On December 21st, two of Changing Our Lives' self-advocates, Richard Johnson and Isabelle Brant, delivered learning disability training to Sandwell Leisure Trust. The training session was delivered seven times in total, across six venues. Between them, Richard and Izzy trained a total of 176 staff: amongst these were fitness development officers, duty managers, lifeguards and leisure attendants. The purpose of this training was to give employees of the leisure trust a better knowledge of learning disabilities and how, by applying this knowledge to their respective job roles, they could improve people's experiences of using leisure facilities.

Play Your Cards Right
The format of the interactive training session is loosely based on TV's quiz show 'Play Your Cards Right.' The group is asked to split up into separate teams. Each team is then asked to think of a team name. The answers to the questions are multiple-choice, and the team that is quickest to hit their buzzer gets the first attempt at answering the question. The teams are asked to explain their reasons for choosing their answer. The first part of the quiz is based on figures and statistics; in the second part of the quiz, the teams are given ten statements and must decide, amongst themselves, which of these are fact and which are myth. It was great to see the teams getting competitive against their opponents. Some of the group members clearly had quite a good knowledge on learning disabilities, and this was really impressive.

Reasonable Adjustments
During the training, we spoke about reasonable adjustments and how these could greatly improve people's experiences with Sandwell Leisure Trust. The training explains that many people with learning disabilities have limited verbal communication, but use different methods of communication: Makaton, objects of reference and facial expressions, to name but a few. In order to offer reasonable adjustments, it's important that staff understand about different means of communication.
It's important that leisure facilities are accessible for people with learning disabilities. As well as physical access, the presentation also stresses the importance of being able to supply information in a variety of ways: easy words and pictures, for example. The way in which staff members interact with individuals is also important: they should be mindful of people's communication needs, talk to them in a respectful manner and try to use easy words.

What did people say about the training?
At the end of the session everyone was asked to evaluate the training. The majority of the participants clearly enjoyed the training and, most importantly, felt that they had gained a valuable knowledge of learning disabilities and understood the importance of putting reasonable adjustments in place. Here are some of the excellent comments which were received:
"Enjoyable, interactive and got everyone involved "
"Informative and also fun, a good balance"
"The training was more relevant as it was led by someone with a disability."
"Good knowledge of the subject"
"Good, interactive, captured the audience better than a normal Powerpoint"
"Partnership delivery worked well"
"Hard hitting and factual, we all learnt something new"

On November 30th, Changing Our Lives delivered some autism training to members of the staff team at Carters Green Medical Centre in West Bromwich. The training was delivered by Richard Johnson, who himself has a diagnosis of autism. It is part of a wider pilot scheme currently being carried out by Changing Our Lives, and is aimed at improving health services for people with disabilities and mental health issues.  Fourteen members of staff attended the training session. The team was made up of the following: general practitioners, registrars, senior practice partners, patient care advisors, a physician assistant, administrators and receptionists.

Raising Awareness

The main objective of the training is to simply raise awareness; we want to make sure that staff in health services gain a better understanding of the autistic spectrum and how, by applying this knowledge to their respective job roles, they can improve the overall patient experience of someone with autism by offering the best possible practice.  The presentation highlights the main areas of difficulties in which people with autism face: difficulties in coping with change and problems with social interaction, to name just a few. It's important that staff understand what the main characteristics of autism are, but the training explains that there are varying degrees of autism and that it affects different people in different ways. It stresses that autism is often known as a 'hidden disability' and, particularly with those who are at the mild end of the spectrum, it can be difficult to identify; therefore, it is very important that staff are mindful about this and know how to make reasonable adjustments to suit the individual.

Staff members were given some examples of what reasonable adjustments might be and how they could significantly reduce a patient's anxiety. The trainer explained, for instance, that a person on the autistic spectrum may find the noise of people talking in a waiting room very overpowering. A reasonable adjustment in this case might be to offer the patient a separate waiting area which is quiet. Other examples included offering more flexibility around the times of appointments, as some patients with autism are likely to become anxious if they have to wait too long for their appointment; offering longer appointments, as this would give them more time to process the information in which they are given by their GP and, whenever possible, letting patients know in advance when their appointments will take place.

Fact or Myth Quiz

The training session also includes an interactive quiz in which each group member is given ten statements about autism and has a few minutes to decide which of these are fact and which are myth. The purpose of the quiz is to make the training more enjoyable for the participants, but it's also interesting to find out what the team already knows about autism. The training is brought to life with the addition of inserted video clips. This allows the audience to relate to the content of the training.

Feedback Comments

We were inundated with positive feedback comments. There were simply too many to include them all in this article; however, here is a selection of what we considered to be some of the most inspirational ones:

'Very good, well delivered and informative'
'Excellent, thought provoking and delivered to a high standard.'
'Brilliant, presenter was very articulate.'
'In depth and informative, well explained and plenty of opportunity to add own thoughts and experiences.'
'Very positive and educational, filled with real life examples, professionally delivered'
'Brought a realistic aspect to the presentation, using real life examples, which made the training more empowering'

Audience Gained Valuable Knowledge

It was great to see the audience thoroughly engrossed throughout the training. The feedback clearly indicates that everyone enjoyed the training and, more importantly, felt that they had gained valuable knowledge on autism and how reasonable adjustments could give the patient an altogether better experience.

On November 23rd, Richard Johnson delivered a self-advocacy training session to a group of first year trainee clinical psychologists at Birmingham University. The purpose of the training was to emphasise the importance of self-advocacy and how, provided individuals receive the appropriate level of support, it can have a positive impact on the lives of people with learning disabilities. It also explained the importance that self-advocacy plays in shaping government policy on both a local and national basis.

The presentation highlights the power imbalance that has historically existed between people with learning disabilities and professionals. It looks at the history of people with learning disabilities and the segregated lives they experienced in long-stay hospitals. It then focuses on some of the many positive things that are happening in people's lives today as a result of national self-advocacy movement speaking up for people's rights as equal citizens, promoting their independence and enabling them to become much more involved in the community.

Changing our Lives makes every effort to ensure that its training sessions are as interactive as possible, and this was no exception: the training provided opportunities for the students to participate in group activities. In their teams, the students discussed what self-advocacy meant to them and how their knowledge could be applied to their future job roles.  It was interesting to see what the students' understanding of self-advocacy was and how it compared to our own knowledge and experiences of the subject. Most of the students clearly understood the difference between self-advocacy and advocacy, and this was great to see.

What Did the Students Say About our Training?

At the end of the session, the students were asked to provide feedback on the training session. What follows are some examples of the responses that were received:
'I will definitely think more carefully about co-production, and about ensuring that the client is at the centre of all decisions made about them.'
'Really interesting, and I am sure it will be very helpful in my work – thanks.'
'It was helpful to not only learn about how things have developed, but also the personal experiences of the facilitators.'
'By the end of the training, I felt that I had a good understanding of the importance self-advocacy and the importance of including it in the work I carry out.'

It was great to see such an excellent turnout; the session was well attended and there was plenty of student participation throughout. Many of the group members commented on the positive impact that having a trainer who had used services brought to the training.  The students felt that they had benefited from the session; they gained a better understanding of what self-advocacy is all about and how they could apply this knowledge to their careers.

On Friday 26th October Changing Our Lives leader, Richard Johnson delivered awareness training around learning disability (LD) and Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to Sandwell's Youth Offending Team. This was an opportunity for the team to improve their learning around these issues and develop their practice in working with young people that have a LD or ASD.

Some of the areas covered included what a LD and ASD are, support in identifying someone with a LD or ASD and how to support someone with a LD, or ASD.
Comments from the YOT included:
"Exceptional – great, really informative, interactive and fun!"
"A real improvement on other training, as we got personal accounts and experiences."
"It helped me view things in a different perspective and showed me how the right support can help people live 'normal' lives."

A survey undertaken by Youth Offending Teams nationally shows that only 58% of YOT managers said their staff undertook disability awareness training.