This is a book written to celebrate the humanity of people, and to share experiences of what brilliant care and support can look like for families with learning disabled or autistic children and adults. Sara Ryan steers clear of jargon and 'doublespeak' to conjure authentic experiences of families. Speaking with families and professionals, she conveys the love, laughter and joy which binds families and the harsh realities many face; of separation from loved ones, substandard care and frustration and helplessness in the face of inflexible services. From their experiences, Sara looks to capture those pockets of brilliance that families have encountered, and which outstanding practitioners have pioneered, for us all to learn from. We know so much about what support and services should look like in order to enable flourishing lives - this book aims to help families and professionals to achieve it, together.

This book offers a critical discussion on the necessity for 'difficult conversations' to take place in education, drawing on studies from across the UK. The editors and contributors address three key questions: - How can 'difficult conversations' be theorised? - What transformations in thinking and practice can occur through 'difficult conversations'? - What value do 'difficult conversations' have in enabling understanding and compassion between the diverse communities of today? The chapters cover a range of topics including supporting children with SEND, parent and carer engagement, childhood trauma, race, disability, the climate emergency, and the researcher's positionality. The contributors draw on the theoretical work of bell hooks, Linda Alcoff, Paulo Freire, Victor Turner, Homi Bhabha, Nel Nodings, Melanie Nind, Emile Bojesen, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Mathew Lipman, and other contemporary theories. They argue against the prevailing deficit-based perspectives about marginalized communities and invite deep thinking about the nature of oppression experienced in many spheres of education and therefore in our society. Ultimately, the book advocates for the empowerment and agency of anyone facing social inequalities through engagement in 'difficult conversations' as a means of transformation and social change.

Communication and interpersonal skills are an essential part of practice. Taking a skills-based approach, this book looks at research, theories, approaches and processes, demonstrating how they relate directly to practice. It will help you to understand the benefits that good communication skills can bring to your work with children and families, adults, groups, and those with communication difficulties.

This handbook provides an authoritative and up-to-date overview of Critical Autism Studies and explores the different kinds of knowledges and their articulations, similarities, and differences across cultural contexts and key tensions within this subdiscipline. Critical Autism Studies is a developing area occupying an exciting space of development within learning and teaching in higher education. It has a strong trajectory within the autistic academic and advocate community in resistance and response to the persistence of autism retaining an identity as a genetic disorder of the brain. Divided into four parts • Conceptualising autism • Autistic identity • Community and culture • Practice and comprising 24 newly commissioned chapters written by academics and activists, it explores areas of education, Critical Race Theory, domestic violence and abuse, sexuality, biopolitics, health, and social care practices. It will be of interest to all scholars and students of disability studies, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, education, health, social care, and political science.

Every parent wants the same thing: for their child to enjoy a long and fulfilling life. But what happens when things don't go according to plan? What happens when parents have to become advocates for their child's healthcare needs? Who decides what is in a child's 'best interests'? Stephanie Nimmo faced these questions first-hand when her daughter, Daisy, was diagnosed with a life-limiting condition as a baby. Seen through the lens of Stephanie's own experiences, this sensitive book delves into the complex world of medical ethics and paediatric palliative care. From recognising tipping points to the importance of building relationships with palliative care teams well before crisis, this book explores how medical professionals can better support families throughout their child's care. Interviews with clinicians and snapshots from the lives of patients' families provide insight into the realities of life on both sides of the hospital bed. Compassionate explanations of the conflicting pressures in the hospital system foster understanding and help medical professionals and families work together.

What lies behind England’s crisis in adult social care, why has real change been so hard and what can be done? Ensuring effective, sustainable and affordable care and support for people of all ages is an urgent public policy challenge. This vital book outlines a different vision of social care as an essential part of the country’s economic and social infrastructure that enables people to live good lives. Drawing on the history of social care, international comparisons and lived experience, it sets out a different road to reform that will secure political traction and public support for change.

'A bold wake-up call for those who doubt what people with learning disabilities can do' – Sally Phillips 'A call to arms to confront continued discrimination' – Sir Norman Lamb 'A gem of an anthology... this collection will contribute to our growing understanding, acceptance and celebration of "neurodiversity"' – Simon Baron-Cohen Success is a crucial part of being human. But what if society thought success and aspiration didn’t apply to you? A human rights campaigner. A critically acclaimed actor. A civil rights activist. A singer–songwriter. A Paralympian and elite swimmer. A fine artist. An award-winning filmmaker and drag artist. An elected UK mayor. These professionals have achieved astounding and awe-inspiring success. They've won national accolades in competitive fields such as film, theatre, music, fine art, campaigning and politics... and like 1.5 million people in the UK today, they all also happen to have a learning disability. In Made Possible, these eight remarkable individuals present their authentic experiences – in their own words – and show us what society misses out on by overlooking them, pitying them, patronising them, simply tolerating them and labelling them in terms of their conditions. Edited by social affairs journalist Saba Salman, this collection of groundbreaking and illuminating essays shatters preconceptions and offers a glimpse of the many types of success that can be achieved by people with a learning disability. Crucially, it reveals how people can make invaluable contributions to society when their potential is acknowledged and supported by those around them.

On July 4th 2013, Connor Sparrowhawk, also known as Laughing Boy or LB, was found dead in a specialist NHS unit. Connor, who had autism and epilepsy, had a seizure while in the bath and no member of staff was on hand to stop him from drowning. An entirely preventable death. Sara Ryan presents a frank, sometimes funny and touching account of her son's early life and preventable death and the unfolding #JusticeforLB campaign. This serves as a wake-up call to all of us and asks: can we really claim that we respect the life and dignity of learning disabled people?

Sensitive and sweeping, this is a history of the little-known lives of people with learning disabilities from the communities of eighteenth-century England, to the nineteenth-century asylum, to care in today’s society. Those They Called Idiots traces the little-known lives of people with learning disabilities from the communities of eighteenth-century England to the nineteenth-century asylum, to care in today’s society. Using evidence from civil and criminal courtrooms, joke books, slang dictionaries, novels, art, and caricature, it explores the explosive intermingling of ideas about intelligence and race, while bringing into sharp focus the lives of people often seen as the most marginalized in society.