletin
Trudy Ransome writes...
"I have started producing a bi-monthly email bulletin. It is called ‘Positive Aspects’ and it includes stories, poems, events, places to visit, holidays, benefits, law, requests, conferences and useful articles etc. I will not be able to print it off or send it on as I am only doing this as an extra for the time being. It is an email bulletin, full of information etc., to help people who either have a family member who has a disability, or for people who care for somebody who has a disability, or anyone else who has an interest in disability. I will cover articles relating to any disability and all ages, so everyone is welcome to contribute.
I have 4 children, 2 of whom who have disabilities. Nicholas, who is 12 years old, has Williams Syndrome and Alice who is 8 years old has Down’s syndrome. I myself have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and have a history of depression and self-harm (all currently under control). I live in Ipswich, Suffolk, and am married to Tim. I am 38 years old.
If you want to receive Positive Aspects via email, let me have your email address and I’ll do the rest! The very first edition is out now, so I can send it to you by return."
Trudy Ransome
trudy.1@ntlworld.com
A photographer with learning disabilities
Peter Craythorne of Newtown, Powys, a photographer who has learning
disabilities, offers to take pictures at your event at a reasonable price. An
eight-weeks notice and pickup required. For further details and booking please
contact Peter on 01686 650973 (tel.) or 01686 651036 (fax).
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Page ref: '01news' Owned by: j.thompson@bild.org.uk Last updated: 30/07/2007