Tizard News and Events

We are delighted to announce that Peter McGill has been promoted to Professor McGill in recognition of his work in the area of learning disability over the past 30 years.

Peter has worked in learning disability for over 30 years, initially as an instructor, residential social worker and clinical psychologist. During this period he helped to establish community-based opportunities for people coming out of institutions. He joined the Tizard Centre in 1986, was Director from 1999-2004 and became Co-Director in 2011. His research interests centre on challenging behaviour. He developed a Diploma course at Kent which trained over 200 practitioners from all over the UK in systematic ways of working with people labelled as challenging. He is an author of over 60 articles, chapters and books on learning disability. He is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst and a Registered Clinical Psychologist. Peter has been a Trustee of the Challenging Behaviour Foundation since 2005 and is a member of the steering group for the Challenging Behaviour-National Strategy Group. He has been promoted to chair in the latest round of promotions at the University and will shortly be Professor Peter McGill. Staff at the Tizard Centre are delighted that Peter’s work has been recognised in this way by the University.

Watch the introduction to Mencap’s  series of short films about supporting people with profound and multiple learning disabilities. The video shows some of the best clips from the films, which accompany the Raising our sights how-to guides – a series of guides to help local areas meet the needs of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities.

Download the how-to guides: www.mencap.org.uk/raisingoursights

People with PMLD have the same rights as everyone else. They have families and friends. They communicate their feelings and choices. With the right support, they can access their communities. It’s time to challenge people’s assumptions. It’s time to make the changes that people with PMLD want. It’s time to start Raising our Sights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CObYhkvjkfQ&list=PLEG4ZKDX2p9nBBayE7t9HpSGuTQGlvmQP&index=1

The House of Lords Committee on the Mental Capacity Act 2005 has published its call for evidence.

Therapeutic Approaches for Children and Young People with Intellectual Disability.  Dr Nick Gore, Tizard Centre, will be giving a talk at the Conference taking place on 2nd July 2013 in Durham. 

This focused event concentrates on therapeutic working with children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities. The programme draws together the academic, research and practical aspects to present a comprehensive picture of the key issues. Parental, community and clinical contexts will be considered and approaches to managing these situations discussed. Assessment, treatment and intervention are covered and the multi-disciplinary views and perspectives of the presenters shared.

Aim – To facilitate interactivity, promote networking opportunities and encourage discussion.

Audience – professionals working with children and intellectual disabilities and having a mulit-disciplinary focus.

For full details:  http://www.acamh.org/events/2013/07/therapeutic-approaches-children-and-young-people-intellectual-disability

The CQC are carrying out a consultation paper looking at changes to be made to the way the CQC inspect, regulate and monitor care services.  To this end they have requested feedback to the plans they are developing.  Their mission is to make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and to encourage care services to make improvements.

For further information or to participate: http://www.cqc.org.uk/public/sharing-your-experience/consultations

Postgraduates and postdocs are invited to attend a new workshop aimed to cut down on procrastination and to promote concentration.  Whatever you are writing, whether it’s a thesis chapter, grant application, lit review, journal article, research proposal, essay, code, book review, that novel you’ve always had in you… SUAW offers a supportive and only slightly coercive place to do it.  This event takes place on the last Wednesday of every month.

Here is how it works: a room is booked and free tea, coffee and cookies put in it. The students arrive, armed with notes/ideas/paper/pens/laptop/inspiration. You then have 15 minutes to drink coffee, chat, eat cookies and arrange a space. Then the first countdown starts at 30 mins. Silence. You write. You feel the silent judgement if you’re not tapping/scribbling away. You see everyone else writing and feel guilty if you are not. This compels you to write more. The timer ends, you have 15 mins to refill your coffee, stretch, exchange witty repartee; and off we go again for another 30 mins. The timer ends, you have written things, you feel marvellous. You vow to return re-inspired.

For more information:  http://www.kent.ac.uk/calendar/?eid=03EE23A6-15E0-420A-82D0-D0C56E39CE66

Tweet using #KentSUAW

The Autism Show, is taking place in London 14th-15th June and in Manchester 28th -29th June 2013.  The Autism Show is aimed at the growing community of parents, carers, professionals and individuals on the autism spectrum who all too often don’t know where to turn for answers.  The event attracts over 5,000 people searching for the latest information, advice, products and services.

For more information: http://www.autismshow.co.uk/

An opportunity for a student to work with a post-doctoral research fellow and closely with the IoP supervisors and team from the BASIS UK Autism at-risk-sibling study, led by Prof Mark Johnson (Birkbeck College).  See: http://www.basisnetwork.org/

Psychiatric and sensory processing difficulties commonly co-occur in individuals with autism but little is understood about their underlying shared aetiology, developmental course or neurocognitive underpinnings. This project will follow up at age 5 to 7 years a cohort of familial at-risk siblings previously seen at ages 6, 12, 24 and 36 months for a range of neurocognitive and behavioural assessments. Concurrent 5-7 years associations between cognitive processing and core and co-occurring behaviours will be investigated. The student will use the longitudinal nature of the study to test whether infant/toddler cognitive measures predict the 5-7 year behavioural phenotype.

Based on a reading of the literature and with input from the experienced supervisors, the student will develop a range of experimental neurocognitive measures assessing cognitive processes thought to be associated with core autism behaviours (e.g. theory of mind, face/emotional processing, executive functions) and those associated with co-occurring psychiatric and sensory difficulties (e.g. fear processing, delay gratification, auditory/touch discrimination). These will be a combination of toy-based and computerised (e.g. touch screen) tasks. Standard assessments of the core autistic and co-occurring behavioural phenotype will be undertaken (parental questionnaires, observational measures, interviews).

Applicants should have (or be expected to obtain) a 2:1 or 1st class honours degree in a subject relevant to the proposed project. If applicants already possess (or expect to obtain) a research-based MSc degree, a merit or distinction level is required. Both the MRC and ‘IoP Excellence’ studentships cover course fees (Home/EU rate) for the MSc and PhD; a stipend (approx. £16,000 per year) and a contribution towards research costs, training and conference attendance.

For full details: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/iop/research/pgr/phdstudentships/Psychiatric-and-sensory-processing-difficulties-in-autism.aspx

Closing Date:  30th June 2013

Lizzie King,  currently studying for an MSc in Analysis and Intervention in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities at the Tizard Centre, will be offering a beginners class in sign language at a cost of £5 per person. 

Lizzie is hoping to raise money for a trip to Tanzania where she will be working in a home for orphaned and abandoned babies with HIV.   As well as volunteering in the baby home, Lizzie will be interpreting for a deaf 5-year-old in her school and teaching her family and friends to sign better. 

 If you are interested in this please email Lizzie at ek275@kentforlife.net   Or if you would like to sponsor Lizzie or  find out more see: www.gofundme.com/elizabethking

The Tizard Domestic Violence Project team, involved in developing and running domestic volence awareness work for adults with learning disabilities in partnership with Greenwich Safeguarding Adults Team, Advocacy in Greenwich Services, HER Centre and Oxleas NHS are participating in the “making a difference” fortnight.

A unique programme bringing together a number of staff and volunteers to provide events focused on raising awareness of safeguarding, promoting partnership work for both children and adults at risk as well as empowering individuals to keep safe. 

The emphasis of the fortnight is on: domestic violence, substance misuse and parental mental illness. 

The fortnight is open to members of the public and anyone working or volunteering with children, families, adults and older people.  For full details of all the events please see:  http://www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/downloads/file/1668/greenwich_making_a_difference_fortnight_public_event