Category Archives: disability

Death of a Nightingale – a Play not to be missed!

March 12, 2012   autism, Carers, disability, Downs syndrome

Another special school faces closure… Why does its head teacher attempt to take her own life? And what is the impact of this on those around her?

 

Death of a Nightingale  is  a provocative play within a book. It is like a matryoshka doll. It tells a human story with a challenging interplay of fact, fiction, satire and commentary . It  brings to life dry-as-dust issues important in education and, maybe, even more important beyond it. Which is the wiser mantra in education – Equality or Equity? How far does declaring a “Right” provide the protection of “a Right”? Is this generation properly mindful of the legacy it is bequeathing?

“Compelling, controversial and confrontational”   Len Parkin The Teacher
“A searing tale of a fight to save SEN school which drove head teacher to brink of suicide”
Kerra Maddern, Times Educational Supplement

http://www.deathofanightingale.com/

 

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Closure of Remploy factories will devastate the lives of hundreds of disabled workers

March 11, 2012   Carers, disability

‘We’ve no chance. I can’t see myself working again’

Irshad Mohammed tells Charlie Cooper the closure of Remploy factories will devastate the lives of hundreds of disabled workers

Irshad Mohammed will always remember the moment he lost the job of 35 years at the Remploy factory in Acton, one of 54 such workplaces in the UK that specialise in employment for the disabled. On Wednesday afternoon, at 2pm, he and his colleagues were told that their factory was shutting down. Thirty-five others are set to close across the company, with the loss of more than 1,700 jobs.

“We thought there would be some closures, but never on such a scale,” Mr Mohammed, 54, told The Independent. “We thought that at least one London branch would stay open. But all three – Barking, north London and Acton – will close. I argued with the management on the day. I said: ‘Look at what you are doing. You say that disabled people should get work at normal factories but there is widespread unemployment out there. There are students with degrees who cannot get jobs. We will have no chance’.”

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Personalisation is central to social care management standards

March 9, 2012   Carers, disability, Older care
Personalisation should be at the heart of good management in social care
Helen Mooney

Personalisation should be at the heart of good management in social care according to revised management induction standards launched today by Skills for Care.

The refresh of the original 2008 standards sets out core knowledge and skills for managers and is aimed at those new to management as well as those new in post who have previously managed other care services.

The revisions are designed to take account of the personalisation agenda and changes to qualifications.

It says managers are responsible for developing “positive relationships” between staff and service users and families, making the experiences of service users the measure of success and promoting self-determination among clients, as opposed to risk aversion.

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