Monthly Archives: February 2012

Turn the music down in shops for World Autism Day -2nd April 2012

An idea for World Autism Day – 2nd April 2012

This isn’t the blog I was going to post today but…

I was walking through my local shopping centre this morning and as it was 10am-ish all was reasonably quiet people-wise and I thought “this would be an ideal time to take D shopping – had she not been at school”.

Then I turned the corner into the next parade of shops, music blaring out from one shop, which always looks quite intimidating – no disabled access, you have to go up steps to get in, very dark atmosphere and very cramped, you almost need night vision goggles to go shopping in there – and the shop opposite was playing its music louder to drown out the other shop.

Elderly care should be better regulated, says nursing leader

Unskilled health care assistants are caring for the elderly in a system that has failed to adjust to ageing patients, according to the chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing.

8:20AM GMT 29 Feb 2012

Dr Peter Carter called for an overhaul of care services in which older people are looked after by health care assistants who have not had specialist training.

He said elderly patients were as dependent as children but their needs were not reflected in the ratio of nurses to patients.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Dr Carter said: “In children’s nursing, the ratio of registered nurses to children is one to four. In elderly nursing, it is one to 10.

Disability documentaries to be aired on BBC One and Radio 5 live

BBC announces new disability season

The BBC has announced a new season of disability documentaries to be aired on BBC One and Radio 5 live.

The documentaries will tackle the reality of disability in the 21st century, telling the stories of disabled people and their families as they tackle new stages and phases in their lives.

In Racing With the Hamiltons: Nic in the Driving Seat (6 March), BBC One follows Lewis Hamilton’s younger borther Nic (born with cerebral palsy) in his first season as a racing driver. Rosa Monckton she speaks to parents facing the challenge of enabling their learning disabled children to live independently in Letting Go (13 March).

On 20 March, EastEnders actress Rita Simons (Roxy Mitchell) takes to the screen to talk about the debate over making the best decision for her profoundly deaf six-year-old daughter in My Daughter, Deafness and Me.