Blog
By Chris Harlan-Marks
21/03/2012
This blog post is about using the Presence to Contribution Tool to support someone to interact with others more comfortably in new or challenging social situations, particularly during activities where there is little structure and the expectations aren't very clear.
Note: in order to open the links in this post without leaving the page, right-click on them and select "open in a new window".
I recently uploaded an example of the Presence to Contribution
tool to the Resources section of the site. This example of the tool comes from the
family...
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By Agnieszka Rokita
08/02/2012
This blog post is provided by Netbuddy: an information sharing website for parents and carers of people with a learning disability.
Read on to find some tips by parents for siblings about living with a disabled brother or sister.
There are over 1.5 million people in the UK who have a brother or sister with a disability. Siblings often feel socially and emotionally isolated, and have to cope with challenging situations. As a parent, it can be difficult supporting siblings – answering their questions about disability and dealing...
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By Agnieszka Rokita
25/01/2012
Parents and carers who come in contact with the special educational needs system often feel lost, misinformed or kept in the dark. Of course all the documents that you need: SEN Code of Practice, SEN Guide for parents and carers, Disability Discrimination Act are available online.
But finding your way through the law when you already have little time on your hands and you feel that the school is deliberately trying to be difficult can feel like a test of endurance and determination.
IPSEA is a charity which helps parents to understand their legal rights when their SEN journey becomes a battle. Below is a short factsheet about IPSEA and how they can help you.
IPSEA factsheet
IPSEA is a charity which provides free and independent advice on special educational needs to parents in England and Wales.
IPSEA stands for Independent Parental Special Education Advice.
IPSEA helps parents through:
Families are all too often asked about the problems they are going through or the diagnosis of a child but never asked to just talk about their family. “I have never been asked to talk about my family like that”, is a response I have heard when asking families to tell me about the positive things in family life and not about the problems.
It seems that if you want to get ahead in the SEN system you have to be very negative about your child or situation, which has longer effects on how a family can move forward.
In our day to day life, if a task has negativity attached, it becomes a chore or a pain to complete, so why would...
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By Lowri Bartrum
22/11/2011
Something struck me whilst facilitating a session for families... How much do professionals really understand how their actions impact on family life? I wanted to think about this more and think about what we can all do as individuals in these situations.
Here is an example:
A specialist professional comes into your home – your son or daughter has been referred to them and you are expecting them. The professional may be able to help you, but at the moment, you are very busy, your other children have important things going on in their life and you know...
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