
UK guidance on accessible homes
I've blogged before about why I ended up building my own home, sadly I couldn't find anything that met my needs as a power chair user. Based on my experiences I’ve recently been asked my opinions about a new building scheme with accessible homes with particular reference to the most...

How I communicate
I was doing some work on my website and found this video made 'some time' ago. It is about how I communicate. These days I often refer to myself as a multi-modal communicator. By this I mean I use any and every resource necessary to get my message across. Click...

Pathways to Leadership Webinar
I'm delighted to have been invited as a panellist for the ISAAC Pathways to Leadership webinar which took place on Monday 21 September, 2020 at 8pm GMT The LEAD committee for people who use AAC want to encourage people to become leaders within their own communities and within ISAAC. The...

Learning to say No!
Everyone likes to be liked, and for some people it seems that saying no is harder than for others. In the past I’ve been made to feel bad, that saying no is my fault. I’ve been scared or afraid of how the other person may act or behave. Particularly as...

It’s all in a name: Employing personal assistants
When I started out employing personal assistants at the age of 12, as a family, we considered all of the different titles the role may be called from carer to support worker and personal support assistant. Speaking to friends who already had paid team members we settled for ‘personal assistant’...

Appointing a team leader, or not!
Whilst I lived at home, then with only a handful of teenagers supporting me one at a time, it wasn’t necessary to have a team leader. I’ve now experienced 4 different scenarios, the team being led by a case manager, led by a team leader I didn’t appoint, led by...

Personality matters – recruiting personal assistants
I mentioned in my blog in June about the importance of having positive relationships with personal assistants. The recruitment process is key to making a good appointment. It is not something we want to rush as it is so important to get this right for everyone including the person choosing...