, a national charity, working for deafblind people and run by deafblind people, has chosen 26 June - 2 July, as . During this time, the organisation hopes to raise society's awareness of the existance of deafblindness.
Dr Philip Gafga, Chair of Deafblind UK and deafblind himself, also called for society to recognise the degree to which deafblind people are excluded from all aspects of everyday life:
"Deafblind people have their needs overlooked and despite having a huge amount to offer and the desire to live rich and rewarding lives, too many find their daily lives filled with frustration and loneliness".
Services provided by Deafblind UK include training in communication and rehabilitation skills, a free 24-hour Helpline, a regional network of staff and volunteers, a range of publications in different reading formats and specially adapted technical equipment to assist with daily living.
To find out more about deafblind awareness week, or Deafblind UK itself, telephone 01733 358100, email info@deafblind.org.uk or visit
"Last November a fast-growing lump on his left buttock sent 大象传媒 Radio 4's Nick Clarke, 58, reluctantly to his GP. Six weeks later, he was an amputee."
In Fighting to be normal, broadcast on radio 4, Nick tells his story.
The programme went out on 23 June, but you can always catch it by using Radio 4's listen again feature. You can also read about Nick's experience in the 大象传媒 News magazine.
As part of , which takes place between the 18th and 25th of June, campaign. The aim of Make it clear is to ask organisations to provide information in easy read words and pictures for customers with a learning disability.
Dean Meuleman, a Mencap employee says,
"As a person with a learning disability, I can find it hard to understand bus and train timetables. This makes it difficult to travel to new places on my own. I have also had problems understanding letters from the hospital. It would make my life easier if I received clear information with easier words, shorter sentences and images. Having to rely on other people to explain documents stops me from being independent."
During Learning Disability Week, people with and without a learning disability will send information they cannot understand back to the organisation that sent it, along with a Make it clear sticker and campaign letter.
For more information about Mencap's Make it clear campaign, visit or phone 0845 123 3000.
The RNIB's has started a brand new and there are still changes to be made.
The team are keen to point out that the Web Access centre will remain as is, and that the blog is simply a more informal way of bringing people up-to-date with the latest news about web accessibility.
The Association of Disabled Professionals is writing a resource guide for disabled people who are thinking of going into business for themselves. They want to be able to include genuine examples from the experiences disabled entrepreneurs have faced when starting up their own businesses.
If you are disabled and
List of 4 items
鈥⒙爏别濒蹿-别尘辫濒辞测别诲
鈥⒙燼 direct seller
鈥⒙爃ave bought a franchise; or
鈥⒙爃ave a licence to run a business
list end
and want to pass on your own experiences and benefit from the free publicity which might come your way from your involvement in the guide, you can contact the ADP by email on adp.admin@ntlworld.com
or by phone/fax on 01204 431638.
Also, if you're thinking of starting up your own business and would like a qualification in small business management, the ADP is offering twenty free places on a Consortium of Enterprise Outreach (CEO) pilot programme. They say,
"Essentially the aim of the project is to enable disabled people to get a recognised diploma for managing a business to make it easier to raise funds from banks, etc.".
You can access a copy of the CEO brochure by clicking
The programme lasts for a year, and appears to be carried out entirely through distance learning in the form of email assignments and contact with what they are describing as "disability-aware business mentors". Frankly, if Lady Bracknell weren't already in gainful employment, she'd be putting her own name down for this right this minute rather than writing a blog entry about it.
This time contact is by email only to
develop@disabled-entrepreneurs.net
Crippled Monkey would love to hear from any Ouch reader whose application to join the programme is successful.
Gateway, the group working to give visually impaired people better access to all library and information services whoever provides them, have launched their website which can be found at
The site intends to be a one-stop resource for both library services and visually impaired people, making them aware of all accessible library services available, and providing information on how they can be accessed. Libraries will also be encouraged to share how they have improved their services, to meet visually impaired users' requirements.
The website supports the Gateway helpdesk, A single contact point for library staff and visually impaired people for enquiries about the whole range of library services, reading materials and useful technology.
The helpdesk can be contacted by calling 0845 075 0089 (local rate), or emailing info@gateway-uk.org
A letter popped up in recently which caught our attention here on Ouch. It's from a man who's partner has MS, and who is "thinking of leaving her". Read the full article
Numerous people replied to the letter with strong opinions, and not just from one side of the arguement.
We did some research and found that the issue of MS and it's impact on sex and relationships is very much recognised on Multiple Sclerosis websites.
The deals extensively with these issues and you can
to order the same information in print.
To discuss anything to do with MS with others in the same situation, check out Julie Howell's website, .
The 大象传媒 world Service broadcast a programme called "Have your say" which is on air from 1800 to1900 UK time every week day.
This evening, following up on an enquiry from a listener in the US, the programme will discuss what it is like to be blind in the developing world. The show has already posted a couple of entries referring to this edition on their blog which you can read here.
To have your say, you can call them on 0207 083 7272, or send an email to worldhaveyoursay@bbc.co.uk you can also send an SMS-text message to 077 86 20 60 80.
To LISTEN LIVE or to find out how to tune in in your area go to 大象传媒 world service
Christina Johnson, a reader of Ouch from Canada, has alerted us to a bad, but quite beautifully bad, anti drink driving ad campaign going on in her neck of the woods.
It's for MADD - Mother's Against Drunk Driving - an admirable campaign which correctly highlights that you must be 'mental' (Mad/Madd?) to sup beer and then get behind the wheel of a car.
In a thirty second public information film entitled 'girlfriend' we see a couple having a loving touching embrace then the camera pulls back to reveal a disabled man in a wheelchair looking down sadly at them.
The message being gently rammed home to the viewer here appears to be that disabled people cannot have loving relationships ... so you'd better think twice about drinking else you might become disabled and then it'll be your turn not to have any love. real or stereotype?
The film is on the . Scroll down to 'Girlfriend'. It's 30 seconds long. You'll need quicktime for this masterpiece that you might mistake for irony.
The 大象传媒 would like to reiterate that drinking and driving is dreadful. don't do it. Ever. Terrible things can happen. But Ouch would like to say also maybe think twice about the adverts because there's enough unhelpful disability images around, no?
It put me in mind of Dave who ended up a stereotypical wheelchair spaz in a road safety campaign on British TV in the 90s. Remember him? Played by actor Daniel Ryan according to on the UK Department for Transport site which mentions it wouldn't be deemed politically correct today. Was it then?
Memories of other classic public information films can be found on .
And does anyone recall Stevie Wonder's bad 80s classic, "Don't drive drunk, cos drinking's no sign of a man". Remember those words, girls.
Channel 4's former Editorial Manager of Cultural Diversity, Mary FitzPatrick, has today been given the newly created role of Editorial Executive of Diversity for 大象传媒 television.
Mary will take overall responsibility for reviewing and tracking on-screen content including the portrayal of black and minority ethnic and disabled people. Part of Jana Bennett's team (Head of Television), Mary will work closely with channel controllers, commissioners, in-house and independent production companies to improve on-screen
portrayal and diversity on 大象传媒 Television, including offering valuable advice to programme makers during the course of the development and production of
programmes.
Jana Bennett said: "The creation of this important new role reflects our commitment to putting audiences at the heart of what we do at the 大象传媒."
For more details read the 大象传媒 press release.
The first comprehensive guide to assisted performances in London theatres for people with sensory disabilities has just been published. It is part of a
240,000 pound visitor development and access initiative being backed by the Mayor of London, which will target deaf and disabled people, as well as other under represented groups.
The new brochure, , lists all audio described, captioned and sign language interpreted performances taking place during Summer 2006 across all London theatre.
The guide is available in a range of formats and can be obtained by emailing access@solttma.co.uk. If you wish to search the brochure on-line, check out
The , organisers of the DaDaFest, are looking for disabled artists to take part in this year鈥檚 event.
According to festival coordinater Gemma Nash,
鈥DaDaFest covers theatre to visual art, live dance to club nights. So if you're a budding musician, playwright, comedian or any other type of disabled artist or group (in particular people from BME groups and artists from the North West) then get in touch.鈥
DaDaFest has been running for 6 years now, and has grown consistently during it鈥檚 life.
To find out more about how you can become involved, call the NWDAF on 01517071733.
Ouch reader Simone Baker wrote to us yesterday after visiting legoland.
"I thought you might like to know that the infamous Alison Lapper statue in Trafalgar Square has been replicated in all it's wonderful detail (including pigeons) in the new Legoland model of London!"
Woah! Alison strikes a powerful and important blow for all plasticbrickdisabledfemalekind here. Thanks Simone.
If you've got a photo you'd like to share with us, email us on ouch@bbc.co.uk
The competition has just gone live, under the banner: Retro Remakes 2006 Big Competition - Promoting Accessibility In Games.
The site says:
"We're proud to present the Retro Remakes 2006 Big Competition - Promoting
Accessibility In Games.
"You've got 3 months to make the best remake you possibly can, with over
拢4,000 worth of prizes up for grabs this year. So what are you waiting for?"
will be quite useful if you're thinking of entering. There's also a forum that you can be part of.
And if you're interested in accessible switch-operated games generally take a look at Ouch's Gide to Switch Gaming written by Barrie Ellis.
| 11:53 UK time, Tuesday, 27 June 2006
