The forth online Community event is scheduled for 4th August and relates to access to audiology services in Kent Surrey and Sussex for people with learning disabilities and autistic people.

This is project is being led by University of Manchester, who will be interested to identify people to be involved in this important research project. Please join us to find out more.

To book your place, please click here.

 

Gender Connect is a safe space and social networking event that has been created for transgender and non-binary individuals, who are autistic, have mental health conditions, and/or a learning disability (neurodiversity). This is an event that is exclusively for transgender or non-binary individuals, or those exploring their gender identity.

These events offer individuals the chance to connect with likeminded people, discuss and share stories, establish friendships, advocate in each other, and socialise in a safe space. The events are hosted at Le Village in Kemptown, Brighton – the heart of transgender and non-binary community.

We would like to take this opportunity to invite anyone you feel would benefit from this event. We believe this is a super exciting opportunity for these service users, and it will really help to enable, empower and contribute to living fulfilled lives. These events will occur once a month and will run on the last Monday of every month.

Gender connect from Empowered Living

 

Gender Connect has been created by Sussex Empowered Living to support and enable people who are neuro and gender diverse with issues of social integration. Sussex Empowered Living provide supported living services for individuals who are autistic, have mental health conditions, and/or a learning disability and specialise in supporting people who identify as transgender or non-binary. Common issues for the people we support include safety, housing, understanding their rights and how these intersect with the individual’s disability.

Sussex Empowered Living have a social change goal –

To create awareness of the issues surrounding social integration and the accessibility of medical services and procedures, for individuals who are neurodiverse, who are also transgender or non-binary. 

And are keen to keen to work with anyone that shares this goal.

For any more information on these events, to register your interest, or collaborate with us on our social change goal please contact Ruben – rforbes@sussexempoweredliving.co.uk

 

Thanks to Becky, Ronnie, Stewart, and Diane for sharing and demonstrating Lifeswap with the Community.

A recording of this emotive and inspiring session is available below. 

From the group work we heard that the Community of practice could reduce stigma by raising and maintaining awareness of people with learning disabilities in society including individual achievements, and data relating to equalities, while better educating care providers including mental health services/

Homegroup’s Lifeswap role model guides are also available below.  LGBT+ Role Models Guide 2020 Role Models Guide 2020

University of Surrey are looking for a Research Fellow to develop phase two of their Together Project funded by Health Education England South East Region Intellectual Disabilities Programme and National Institute for Health Research Applied Research Collaboration in Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

Phase 1 of the Together Project co-produced an intervention designed to support the delivery of good maternity care to people with learning disabilities.  In Phase 2 of the Together Project, the intervention will be implemented and evaluated in practice within local maternity systems in the south east of England. 

For more details please see https://jobs.surrey.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx?ref=035021 

At the last Community online event, Carrie Jackson – impACT, UEA facilitated a discussion with participants about what is required from our health and social care professionals in the future.

To do this, national and international leaders were gathered to share their experiences of practice and research. 

Christine-Koulla Burke and Peter Allum from the Foundation of People with Learning Disabilities shared their work on workforce development.

Paul McClusky and Sue Bridges talked about employing people with learning disabilities as experts by experience in Norfolk and Suffolk.

Professor Ruth Northway talked about the development of the All Wales Health Profile.

The final presentation was from Arianwen Selway and HMP & YOI Healthcare Team. 

Three questions provided a basis for the subsequent discussion:-

1. What knowledge and skills do we want the future care support and health professional staff to have when they qualify?
2. What kind of roles would we expect them to have and in what settings?
3. What do we need to do differently that puts people with lived experience in the driving seat for change?

The Community Steering Group are using to the resulting contributions to develop a workforce framework. 

Thanks to Carrie, and all the speakers.

Daniel Marsden