Focusing on the positive
10 April 2012
So far, 2012 has not been a good news year for people with
learning disabilities. Such things as the continuing Care Quality
Commission reports on residential facilities failing to meet
essential standards and cuts to social care funding leading to
people losing their services have painted a bleak picture… So it's
time to redress the balance a little. With such bad news regularly
featuring in the LDT newsletter, it is easy for this to overshadow
the good work that is being done around the country - of which
there is a lot. I regularly get sent press releases about services
that are doing great work with and for people with learning
disabilities. Some of these make it onto the news pages of the
website; others get expanded into features in the print edition of
Learning Disability Today. For example, picking a story at
random from my inbox, in just over a year, staff at CMG's Avenue
Road supported living service in South Norwood have helped Morris
Walters, who has autism, to gain employment, as well as develop his
life skills, such as cooking and travelling. To see the full story,
click here. Individually, stories like this
are great for the people they are helping, whether it is to gain
employment, move into a home of their own, or learning valuable
life skills. But it also reminds everyone that it is not all doom
and gloom for people with learning disabilities - there is some
great and often innovative work going on that makes a real
difference to people's lives. In times such as these, when the news
is often bad - there is no escaping the reality that life is tough
and getting tougher for many people with learning disabilities - it
is even more important to remember that there are still many good
things happening all over the country, and these should be
celebrated whenever and wherever possible. If you have any
'good news' stories that you want to publicise, please email me at
dan.parton@pavpub.com.
Comments
Write a Comment
Comment Submitted