The Hop Shed is Kent’s very own inclusive theatre company for children, young people and adults, developed and operated by The Symbol Trust with training, support and quality assurance from the internationally renowned Chickenshed.

Following a hugely successful Open Evening on the 25th April The Hop Shed is now open for applications! Contact Florentina Dalton on 01795 844440 or email hopshed@symboltrust.org

Chickenshed is an inclusive theatre company: www.chickenshed.org.uk

For details on Hop Shed please log on to www.symboltrust.org/hopshed

The post Hop Shed Open Evening! appeared first on Symbol Uk Ltd.

The following is a quote from the report:

“A strength of the service is the provision of individual placement plans and tailored assessment processes and support for each family which take account of their particular needs and abilities. Assessment reports contribute to effective decision-making and address the issues required by the courts and placing authorities. Parents and older children are fully involved in the assessment process and most families feel well supported by the staff team. Children’s safety is central to all aspects of the centre’s work. Managers and staff work in partnership with external agencies and services to achieve the best possible outcomes for children and parents.”

The post Clifton Park Family Centre- Ofsted appeared first on Symbol Uk Ltd.

The report calls on government to:

1. Recognise the specific developmental and educational needs of children and young people with Down syndrome as a unique group
2. Ensure effective planning and monitoring for this population of children/ young people
3. Develop the inspection framework so that the inspection process is informed by and checks against identified good practice with pupils with SEN, and specifically Down syndrome
4. Promote and support syndrome-specific approaches tailored to the learning profile of children and young people with Down syndrome, and endorse the principles set out in this document
5. Develop government led, centrally produced, evidence based guidance for practitioners on Down syndrome
6. Protect the provision of specialist Down syndrome support services
7. Recognise and meet the need for provision of additional resourcing

The report summarises information about the specific learning needs of children with Down syndrome and sets out principles for effective education practice.

The post Good Practice Guidelines for Education for Children and Young People with Down Syndrome appeared first on Symbol Uk Ltd.

Norman Lamb, the Care and Support Minister said: “One of the most shocking revelations to come out of this case is that many of the 3,500 people with learning disabilities who are in ‘hospitals’, often for years, should not be there. It is a national imperative that we act decisively.”

Other measures announced included a requirement for care plans to be in place for all children, young people and adults with learning disabilities by April 2014.

The post Government announces thousands of patients are to be moved from NHS-funded private hospitals and care homes over the next 18 months (10.12.12) appeared first on Symbol Uk Ltd.

Strength and agility training in adolescents with Down syndrome: A randomized controlled trial, Hsiu-Ching Lin, & Yee-Pay Wuang in Research in Developmental Disabilities, 33, 6, 2236–2244

The post Short-term exercise programme improves muscle strength and agility in adolescents with Down syndrome appeared first on Symbol Uk Ltd.

Anne Fox, Director of The Communication Trust, said; “This landmark research is to be welcomed by all those and committed to supporting children and young people who struggle with communication. This significant investment in research now needs to be brought to life in the places where children spend their days”.

Symbol is particularly pleased that the views of children and young people were included in the research and strongly welcomes the report’s recognition that speech and language provision should be linked to each child or young person’s needs, which change over time, rather than to their diagnosis.

More information is available at http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/cedar/better/

The post Symbol welcomes landmark research and joins calls for all those who work with children to make communication their business appeared first on Symbol Uk Ltd.

The researcher in this study was interested specifically in the area of communication and in particular in the patterns of referral to speech and language therapy (SLT) services.

The research was done in northern England and the author set out to identify current referral patterns and quantify the level of demand upon the SLT service from parents with learning disabilities in the area.

The researcher collected data for 24-months. She interrogated the SLT clinical database and carried out a case note audit to identify the reason for referral and number of contacts.

What she found was that more than a fifth of referrals during the period were for parents, including a relatively high proportion of young women.

She suggests that the findings may indicate that the SLT service was seen by referrers as a source of support for people with learning disabilities who are or are about to become parents.

Referrals related to impending court cases as well as the need for support to parents in their communication skills to improve parenting skills.

She concludes that the level of demand found in the study shows that in this area of northern England, there is an increase in people experiencing communication challenges resulting from their lives as parents.

Parents with learning disabilities and speech and language therapy. A service evaluation of referrals and episodes of care, Stansfield J, in British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 40: 169–176.

The post Increasing demand for speech therapy for parents with learning disabilities appeared first on Symbol Uk Ltd.

Seb’s mother has said: “Some people have been a bit negative and said M&S are only using the pictures because Seb is cute. But so what? He is cute. He just also happens to have Down’s syndrome. If this raises awareness, challenges a few stereotypes and helps other parents feel better, I will be very happy. “Over the years I found I increasingly wanted to banish the stereotype that Down’s children have pudding-bowl haircuts and wear tracksuit bottoms and all love singing and dancing. You just see these images time and time again. They are individuals. Down’s syndrome children do share some facial characteristics, but they look more like their parents than one another. And I know I have my mummy goggles on, but I think Seb is breathtakingly beautiful.”

The Times Newspaper, 22.9.12

The post Four year old with Down Syndrome to be the new face of Marks & Spencer’s children’s clothing appeared first on Symbol Uk Ltd.

The researchers in this study set out to look at how planning for the future care of people with learning disabilities living with older carers takes place. They worked in one region of the UK, and looked at what preferences older family carers might have for the ways in which support systems might make such future plans.

Using a mixed methods design, they first used a structured questionnaire to collate information on the health, caregiving demands and future planning preferences of 112 parent and sibling carers; aged from 60–94.

Secondly, they used in-depth semi-structured interviews with 19 carers to explore issues around future planning.

What they found was that more than half the carers in the sample were lone carers. Most of the carers were female, and many reported a wide range of health problems. A third reported high levels of anxiety as a result of their caregiving responsibilities.

With regards to the preferences of older carers for the future support of the person they supported, the main preference was for the person to remain in the family home, with either family and/or paid staff providing support.

It was a minority of carers who stated a preference for the person to to move into the home of a sibling, and a small number who would like to see the person moving into a residential service with other people with learning disabilities.

From the thematic analysis of the semi structured interviews, four themes emerged:

• unremitting apprehension,
• the extent of planning,
• obstacles encountered solutions for future planning.

The authors conclude that the study identifies the “emotional, informational and practical supports required by these ageing family carers” and points out that the need to support older family carers to plan is becoming more urgent with the number of older people with learning disabilities rising in the future.

Examining the support needs of ageing family carers in developing future plans for a relative with an intellectual disability, Taggart L et al., in Journal of Intellectual Disabilities,16, 3, 217-234

The post Older family carers look to find support for offspring in their own homes appeared first on Symbol Uk Ltd.

But it takes an average of two years and three months for an adoption to go through for children in this age group. During this time babies invariably endure several changes in foster carer, along with respite carers. Medical experts believe such change is highly damaging for brain and emotional development.

The Prime Minister said that he wants babies who are likely to be adopted to move in with their prospective new family in a fostering arrangement from the outset, and before the different formal steps are taken by social workers and the courts.

The post PM sets out Adoption Reforms appeared first on Symbol Uk Ltd.