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Cutting day services is not modernisation
- Author:
- HOLMAN Andrew
- Journal article citation:
- Community Living, 21(2), 2007, pp.10-11.
- Publisher:
- Hexagon Publishing
Day services for people with learning disabilities have become targets for cuts by local authorities using the argument that it is modernisation. Yet few people with learning disabilities are in work. The author argues that proper community based-support that meets people's needs and promotes employment opportunities is required.
Who cares for us?
- Authors:
- RANK Eve, HOLMAN Andrew
- Journal article citation:
- Community Living, 20(3), February 2007, pp.12-13.
- Publisher:
- Hexagon Publishing
Although carers have received more attention over the past decade, the rights of people with learning difficulties who are carers are still not recognised. The authors describe the campaign 'Who Cares for Us?' which aims to get this changed.
The loneliness of being someone with learning difficulties
- Author:
- HOLMAN Andrew
- Journal article citation:
- Community Living, 22(1), 2008, pp.12-13.
- Publisher:
- Hexagon Publishing
Making friendships are vital for people to lead full lives. The author considers why there are so few opportunities for people with learning disabilities to meet, despite the government acknowledging the importance of friendship in the Valuing People strategy. The organisation Stars in the Sky, a dating agency for people with learning disabilities, is also briefly described.
People need people
- Author:
- HOLMAN Andrew
- Journal article citation:
- Learning Disability Today, 10(2), February 2010, pp.14-17.
- Publisher:
- Pavilion
- Place of publication:
- Hove
Andrew Holman, Chairman of Stars in the Sky, a social enterprise dating agency for people with learning disabilities in the UK, explains why his organisation is joining with Learning Disability Today to launch a campaign to tackle isolation. He addresses the related issues of friendship and relationships noting that in the past friendships have often been ignored by service providers with little effort made to help people maintain old friendships or make new ones. It is also suggested that independence and choice can sometimes end in isolation. Not only are friendships good for the individual but prioritising friendship can mean different, but ultimately fewer, demands on services. The author believes that compared to maintaining friendships the thought of having a long-term relationship can seem insurmountable. He accepts that things have move forward since sexual relationships between people with learning disabilities were first openly discussed in the 1970s. ‘Valuing People Now’, the Government’s new three year strategy for people with learning disabilities, pays attention to relationships. It puts emphasis on the importance of enabling people with learning disabilities to meet new people, form all kinds of relationships and lead a full life with access to a diverse range of social and leisure activities. It includes the right to become parents. The idea behind the campaign discussed here is that everyone should have access to these rights and ‘Growing Friendships’ is calling on partnership boards in areas of the country without a friendship or dating agency to set one up.