Shattering 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 ArticleArts festival offers a focus on equal opportunities for disabled young musicians
TweetAcross the country, there are a dozen government-funded centres for advanced training, providing specialist education for young musicians. But there is no such equivalent for their young disabled...
View Article‘She had a life worth living – she was comprehensively failed’
TweetHow do families of people with learning disabilities or autism feel they are treated by health and social care professionals? According to Karen Callender Caplan, who I interviewed for the...
View ArticleNew campaign for autism-friendly libraries
Tweet“Please be friendly and non judgemental. Don’t be shocked if I’m noisy and unpredictable. Smile, and please be nice to my mum, going out can be stressful for us all!” “This is the way I am and...
View ArticleWeather-inspired inclusive art on public display
TweetClouds suspended from the ceiling and lighting bolt sculptures form part of a new installation from a London-based inclusive art collective. Redstart Arts, a collaborative group of artists with...
View ArticleEveryone can dance: wheelchair dance in pictures
TweetThe Wheelchair Dance Sport Association (WDSA) celebrates its 10th anniversary on Saturday with a gala event at the Stratford Circus Arts Theatre. “Everyone can dance” is the charity’s motto and...
View ArticleCampaign for the capital’s first sensory bus
TweetResponding to a lack of relaxing, interactive spaces for disabled people, Londoner Kay Alston has decided to launch her own campaign for the capital’s first ever sensory bus. The 32-year-old, who...
View ArticleIn limbo: life for people with learning disabilities moving out of hospital...
TweetThe government promised four years ago to move people from treatment and assessment units following BBC Panorama’s exposure of abuse at the privately run Winterbourne View. The preventable death...
View ArticleLondon artist Laura beats thousands vying for Royal Academy spot
TweetThis beautiful pencil drawing by artist Laura Broughton is among those chosen for the highly competitive Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Laura’s piece, Post Party, is one of 1,240 chosen from...
View ArticleUnique art from survivors of brain injury
TweetA unique art collective in London consisting of brain injury survivors is exhibiting its “unguarded, emotive” work for the first time. The Submit to Love Studios, supported by brain injury charity...
View ArticleCampaigner Jonathan Andrews on the talents and skills of autistic people
Tweet Jonathan Andrews was once advised to hide his autism from prospective employers. Instead, he is making his name by doing just the opposite. The 22-year-old recently won campaigner of the year at...
View ArticleThe disability and employment gap: interview
Tweet Around 49% of disabled people in the UK aged 16–64 are in work, compared with 81% of non-disabled people, according to government figures. The government has said it wants to narrow this gap (the...
View ArticleSocial work: the next generation
Tweet A guest post by Rashmi Becker Against a backdrop of funding cuts, headlines about poor practice and high staff turnover in the sector, it is easy to see how the personal aspect of ‘care’ can...
View ArticleGrowth of inclusive project to break barriers to ballet
Tweet “It is the one place she can be herself” is how one parent described the inclusive dance school I wrote about for the Guardian last year. I’ve been following the progress of the Bristol-based...
View ArticleWhy we need to save sheltered housing from more cuts
Tweet “A certain amount of support has gone, so this has made people themselves more involved with each other – we get together more.” I spoke to older people like Val, Rene and Jane, who live in...
View ArticleElection: voting support for people with learning disabilities
TweetThe Conservatives’ manifesto was unveiled today, with huge criticism over proposals to make more elderly people pay for their own social care. Campaigners have long argued that plans to fix the...
View ArticlePioneering performers: festival season for inclusive dance studio
TweetStep Change Studios is the first dedicated pan-disability inclusive Latin and Ballroom dance class in London. On Saturday, the Westminster-based school kicks off one of many summer season...
View ArticleMS treatments: life-changing, but hard to access
Tweet More than 100,000 people in the UK have multiple sclerosis (MS), the most common cause of serious physical disability in working age adults, according to the MS guidelines set out by the National...
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