South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) has signed a charter committing to becoming a neurodiversity-friendly employer.

Please visit this blog post or the SECAmb website for further information.

West Sussex Mind have announced a new programme of free workshops, focused on enabling people working in the field of autism, and autism and learning difficulties to better support families in this region.  

Please visit this link for further information.

From Dr Georgia Pavlopoulou, Dr Rebecca Wood and Dr Chris Papadopoulos:

“How do you experience parenting during the pandemic period? Did your perspectives and needs change over time during pandemic based on experiences, new information, slightly different regulations?”

Click here for the *NEW* anonymous, coproduced survey.

Posted on behalf of Professor Irene Tuffrey-Wijne:

“Hello!

I have started a new research project. It is called “Growing Older, Planning Ahead”.

We are looking for a researcher with learning disabilities to work on the project for 6 hours per week, for 2 years. 

The job is advertised on the Kingston University website: https://jobs.kingston.ac.uk/vacancy/research-assistant-431082.html

You can read more about the job in the attachment, which is in easy-read.

You can apply if you: 

• have a learning disability
• have experience in doing research, OR have done research training (for example, the research course we did at St George’s University last year)
• are interested
• are able to come to St George’s University in Tooting once a week (although whilst we are still in lockdown, we may need to work from home on Zoom etc.)

You can apply online but it’s quite complicated, so instead, you can use the easy-read application form. (That will be easier for me too!)

It is attached below.

You can send it back to me, and I will then send it to the job office at the university.

Your application needs to arrive by 9 December. We will hold interviews on 16 December.

If you need any help, you can ask me.

Please share this information if you know of anyone else who might be interested!”

Posted on behalf of Professor Kay Mafuba, University of West London:

“We are undertaking an RCN Foundation funded research project on the contribution of learning (intellectual) disability nurses to the lives of people with learning disabilities. We are seeking your support to publicise and circulate this work if at all possible.

What impact do learning disabilities nurses have? 

The RCN Foundation is funding a study which aims to identify nursing led and or nursing centred interventions undertaken by learning disability nurses to address the changing needs of people with learning disabilities across the lifespan and in all settings. The research will make explicit what learning disability nurses do. This research will also highlight areas of further research investment in nursing interventions and innovations that will further improve patient care for people with learning disabilities. 

We are requesting all registered learning disability nurses to participate in a survey to further develop this work. The survey takes 20-30 minutes to complete. 

To complete the survey, click here. Alternatively copy and paste this link into your internet browser: https://uwl.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/understanding-the-contribution-of-intellectual-disability 

Please forward this e-mail to as many colleagues as you possibly can. 

If you have any questions please contact Professor Kay Mafuba: kay.mafuba@uwl.ac.uk.   

Title of Study 

Understanding the contribution of nurses to improving the health and well-being of children, adults and older people with learning (intellectual) disabilities, now and for the future. 

Investigators 

1. Professor Kay Mafuba (Principal Investigator), University of West London 
2. Dr Marc Foster, University of West London 
3. Dr Hazel Chapman, University of Chester 
4. Dr Joann Kiernan, Edge Hill University and Nurse Consultant, Alder Hey Hospital 
5. Rebecca Chester MBE, Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust & & Chair United Kingdom Intellectual Disability Consultant Nurse Network 
6. Dorothy Kupara, University of West London 
7. Chiedza Kudita, University of West London”