The role of siblings in the care of disabled adults
TweetI’m so grateful to Anila Jolly (pictured above, with her brother Sunil) for speaking so frankly about her relationship with her sibling. As she says, siblings of disabled adults are “largely...
View ArticleSocial inclusion, sewing patterns and silver linings
Tweet“More busy”. This quote from Kelvin Burke of Rocket Artists reflects what people with learning disabilities need in order to be more included in society; people want to be busier with...
View ArticlePeople with learning disabilities are not scroungers or superheroes
TweetThe MBE recently won by Shaun Webster is, he says “two fingers” to the bullying colleagues who tormented him when he worked in a warehouse some years ago. You can’t disagree with the 43-year-old’s...
View ArticleRocket science and reality: The Tale of Laughing Boy
Tweet The Tale of Laughing Boy from My Life My Choice on Vimeo. This weekend, I watched a film that should never have had to be made, about a young man who should never have died, featuring people who...
View ArticleArts festival uses digital tech for social inclusion
TweetA few images here from an innovative digital arts festival due to take place this weekend (10-12 July). The interactive event, which I wrote about today for the Guardian’s online social care...
View ArticleDisability, demonstration and debate: Jane Campbell
Tweet“The cabbage has a brain,” is, it’s safe to say, not the response that Jane Campbell’s prospective employers expected when they commented on her encyclopedic knowledge of social care during an...
View ArticleTailor made theatre for an overlooked audience
Tweet“Today is different” is a recurrent phrase in the latest show from theatre group Frozen Light. But the refrain is more than just part of the script; the words also reflect the innovative company’s...
View ArticleBittersweet birthday for landmark disability law
Tweet“Laws are all very well, but it’s people’s attitudes that need to change.” This comment from actor and Mencap ambassador Sarah Gordy pretty well sums up opinions about the impact of the Disability...
View ArticleShattering stigma with the power of poetry
TweetA poetry exhibition opening today aims to challenge attitudes about learning disability and mental ill-health. The learning disability poems are partly a tribute to the late Kim Wolf, who had...
View ArticlePlay is a post code lottery for deafblind children like Ruby
TweetGuest blogger Lesley Rogers is chairing the charity Sense’s inquiry, The Case for Play into the lack of access to play opportunities for under-fives with multiple needs. Lesley is involved...
View ArticleEqual rights at the end of life for people with autism
TweetMichael Baron, a National Autistic Society founder parent, whose son Timothy is 60, says of the concept of “a good death”: “At the age of 86, I want that for myself, but just as much I want that...
View ArticleHomes, hospitals, ambition and actuality
TweetFour years after the abuse of people with learning disabilities at Winterbourne View (and 30 years after the start of care in the community and 20 years after the influential Mansell Report), NHS...
View ArticleArts festival uses digital tech for social inclusion
TweetA few images here from an innovative digital arts festival due to take place this weekend (10-12 July). The interactive event, which I wrote about today for the Guardian’s online social care...
View ArticleDisability, demonstration and debate: Jane Campbell
Tweet“The cabbage has a brain,” is, it’s safe to say, not the response that Jane Campbell’s prospective employers expected when they commented on her encyclopedic knowledge of social care during an...
View ArticleTailor made theatre for an overlooked audience
Tweet“Today is different” is a recurrent phrase in the latest show from theatre group Frozen Light. But the refrain is more than just part of the script; the words also reflect the innovative company’s...
View ArticleHow ballet can break down barriers
TweetA Bristol-based dance project is spreading its inclusive arts campaign, training teachers to run ballet sessions for disabled children and their non-disabled counterparts. My piece on the Flamingo...
View ArticlePotential, not prejudice: photo project challenges disability stereotypes
TweetWhen newlywed Tessa got back to the hotel with husband Mark after their wedding, she found he’d arranged a surprise – he had scattered flowers and balloons around the room. As Tessa recalls in a...
View ArticlePlay puts life with a learning disability centre stage
Tweet“I always wanted it to be about dance, drama, feelings”, said actor Nathan Bessell recently of the new play he has inspired and collaborated on. The 31-year-old stars in Up Down Man, at the...
View ArticleHow cuts affect disabled people: “We’re going backwards – and fast”
TweetCoverage of the budget has been dominated by a focus on George Osborne’s headline-grabbing sugar tax, although it’s not quite enough to detract from the unfair deal for the embattled social care...
View ArticleThe disability activist fighting injustice
TweetSocial policy professor Peter Beresford once described Doug Paulley, who I interviewed for today’s Guardian, as as a “caped care home crusader”. Paulley is known for his wheelchair priority case...
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