What Matters to Me Online Launch Event

Following the Challenging Behaviour Foundation’s presentations at the 2024 Community Conference we are pleased to share this opportunity to hear their key findings from their What Matters to Me Project.

 

This initiative involved engaging with young people with severe or profound and multiple learning disabilities to influence policy and shape support and services.

The event will be an interactive session, sharing the project multi-media manifesto including a practical toolkit, giving attendees a chance to reflect on their own organisations practice, hearing from those involved in What Matters to Me and bringing together other good practice examples.

Places are limited, so book your free ticket here:

What Matters to Me Online Launch Tickets, Thu, Mar 27, 2025 at 9:30 AM | Eventbrite’

Reducing self injury through education in KSS *content warning*

The community is pleased to be able to share some published work by regular contributors and Surrey-based Learning Disability Nurse Carla Withers. 

The paper tells the story of a man with a history of self-injury during masturbation, and how the Community team for people with learning disabilities undertook assessments and education sessions to support him to masturbate safely. 

If you want to read more the paper is published in the Nursing Times and can be found by clicking on the link below.

 Safe masturbation: educating a man with learning disabilities | Nursing Times 

Community Conference 2024 – booking details

The Community of Practice conference will take place on 4th December at Chatham Maritime hosted by Canterbury Christ Church University. 

This conference maintains it’s commitment to inclusion and working together with the focus being people with learning disabilities and their allies living Healthy, Safe and Fulfilled lives.

Keynotes have been confirmed from Bemix and their Be a Leader programme, and Ciara Lawrence – Podcaster and influencer – and her Pink Sparkle Podcast and will reflect the two areas of work from last years conference, relating to co-production and Learning Disability Nursing in the South East. 

Details for booking your free place can be found by clicking here.

If you would like to share your work demonstrating people with learning disabilities living healthy safe and fulfilled lives, please complete the short form available by clicking here. 

KSS LD COP Conference 2024 2

Books Beyond Words – ‘Loving Babies’ Book Launch

Kent Surrey Sussex Learning Disability Community of Practice event will be hosting the new Beyond Words book launch at the event at Kingston University on 1st December.

Beyond Words is delighted to be launching the second word-free picture book in their series on maternity and parenting. Loving Babies is the much-anticipated follow-up book to last year’s Having a Baby. Expertly co-created and trialled by professionals and experts by experience, Loving Babies is a picture story showing the realities and triumphs of early years’ parenting.

The book is designed to be used by people with learning disabilities or who find pictures easier to understand than words. It depicts two different households caring for and loving their new children. Loving Babies and Having a Baby can be used together to open conversations about pregnancy, parenting, and having children.

At the event, Baroness Hollins will be presenting this new publication and in their will be a lunch time book club to explore this new publication. 

Loving Babies Book Beyond words cover

 

New Guest Blog post – Oliver McGowan Training, A Midwife & Mothers perspective.

Hayley Coffey has kindly shared her reflections on undertaking the Oliver McGowan e-learning training, her role as an academic, a midwife and a mother, the implications for education and clinical practice and ultimately autistic people and people with learning disabilities. 

This blog can be found by clicking here

If you would like to submit a reflection on enabling and supporting people with learning disabilities to live healthy safe and fulfilled lives, please see details for doing by clicking here.