Tizard News and Events

Dr Julie Beadle-Brown has been appointed Professor in Disability Studies on a part-time basis in the School of Social Work and Social Policy at La Trobe University, Melbourne.  Julie has been Adjunct Associate Professor at La Trobe since 201o, travelling to Melbourne each year to provide training, advice and master classes on topics such as quality of life, autism and active support.  She also takes part in video conferences with the CEO’s (whilst based in Kent) to support the implementation of person-centred active support.  Working closely with Professor Chris Bigby, Julie currently has a  number of research grants running  at La Trobe including a large scale project looking at the implementation of person-centred active support in Victoria, New South Wales and in Queensland.

The Tizard Centre are seeking to appoint a Research Associate to work with Peter McGill and colleagues on an NIHR School of Social Care Research (SSCR) funded study, investigating the prevention of challenging behaviour of adults with complex needs in supported accommodation.  Whilst this is classified as a Research post, Peter is looking for someone who primarily has skills and experience of working with adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and in supporting change in residential environments.  Experience may have been gained through involvement in direct service provision and management and/or in the provision of support and consultation to direct service providers as a behaviour support or other peripatetic professional. 

This post is for 16 months full-time, looking to start at the beginning of October 2012.  For further details and a full job description:  http://www.kent.ac.uk/jobs/

Candidates are welcome to contact Peter to discuss the post further:  P.McGill@kent.ac.uk or phone 01227 823838.

We are delighted to announce that a new prize has been established at the University in memory of the late Edward Newell, who sadly died in 2010 at the age of 36.

The £100 prize will be awarded annually to a student, on one of the Tizard Centre’s autism studies postgraduate programmes, who has made an excellent contribution and has undertaken volunteering or other charitable acts.  The prize has been launched with a £500 donation by Trustees of the Edward Newell Memorial Trust.  A charitable Trust set up for the advancement of health and improvement in the quality of lives for children and young people with autism and severe difficulties. 

The Tizard prize will be awarded at the Annual Tizard Dinner usually held in March of each year.

Following the dreadful abuse of people with a learning disability at Winterbourne View last year an interim report has been prepared.  Viv Cooper, Chief Executive of the Challenging Behaviour Foundation,  is urging all of those effected by such issues to email their MP’s to tell them that the government’s final review and recommendations must demonstrate strong leadership and take action to deliver real change.

See:  http://www.challengingbehaviour.org.uk/

Many families who contact the Challenging Behaviour Foundation describe how their relatives are stuck in institutional-style services, far away from home and their loved ones, where they remain for long periods of time, isolated and at risk of abuse and neglect.  This must stop.  As a result of the Panorama programme, the Government is publishing a review later this year.  It is crucial that the results in action to drive change so that people with a learning disability get the support and services they need to lead a fulfilling life close to home …..  I am very concerned that their initial proposals will not result in the action that’s needed.  The report covers the right issues, but doesn’t offer strong national leadership to make change happen…..  There have been too many scandals and we have waited too long for change to happen.  We must not keep putting people’s sons and daughters at risk.

Go to: http://e-activist.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=78&ea.campaign.id=15541

The University having recognised the potential impact on Tizard’s undergraduate programmes of adopting the maximum allowable fees, have agreed to a reduced fee for programmes up to and including the Foundation degree in Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities.

This means the one year Certificate in Person Centred Support and the one year Diploma in Positive Behaviour Support can be combined to constitute the Foundation Degree, and will now cost £6,000 per year.

Kent has recently updated the Student Finance pages to offer more precise advice:
http://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/funding/undergraduate/costs/faq.html. Students paying for themselves can apply for a range of financial supports.

Tizard have recruited a member of staff to assist existing and prospective students specifically in the area of Finace.  So if you do have any queries please contact Barbara Battersby initially by email  at B.Battersby-38@kent.ac.uk. Prospective students can also contact Tony Osgood direct to discuss the courses and pathways via a.osgood@kent.ac.uk

It is with great pleasure that we announce the 2012 Lin Melville Prize Winners.

Lady Melville, wife of the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kent and long time supporter of the Tizard Centre has very kindly endowed four prizes which will be presented annually.

Best Undergraduate Mark in IDD/Autism awarded to Lynette Wendt
Best Masters Mark awarded to Lisa Edwards
Prize for Outstanding Effort – Avril Quinn
Best mark in a Tizard final year Psychology module – Rowan Ham and Sarah Young

The prize winners have all received a Certificate of Achievement and a book token worth £75.  The Directors of the Tizard Centre would like to take this opportunity to wish them all many congratulations on their achievement.

Lisa Edwards receiving her prize from Lin Melville at the Annual Lecture 2012

Peter McGill, Co-Director of the Tizard Centre is one of the authors of a recently published position paper on the prevention of behavioural and emotional difficulties in people with intellectual disabilities.  This has been published on behalf of the Special Interest Group on Challenging Behaviour and Mental Health of the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities (IASSID). 

For a copy of the paper: http://www.kent.ac.uk/tizard/documents/prevention.pdf

It is with great pride that we announce that Dr Nick Gore has been awarded  fellowship funding for a three year period from the Estate of Patricia Collen.  Patricia lived the majority of her life within Normansfield Hospital, an institution for people with learning disabilities in the UK (now closed).  In recognition of Patricia’s experiences, it was her family’s wish that funding from her Estate be used to develop early intervention initiatives to better support young people who have an intellectual disability and complex needs.

Within the fellowship, Nick will be co-ordinating the Early-Positive Approaches to Support (E-PAtS) project.  The aim of E-PAtS is to identify and deliver the most effective ways of supporting children with learning or developmental disabilities and their families at a very early stage to help limit later difficulties.

By providing specialised ongoing support during a child’s early years the project aims to help prevent  the development of challenging behaviour and guard against its negative impact for children and families.  Support provided will draw on best practice highlighted in the literature and from the experiences of professionals and family members. 

An integral part of the fellowship will be to ensure that lessons learned are embedded in systems and processes to ensure that progress is sustained, providing a lasting legacy to Patricia.

E-PAtS Leaflet July 2012

On the 22nd May “Agreeing together – a contract for the future” was launched in the House of Lords.  This was the result of five years of campaigning by the Learning Disability Coalition.  It sets out 15 changes that need to be made over the next 10 years in order to improve the quality of life for people with a learning disability.  In the next few weeks, the highly anticipated care and support white paper and draft bill are expected to be published.  The Care and Support Alliance is planning a summer of action, calling on campaigners to lobby their MP’s.  See http://careandsupportalliance.wordpress.com/ for details. 

To read the report online: http://www.learningdisabilitycoalition.org.uk/download/ISL094%2012%20Agreeing%20together%20report%20without%20pullout%20FINAL%20LOW%20RES%2021May2.pdf