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Exploring experiences of advocacy by people with learning disabilities: testimonies of resistance
- Editors:
- MITCHELL Duncan, et al, (eds.)
- Publisher:
- Jessica Kingsley
- Publication year:
- 2006
- Pagination:
- 224p.
- Place of publication:
- London
This text charts the course through which people with learning disabilities have become increasingly able to direct their own lives as fully active members of their communities. Accounts from the UK, Australia, Canada and Iceland consider both the individual pioneers of self advocacy and local and national groups that have been set up to work actively towards improved services for people with learning disabilities. The book also examines what self-advocacy means for these people and provides an overview of how opportunities and services have changed for them over the decades.
Making it happen for everyone: a reflection of changing services for adults with learning disabilities
- Author:
- STEWART David S.
- Journal article citation:
- Mental Health Review Journal, 14(2), June 2009, pp.14-19.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
In light of 'Valuing People Now: a new three-year strategy for people with learning disabilities' from the Department of Health, this article reviews the experiences of a group of adults in an East Midlands city. It examines how they view the current services provided, what changes they have seen and where they see the future.
Speaking up, speaking out: pathways to self advocacy; handbook
- Authors:
- LARCHER Janet, et al
- Publisher:
- Communication Matters
- Publication year:
- 1998
- Pagination:
- 61p.
- Place of publication:
- Oxford
Aims to help people speak up and speak out for themselves, and provides guidance on how this can be facilitated. The handbook providing detailed information about advocacy and communicating with a person with severe communication difficulties. Each section of the handbook is accompanied by case studies which illustrate key issues and questions that are raised in the main text.
Filling in the gaps: the role of self-advocacy groups in supporting the health and wellbeing of people with learning disabilities throughout the pandemic
- Authors:
- ROUSE Lorna, et al
- Publisher:
- Open University
- Publication year:
- 2020
- Pagination:
- 24
- Place of publication:
- Milton Keynes
This report describes research on the role of self-advocacy groups in supporting the health and wellbeing of adults with learning disabilities during the coronavirus pandemic. It is based on interviews with staff and members of 11 self-advocacy groups, representing all regions of England, to find out what they had been doing to support members during lockdown. This research shows how and where self-advocacy was ‘filling in the gaps’ left by other services. The key findings are: 1. Self-advocacy groups worked hard (and fast) to support members to get online, helping to bridge the ‘digital divide’ that many people with learning disabilities experience; 2. Self-advocacy groups provided extensive offline support, for example organising phone rotas, and sending information and activities through the post; 3. Self-advocacy groups played a critical role in supporting mental health and wellbeing during the pandemic by enabling people to stay socially connected; 4. Self-advocacy groups supported people’s physical health during the pandemic in a number of ways, adapting government public health advice on coronavirus to accessible Easy Read format, advising on healthy eating and the importance of physical exercise and supporting members to access and use health services; 5. Self-advocacy staff provided essential frontline services to people, delivering food packages and medication. 6. Self-advocacy staff and volunteers sometimes stepped in to support people in or close to crisis relating to mental or physical health, or safeguarding. 7. Self-advocacy groups signposted members to essential public services and third sector initiatives; 8. Many groups mobilised a local volunteer network to extend their capacity to provide support. 9. Self-advocacy groups went ‘above and beyond’ during the pandemic, with staff often working seven days a week to provide support. 10. As self-advocacy groups became more confident in using online technologies during the pandemic, this strengthened connections between them across different regions of the country. (Edited publisher abstract)
Speaking up, speaking out: pathways to self-advocacy; practical guide
- Authors:
- LARCHER Janet, et al
- Publisher:
- Communication Matters
- Publication year:
- 1998
- Pagination:
- 25p.
- Place of publication:
- Oxford
Aims to help people speak up and speak out for themselves, and provides guidance on how this can be facilitated. The guide contains key points in easily reproduced form for use as overheads and handouts in group training sessions. The Practical Guide has been developed for use by key communication partners to help build realistic advocacy plans for individuals whom they are supporting.
Journey to independence: what self-advocates tell us about direct payments; a joint research project from Swindon People First and the Norah Fry Research Centre
- Authors:
- GRAMLICH Stacey, et al
- Publisher:
- British Institute of Learning Disabilities
- Publication year:
- 2002
- Pagination:
- 137p.
- Place of publication:
- Kidderminster
Very few people with learning disabilities get direct payments, yet many see it as an Important part of their journey to independence. This report examines: the best ways to support people with learning disabilities to get direct payments; how people with learning difficulties have gained from direct payments; and the best ways of giving information and publicising direct payments.
Learning difficulties
- Author:
- WARD Linda
- Journal article citation:
- Research Matters, 15, April 2003, pp.31-36.
- Publisher:
- Community Care
Reports on a research project, 'Journey to Independence', which looked at what people with learning difficulties have found useful in accessing and using direct payments. The project was carried out by a self-advocacy organisation Swindon People First in partnership with the Norah Fry Research Centre at the University of Bristol, with support from the Community Fund. The project also provided the project team with research skills needed to carry out the research, and provides important lessons for those wanting to increase the involvement of people with learning difficulties in research that concerns them.