Janet O'Keefe

Martyn Sibley lives with a disability known as Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Even with this disability, Martyn is living a full rich life and has earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics; Master’s Degree in Marketing, travels, blogs, guest speaks and runs his own business.

Martyn has recently written an eBook called “The Disability Diamond Theory” (launched in September 2011). The eBook offers a guide to living everyday life. He offers solid advice for goal setting, defining and breaking barriers through the use of proper resources.  The book offers his philosophy on life.

Martyn says, “My aim is to inspire, inform and change the world around disability issues. My message to disabled people is to follow your dreams, be aspirational, identify the barriers relevant to you and your impairment, NEVER let your disability stop you and always enjoy life!”

“For anyone who is a parent, family member, friend or professional to a disabled person, you have a big part to play. Parents/guardians; a child’s foundations are defined by your early input. Friends and family should always encourage aspiration. Professionals are a key resource for disabled people and have a responsibility to facilitate ambition and fulfilment at every stage.”

Visit Martyn’s personal website for more information.

Disability Horizon is co-founded with Srin Madipalli as an online magazine to provide articles, resources, encouragement and information to disabled people. The scope of the magazine is to provide quality information to enrich the lives of the disabled across the world. They offer articles on the arts, care, personal assistants, mobility aids, grants, funding, independent living and more.

Martyn is one of the keynote speakers at this year’s Towards a Positive Future conference to be held in Newbury on 16^th June 2012.

Here he shares why he is taking part:

“The 2 things that enabled me to go on and achieve so much in life were having a good education, alongside having the right support. Inclusion should be at the heart of disability matters, but investment in the necessary resources must be provided. I want to share my personal experiences, with a rounded awareness of other impairments, to explain why inclusion and education can go together. I hope to encourage parents to aim high for their children, and show professionals there is always a way.”

“I am speaking at the conference to answer questions around my story as a child: schooling, transitions, leaving home, going to university, finding work and managing independence. This conference is vitally important because parents and professionals need to understand the current issues faced around SEN and work together to ensure the disabled people of the future can thrive and not just survive.”

“My talk is about my personal experience of disability. With a great deal of theory, legal and political talk; I will bring the human part and reality to what the reforms actually mean. I can show with the right support anything is possible.”

“Personally I am very fearful of the social care reform implication. Meanwhile I can see some positives in the aims of the reforms (streamlining processes and funding streams), however I have concerns of the actually reality they will bring for disabled people. “

Visit here  for more information about the Towards a Positive Future 2012 conference. Book now to hear Martyn speak live  2012 conference!

One of the sponsors of TaPF2012 Conference, Field Fisher Waterhouse Solicitors, are generously providing bursaries of 50-100% of the delegate fee to enable parents of children to attend.  Early bird rates for bookings made before the 30th April 2012 are £96 per delegate including VAT or £180 for 2 delegates booking together.  This includes all refreshments and a delegate pack. 

I am organising this year’s conference.  The 4 keynote speakers at this years conference are Clive Rawlings, Barrister speaking on the future for children with SEN from a legal perspective, Tania Tirraoro, a journalist and parent (Special Needs Jungle) speaking on the SE7 pathfinder and experiences of the system as a parent, Charlie Mead, Educational Psychologist speaking on ‘The Careless System’ and Martyn Sibley, social entrepreneur speaking on what it was like growing up as a child with special needs with one aim ‘to change the world for disabled people.’ 

Jane Asher, Actress, Author and President of the National Autistic Society is coming and there are 12 seminars covering dyslexia, acquired brain injury, autism, deafness and Down Syndrome as well as influencing and communication skills, life after school, the ICAN Secondary Talk Programme,  Applied Behavioural Analysis and the SCAEP Social Skills Programme.  The focus as always is whatever the political context what do we know works and how can we navigatge the system and enable our children to get the support that they need so that they have a positive future.

To book your place go to http://www.wordswell.co.uk/tapf-conference-2012/booking.php

Martyn Sibley http://martynsibley.com/ is a social entrepreneur with one aim – to change the world for disabled people. Using his personal experience of being disabled: Electric wheelchair user, having 24/7 care, a Masters degree, world travel and his own company – he has written an ebook on achieving life goals – The Disability Diamond Theory (launching mid September 2011). He has managed to build a worldwide community of 10,000 people online and works to inspire, inform and change. In running his blog, launching the positive disability magazine http://disabilityhorizons.com/, and with his creation ‘disability webinars’ he is making good progress. He is speaking at the conference to answer questions around his personal story as a disabled child: including matters such as schooling, transitions, leaving home, going to university, finding work and managing independence.

Martyn is just one of the contributers to our forthcoming conference http://www.wordswell.co.uk/conference/

Here he shares why he is taking part:

Educational psychologist warns that young vulnerable people miss out under present system

A new foundation which will enable practitioners to join together to provide multi-disciplinary specialist services for children with special educational needs is being launched next month – and could transform the present fragmented and bureaucratic system.

 The Clarity Foundation hopes to attract health and social care providers, as well as education specialists, to join as members who can be referred to families and local authorities as approved providers meeting statutory guidelines. 

 The foundation is the brainchild of speech and language therapist Janet O’Keefe and Robert Ashton, best selling business author, social entrepreneur and campaigner, who are passionate about providing a new joined-up efficient system which supports children and their families with educational support, while at the same time eliminating unnecessary duplication and bureaucracy.

 It will be launched at a conference entitled, Towards a Positive Future, aimed at parents and professionals, to inspire, share experiences and discover how they can achieve more for children with special needs. The conference is being held on October 14-15 at Arlington Arts Centre, Newbury, which is based at the Mary Hare School for deaf children.

 There are currently 1.7 million children with special educational needs in England who require support for wide ranging conditions, from dyslexia, dyspraxia and Down’s syndrome, to autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

 Janet says: “We believe that having a one-stop shop is the best way to enable parents and local authorities find all the support services desperately needed by children with special needs, and that our foundation is the most practical and efficient way of ensuring that those services are integrated and coordinated.  We need to bring practitioners from health, education and social care together and plan for the future while the present guidelines for new contract arrangements is under review.  Our foundation will be a valuable database of all heath and social care providers, as well as education specialists.

 “Additionally, we can streamline time consuming and expensive administrative processes. For example, we can help with criminal bureau checks and professional indemnity insurance.  At the moment, if a practitioner is not directly employed by a school or local authority, every school they visit should conduct its own CRB check.  Many practitioners regularly visit 20 schools a week sometimes in several different counties and are therefore checked 20 times.”

 Robert says it makes good sense to become more efficient during the present changes:

 He says: “However you feel about the Government’s “Big Society” agenda, the fact is that the worlds of education, health and social care are undergoing massive change. The Clarity Foundation is being formed to help parents make sense of those changes, and in parallel to help practitioners create their own enterprises. That way both groups can connect, create opportunities and meet the needs of young people striving to overcome disadvantage.”

 Specialist speakers include educational psychologist and former head teacher Charlie Mead, who has worked with children with severe emotional and behavioural problems and special needs for 20 years. He has grave concerns about the present system and highlights failures he has observed, leading to neglect in some cases for vulnerable young people.

 He says: “Charities are afraid to stand up for their clients in case their funding is withdrawn. Academies are afraid of further failure by taking on exactly those students who would benefit most from their resources. Children and Family Services have neglected the vulnerable due to bureaucratic inertia and a lack of consistency. All these situations can be changed if the interests of the child are put first.

 “When working with highly vulnerable children in care, many of whom have been sectioned, it is clear that the recession is having a considerable impact on the young people and their families – especially those who cannot cope emotionally, are addicts, are sexualized early and have been abused.  They need expert consistent provision – not piecemeal services from organisations who are threatened by lack of funding.”

 Other key speakers are Kevin Geeson, CEO of Dyslexia Action, who will highlight the impact of the SEN Green Paper; speech and language specialist Prof Heather van der Lely, who will highlight her simple test for an early diagnosis of specific language impairment; and both Sandy Burbach and Alex Kelly, who will describe the importance of developing social skills and self esteem in children.

 Janet is also launching a book she has edited at the conference also called Towards a Positive Future which includes stories, ideas and inspiration from children with special educational needs, their families and professionals.

 Full details about the conference can be found at their website, Towards a Positive Future: http://www.wordswell.co.uk/conference/

 There is a range of ticket prices: parent £90 (one day) £155 (both days); second parent £60 (one day) £120 (both days); professionals £200 (one day) £385 (both days).

 Media requests can be made to press consultant Ellee Seymour on 07939 811961, email ellee.seymour@btopenworld.com