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Putting advocacy on the map
- Author:
- -
- Journal article citation:
- Viewpoint, March 2005, p.24.
- Publisher:
- Mencap/Gateway
Reports on 'The Map Squad', a member-led advocacy project in Tower Hamlets which is helping people set up new projects. The group is represented on the local Learning Disability Partnership Board, has written a plan on modernising day services and is currently setting up a resources library.
Lighting beacons throughout the land: a description of the VIA advocacy project and reflections on developments in self advocacy
- Author:
- DAWSON Peter
- Publisher:
- Values into Action
- Publication year:
- 2004
- Pagination:
- 44p.
- Place of publication:
- London
For 3 years Values into Action (VIA) managed the Valuing People funding for self advocacy groups. This report describes how the grants were given out, where the money went and how it was used. It also describes the development work carried out by the Project team, and reflects on the tensions and potential for the future of self advocacy.
Next steps: a user-led model of self-direction, self-advocacy and fulfillment
- Author:
- VOICEABILITY
- Publisher:
- Voiceability
- Publication year:
- 2011
- Pagination:
- 54p.
- Place of publication:
- Cambridge
The Next Steps project, provided by the UK advocacy charity VoiceAbility, is an empowerment and self advocacy project for adults and young people with learning disabilities. It aims to support people with learning disabilities to develop their life skills, increase their confidence, make choices about their own lives, and create a lifestyle in the community based on their aspirations, interests, skills and needs. This report provides an overview of the Next Steps model, covering the context, value base and key approaches. It describes how to set up a Next Steps project, including initial planning, setting up, running the project, and monitoring and assessment. It also discusses challenges in the Next Steps approach and the support available.
Enterprising spirits
- Author:
- BATES Keith
- Journal article citation:
- Learning Disability Today, 10(4), May 2010, pp.14-16.
- Publisher:
- Pavilion
- Place of publication:
- Hove
It is estimated that just 7.5% of adults with learning disabilities are in paid employment, yet many of these people want to work. The cross government employment strategy Valuing Employment Now, published in 2009, has set ambitious targets to radically improve the opportunities for, and increase the numbers in, work for people with learning difficulties. This article describes the ‘In Business’ project, which help to support people with learning disabilities in setting themselves up as self-employed as a realistic route to employment. The project worked with 4 primary sites across England, each supporting up to 8 people in establishing their own small business. The key features of the project were that: each entrepreneur was supported to develop their own business based on their interests and abilities; the In Business project manager advised paid support staff, families and entrepreneurs about setting up business and navigating the benefits and tax systems as a self-employed person; staff members and families were engaged and trained in order to support the entrepreneur; and small business advisers and mainstream employment services were engaged in the project from its early stages. This article outlines the innovation involved, the business development provided, and the service delivery change as a result of supporting people with learning disabilities become entrepreneurs.
No Longer Researching About Us Without Us: a researcher's reflection on rights and inclusive research in Ireland
- Author:
- JOHNSON Kelley
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 22(5), September 2009, pp.250-256.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This essay on ‘No Longer Researching About Us Without Us’, an innovative national project which aimed to develop inclusive research with people with intellectual disabilities in the Republic of Ireland, is the author’s personal reflection, as co-ordinator of the project, on work undertaken by and with people with intellectual disabilities during its 18-month life span. Using two examples from the project, focusing on a coffee shop in a small community, and bullying, this paper explores links between the inclusive research aspect of the project, and the rights of people with intellectual disabilities to participate within their communities. As a result of ‘No Longer Researching About Us Without Us’, it was found that people with intellectual disabilities began to initiate and take action on some issues that were important to them, becoming stronger self advocates, resulting in the development of longer term changes in their role within one service in Ireland.
What kind of a future? Workshops for young people at the transition to adulthood
- Authors:
- DAVIES Jill, BURKE Christine
- Journal article citation:
- Llais, 95, Spring 2010, pp.10-12.
- Publisher:
- Learning Disability Wales
A previous article described a project run by the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities called “What kind of a future?” which addressed innovative approaches to transition. The second phase of the project is described here. This involved a series of workshops for young people and their families, held in Cardiff, Derby and the London Borough of Newham. This article focuses on the workshops held in Cardiff which were attended by 7 young people with learning disabilities aged between 14 and 27 years and members of their family. A total of four workshops were held in each region. The first explored person centred planning. In Cardiff the other workshops focused on work and supported employment, self-advocacy and financial support, and health and housing. In all the workshops local professionals were invited to talk about their organisations and self-advocates shared their experiences, thus helping families to make links at a local level. The results of questionnaires used at the start and end of the workshops indicated that there was a small increase in the number of activities and social contacts by the participants. There was also an increase in the number of professionals involved in their lives. Feedback from families indicated that they had a greater awareness of local services and their aspirations around their child entering the workplace had increased. The authors conclude that this model was far more useful than just the use of written information with no follow-up.
Social work practice and intellectual disability
- Authors:
- BIGBY Christine, FRAWLEY Patsie
- Publisher:
- Palgrave Macmillan
- Publication year:
- 2010
- Pagination:
- 238p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Basingstoke
Provides an understanding of the knowledge, values and skills required for effective practice in the field of learning disability and the opportunity for multidisciplinary collaboration for social change. The book focuses on adults with learning disabilities and their families. Topics include: the changing definitions of learning disability; theory and practice of working with adults with learning disabilities and their families; assessment, planning, monitoring and review; social inclusion and participation. Includes numerous case studies and discussion points.