View issue 2015

Independent Social Affairs magazine for community/voluntary sectorwww.viewdigital.org Issue 30, 2015

VIEW‘WE MUST NOT RESIDE AT THE BOTTOM OFPUBLIC POLICY HEAP

’OUR 30TH PUBLICATION OF VIEWIS DEVOTED TO DISABILITY ISSUES

http://www.viewdigital.org

VIEW, Issue 30, 2015 www.viewdigital.org

EditorialTwenty years ago, the UK

Parliament passed the Disability Discrimination Act.

This represented both official acknowledgement of the endemic inequality disabled people faced,and put in place an element of legalredress to challenge aspects of itwhen it occurred.

In the Northern Ireland context, further laws followed that appeared to signal that the particular needs and circumstancesof disabled people would finally be addressed.

Firstly, as part of the aftermathof the Good Friday Agreement, Section 75 of the Northern IrelandAct of 1998 included disabled people as one of the groups that allpublic bodies here were requiredto overtly consider when planningand delivering their services.

Secondly, the 2006 Disability Discrimination Order placed

obligations on public bodies to actively promote positive attitudesto disabled people.

Then in July 2009, the UK Government ratified the UnitedNation’s Convention on the Rightsof Persons with Disabilities.

This meant that national anddevolved policies and practices hadto comply with the wide-ranging obligations this international treaty requires.

Yet, with 40 per cent of complaints to the Equality Commission last year made on thegrounds of disability, the lofty ambitions and fine words of thispublic policy framework have palpably failed to be translated into

the required radically improvedquality of life for disabled peoplehere. Ironically, the fate of the Executive’s current Disability Strategy goes part of the way toexplaining why this has been thecase.

At the time of writing, twoyears after the delayed publicationof the Strategy itself, the promised

first annual report detailingprogress made has still not beenpublished by the Office of the Firstand Deputy First Minister, the Department responsible for the coordination of the strategy.

While there is no panacea toensure that the barriers to participation by disabled people inthe social, economic, political andcultural life of society here areovercome, a key ingredient is the political will to make it happen. The tardiness in publica-tion of the details of concrete ac-tions taken under the DisabilityStrategy appears to demonstratethat such political will is missing.

If it does exist, four actions by

OFM/DFM would go some way todemonstrating that improving the circumstances of disabled people isthe priority Executive ministersconsistently assert that it is.

Firstly, publicly acknowledgethat implementation of the Disability Strategy has not been asfulsome as it could have been.

Secondly, engage directly with organisations run and controlled by disabled people as to the contentand delivery of a new DisabilityStrategy capable of delivering the changes so desperately needed.

Thirdly, commit to a significantset of imaginative actions designedto meaningfully address negative attitudes to disabled people.

Fourthly, provide the modestfunding required to support thesmall network of organisations runby disabled people here. Last year, four of these were

identified by the UK Government’s Office of Disability Issues as capableof playing a catalyst role in addressing the root causes of disability related social exclusion.

The small grants they wereawarded then end in March. Surely such conduits to the viewsof disabled people themselves arecritical if we are to see the meaningful design and implementation of a DisabilityStrategy worthy of the name.

OFM/DFM must now vigorously act in consort with disabled people if we are not to revert to accepting that disabilitynaturally resides at the bottom ofthe public policy heap.

VIEW, the online publicationfor the community/voluntarysector in Northern Ireland

By Harry Reid, public affairs consultant

OFM/DFM must now vigorously act in consortwith disabled people if we are not to revert toaccepting that disability naturally resides atthe bottom of the public policy heap ‘

’


Mum urges publicto support hospiceBelfast mother Angela

Fields, whose eldest daughter Nicole died

from Rett Syndrome, has appealed to the public tosupport the work of theNorthern Ireland’s ChildrenHospice.

The hospice is the onlyservice of its type withinNorthern Ireland caring forchildren and young peoplewith very complex needs.

There are over 1,300 life-limited children andyoung people and their families living in NorthernIreland who need the specialist care that only theChildren's Hospice can provide.

“Nicole died in 2004 atthe age of 16 from Rett

Syndrome, which is a rarebrain disorder that causes severe disabilities,” said Angela.

“When she was alive, shewas the first thing I thoughtabout in the morning and thelast thing at night.”

“The respite care thatthe hospice offered my husband and our other twochilden was excellent. The staff would look afterNicole and we would get abreak. I can’t praise itenough.”

• The Northern Ireland Children's Hospice is at Horizon House, NewtownabbeyPhone no: 028 9077 [email protected]


Appeal: AngelaFields, right andNicole, below



PROFILE: Rosaleen DempseyChildren and Family ServiceManager for RNIBNorthern Ireland

‘Some of the bigchallenges that people with disabilites face are with attitudeand awareness’

Over a cup of coffee and a slow burning cigarette at home, I listened to Rosaleen Dempsey singing ‘She Moved Through the Fair’– a haunting ballad which perfectly suits her distinctive voice.

An hour later, I was sitting across the table from 35-year-old Rosaleen in the offices of the Royal National Institute for Blind People(RNIB) in Belfast. We chatted about her early life, her involvement withan albinism society and her passion for music.

“I have been working with the RNIB for 10 years. I am the Children and Family Services Manager. I manage a team of family support and youth officers who work with children who have sight lossand their families.”.

I asked Rosaleen about the highs and lows of her job. “A high iswhen one of the projects has been a success. You may have achievedfunding for a project and the interaction with the families is always enjoyable. Low moments can be be about trying to get funding in a difficult environment of cutbacks.

“When I hear the term ‘disability’, I think of people who are facingchallenges from society. Some of the greatest challenges that disabledpeople face are with attitude and awareness.”

Rosie was born with Oculocutaneous albinism which affects coloring (pigmentation) of the skin, hair, and eyes. “I don’t tan and I haveto be very careful in the sun.

“In my early childhood years I didn't think too much about it. As ateenager, I can remember looking in the mirror and thinking I wish myhair could be just a little bit darker. I did dye my hair once when I was inuniversity. I had a good time when I was doing my degree, but on occasions, I had negative experiences. I was walking across the campus one day at University College Cork, when someone called me a‘f**king albino’ ”.

She is impressed with the work of photographer Rick Guidotti whohas created a not-for-profit organization named Positive Exposure(www.positiveexposure.org)

“After meeting him and starting to talk to other people with thesame condition, I developed a different attitude to the fact that I had al-binism and I stopped dyeing my hair.”

We ended the interview by discussing Rosaleen’s love of singing. “Ihave always loved it. I recently recorded an EP with the help of Joe Kenny,who also works with the RNIB. It’s called Against The Sky.

• Against The Sky is available to download on Google PlayStore, iTunes and Spotify.



By Una Murphy

Aformer school vice principal isamong a team of volunteer retiredteachers who have chalked up five

years bridging the gap for children with additional educational needs.

“Fifteen schools, eighty volunteers and500 children”, Mairead O’Halloran, whoworked at St Louise’s Comprehensive College in west Belfast said proudly of the‘Back On Track’ programme

She signed up to the innovative

scheme run by the charity Sólás after reading an appeal for retired teachers toget involved and found one of her former pupils Anne Cahill was theco-ordinator.

“Sólás give us very good teaching resources and Anne always makes sure wehave everything we need to keep the children’s attention, she said.

“I deal with literacy, numeracy andreading through educational games and wemake sure that learning is fun.

“One little boy wanted to do a

project about The Celts – so we did. Another boy wanted help with learning thetime and times-tables. That is want hewanted and needed to do.”

Ms O’Halloran added: “It is importantto concentrate on the children’s needs andinterests and get them to talk about whatthey do.”

• Sólás has now started a newcross-border ‘Back on Track’ programme. Find out more onSólás website: www.solasbt7.com

Retired teacher Mairead O’Halloran with eight-year-old Fiona Henderson Image: James Pelan

Helping childen to bridge the gap

Providing a free range of technology services UK Charity AbilityNet has been aleading authority on accessibilityand assistive technologies for 20years and provides a range of freeservices for disabled people, theirfamily and friends, their employers and other people whocare for them.

They have been showcasingtechnology to help disabled

people to MPs. The parliamentary showcase of accessible technology which organised by the Digital Accessibility Alliance, which AbilityNet supports.

AbilityNet’s Head of DigitalInclusion Robin Christophersonsaid: “Acccessible and inclusivetechnology is now all around us

thanks to the advent of smartphones and tablets. It’s somuch easier for disabled peopleto customise a device so it worksfor them, without necessarilyhaving to use specialist equipment.”• For further information on AbilityNet go to their website:www.abilitynet.org.uk


Bryson Energy handyperson servicehelps older peoplein Belfast

Contact details:To find out how to avail of the handyman service please contact Bryson Energy on 0800 14 22 865 or [email protected]

Bryson Energy provide a range of services including energy advice and also an oil buying club. To find out more ring our Freephone number on 0800 14 22 865 www.brysongroup.org

All our staff are Access NI background checked

“Thank you all for this great scheme, as it is near impossibleto get someone to do these odd jobs which people need doing.”

From putting up a shelf, fixing stair rails, fitting security chains/locks, loose floorboards etc.

Bryson Energy, part of the Bryson Charitable Group, is providing a Handyperson service for residents over 60 living in the Belfast area. The cost is £15.00 per hour. (max 3 hrs) To find out more call free on 0800 14 22 865

A special discounted rate of £10.00 per hour available for all View Digital Readers. Quote: Digital HP

Do you have small jobs that you need sorted in your home?

Christine Martin tells VIEW of her struggle with tinnitus and how she learned to cope with her condition

The first consultant that I saw said ‘I hadtinnitus and to go away and live with it’

Christine Martin, who has tinnitus,told VIEW how she has made a positive out of a negative

experience by getting involved with ActionOn Hearing Loss to help other peoplewith the condition.

Tinnitus is described as the term fornoises heard in the ear or ears. It is typically described as ringing, whistling,hissing, buzzing, music or humming.

Christine, who lives in Belfast, has fourchildren and nine grandchildren. She developed the condition in 2006. “I hadbeen giving a talk at an event and I got twovery massive surges of feedback from a microphone. Shortly after that incident Ibecame aware of having a high pitch, constant noise in my ears.

“The way I describe it that it is verymuch like the old days if you had fallenasleep in front of the television and youwoke up midnight and heard the soundfrom the TV as it showed a test card.”

“Initially it was dominant in the leftand then gradually it was also on the right,”said Christine

“The first consultant I saw said I hadtinnitus and to go away and live with it.That spiralled me out of control because Ihad gone for help and I didn’t get any. Thesecond consultant carried out very specifictests. He asked me had I been anywhere

near a very loud noise. When I told himabout the microphone event, he said: ‘Youhave high frequency tinnitus’.”

“I had been about to do a PHD on literature and that went out the window. Icouldn't even read a newspaper. The levelof tinnitus was so much that it dominatedeverything. I use to call it ‘The Invader’ anda ‘Thief of Concentration’.

“It just followed me everywhere – Icouldn't escape it. It impacted on all aspects of my life. I couldn’t sleep. I use tostart to cry around 9.30 every night because it meant bedtime was approaching. I saw it as a form of torture.

“Then one day there was one of thosemoments, a bit like Hamlet – ‘To be or notto be’. I thought I have a family. I have tofind ways of being myself. That is termed‘the moment of acceptance’.

“I worked out a programme of auditory desensitization. I wanted to startmeeting my friends again as I had becometotally isolated. I couldn't even go into a

cafe as a teaspoon hitting a cup had me intears. So I started to create sound in acontrolled environment which helped mecope with the tinnitus.

“Bit by bit, things started to improve.”A course about coping with tinnitus

that Christine attended led her to becomea volunteer with Action on Hearing Loss.

Christine became a bit emotional asshe recounted her feelings during that period. “This has happened. It has happened for a reason. I can't do the PHDbut I can make a difference now to thelives of so many people in the provincewho are suffering from this.

Ten per cent of the population havetinnitus and for one per cent the impact isdramatic and can impact on their mentalhealth.

People need help and support inorder to help them cope with tinnitus.

Christine added “I work with the various health trusts in Northern Irelandon delivering courses to inform peopleabout how they can learn to manage the condition and that there is life with tinnitus.

“It's important that people learn tostay positive but in the early stages it canbe very difficult.

“Some people have been dealing withit in silence for many years.”


‘ ‘I couldn’t go into acafe as a teaspoonhitting a cup hadme in tears’


Get Involved in Your CommunityEmployment & Learning

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On a cold day in February, a groupof students warmed everyone upwith their laughter and

enthusiasm at the Belfast Community Circus School

An excellent project, which startedthree years ago, has linked up Belfast Metstudents with learning disabilities and thecircus.

The students learn to use circus routines as a way to develop team building,self-confidence and literacy and numeracyskills.

Allison Anderson, Curriculum AreaManager for the Centre for SupportedLearning at the Belfast Met, said: “We provide full time and part-time educationand training provision for young peopleand adults with complex and severe learning difficulties.

“We have enrolments in excess of400, studying across a range of programmes and campuses.

“The young people who are at theBelfast Community Circus School todayare full time students in their first year atcollege.

“Class-room based curriculum is not

always the best way forward for our students, so we try to make the experience for them as diverse and interesting as possible.

“Some of our students have physicaldisabilities and all have learning difficulties.

“Some have Down’s syndrome and others have Cerebral Palsy.They may also have autism, Asperger’s syndrome, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) or mental healthissues on top of their learning difficulties.

“This is the third year that we havebeen involved in this project with theBelfast Community Circus School. It’s beena brilliant experience for our students.

“A lot of the students would see coming here as a highlight of their studying. It’s fun, it’s a different way oflearning and being taught.

“They certainly respond very well toit. They do a show every year which is always great fun.”

Will Chamberlain, Director of theBelfast Community Circus School, toldhow the innovative project came about.

“About three years ago, circus trainer

Jacob Anderson expressed an interest inworking with young people with disabilities. He put together a proposal fora project with very clear outcomes forBelfast Met. .

“We received funding from Childrenin Need and put the process into action.Jacob and the team involved in this projecthave achieved great results.

“This project shows that circus isn’trestricted to people flying through the airon trapezes. It’s about making the most ofevery individual, irrespective of who theyare, where they are from and what theirstarting point is.

“The students love it and the parentsare also very happy with it. I enjoy seeingthe students develop skills they will use intheir lives outside the circus.

“Jacob really encourages the studentsto think for themselves and to supporteach other.”

With planned cuts in arts and Department of Learning budgets, there is a concern that the project may be affected. That would be a real shame as learning needs an element of creative fun.The circus delivers this on all fronts.”

Belfast Met puts fun into learningBrian Pelan reports on an innovative project at the Belfast Community Circus School

Above: Students Chloe, Niamh, Stacy, Matthew, Colm, Sian and Ben and below the students enjoying theirclass at the Belfast Community Circus School


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Edwards & Co. solicitors advises charities and the voluntary sector in Northern Ireland

on a wide range of legal issues including charity creation, charitable status and

constitutional matters, trading and commercial arrangements, employment law,

finance, fundraising and property law, as well as dealing with the Charity Commission

for Northern Ireland.

Our team offers a full range of legal services including mediation, wills,criminal law,

clinical negligence and personal injury claims, as well as family/matrimonial work.

Practical advice and a sensitivepersonal approach. We prideourselves on our unrivalledcommitment to clients’ needs.

Contact Jenny and Teresa: Edwards & Co. Solicitors, 28 Hill Street, Belfast, BT1 2LA.

Tel: (028) 9032 1863 Email: [email protected]

Web: edwardsandcompany.co.uk

Julie LeonardComment

Employers must ensure that they treat employees with disabilities the same as otherworkers. The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) has set

out some special provisions in regard to how disabled employees should be treated.

Under the DDA legislation it is unlawful for employers to discriminate against people with disabilities for a reason related to their disability, inall aspects of employment, unless this can be justified.

The Act covers things like recruitment and selection as well as other areas including: • Job descriptions and associated forms. Advertisingand interviewing.• Job offers• Terms of employment• Bullying and harassment• Pregnancy, maternity • Promotion, transfer or training opportunities• Dismissal or redundancy

As can be seen there is a very wide range ofareas covered by the Act. Often a disabled employeewill require a reasonable adjustment to be made tothe workplace, or to the working arrangements.

The employers’ duty is to ensure that the disabled employee is not in any way at any disadvantage compared to a non disabled employee.

The employer has to keep himself up to datewith the condition and make themselves aware ofwhat would considered to be a reasonable adjustment so that as a disabled employee, he/sheare not at a disadvantage.

This disadvantage could be a physical featurewithin the workplace or a policy or procedure whichdiscriminates.

Examples of the sort of adjustments employersshould consider, in consultation with the employee ,include:

• Moving you to another post or another place ofwork• Making adjustments to the buildings where youwork• Being flexible about your hours - allowing you tohave different core working hours and to be awayfrom the office for assessment, treatment or reha-bilitation• Providing training or retraining if you cannot doyour current job any longer• Providing modifications to equipment• Making instructions and manuals more accessible• providing a reader or interpreter

As always in employment situations, difficultiesand problems are best discussed openly so that anagreed approach can be adopted, that suits bothparties.

• Julie Leonard, who specialises in employment law,is a solictor at Edwards and Co Solicitors, www.edwardsandcompany.co.uk

DisabilityAct: Knowthe law



Arts and Disability Forum pre

Allow yourself to be drawn into theatmosphere and suspense of a nightin the 1920s

Who’s been Framed? is a collection ofphotographs shot in the Culloden Hotel,featuring members of the Skyway Club(pictured above) as suspects in a murder

mystery and taking inspiration from classiccrime flicks like Billy Wilder’s Double In-demnity, as well as the board game Cluedo.

The exhibition is on view until March5, from 11am to 3pm, Tuesday to Friday, at the Arts & Disability Gallery in Royal Avenue Belfast.

The Skyway Club is a vibrant and creative group of adults with learning disabilities, based at Ballynafeigh Community House in Belfast. Their interestin photography was sparked by participation in classes led by photographerCarrie Davenport. Carrie then worked



esents Who’s been Framed?

with the group to stage, shoot and producethe images.

On Wednesday, February 18, beginningat 1pm, the Skyway Club will run a workshop exploring the story of the exhibition. The workshop will be suitablefor people with learning difficulties but it is

open to anyone who wants take part. Youmust book in advance by contacting LeoDevlin at the ADF – [email protected] or 0289023 9450.

BSL interpretation and audio description can be made available for boththe preview and for the talk. Please book

this support in advance by contacting Leoas above. When you have booked communication support, if you then changeyour mind about attending, it’s importantto let us know.• More pictures from the SkywayClub on pages 16 and 17


Usual Suspects: (left to right) Peter Gamble, clubmember; Linda Laverty, staff; Angela Bloomer, clubmember; Mark Hamilton, club member; JoannaMcGuffin, club member; Dorothy Taylor, club member; Derek Radcliffe, club member; MatthewLee, staff and Granville Green, club member



Snapped: Derek Radcliffe (Skyway clubmember) as reporter Derek Doolittle withLinda Laverty (staff)

Image: Carrie Davenport



Cards on the Table: Mark Hamilton (Skywayclub member) as Mark ‘Mad Dog’ Hamilton

Image: Carrie Davenport


In recent months it has emerged thatNorthern Ireland, Scotland and mostprobably even Wales will retain

the Independent Living Fund i(ILF) insome form.

However, the reprieve may only betemporary and England is still on courseto close the fund in June 2015.

The show, A is for Activism by BrianHilton, reflects use of the arts as a toolto create online campaign images.

Brian Hilton said: “As a disabled person with high support needs, the ILF enables me and other disabled people tolive with choice and dignity in the community rather than locked away in a

nursing home.”His exhibition will be presented at

the Arts and Disability Forum Gallery inRoyal Avenue, Belfast, this spring.

• For more information orqueries about the work of theADF go to www.adf.ie

Using art to show support forthe Independant Living Fund



ADF creates a genuinely inclusive arts environment, where any disabled or deaf person can be involved as they wish!

www.adf.ie

image: Joel Sim

on

Adf ArtsandDisability

@adf011

By John Coghlan,Director, Disability Aid Abroad

People with disabilities in developingcountries are the forgotten voice ofinternational development aid, and

they need specific targeted help. In many developing countries disability

is seen as a social and cultural stigma, andthat access to health services, educationand employment opportunities are deniedto disabled people.

The United Nations estimates that

there are almost 800 million people living inAfrica, 50 million of who are disabled. Theseone in 16 Africans form the highest propor-tion of Africa’s disadvantaged population: only two per cent have accessto any form of rehabilitation; 90 per cent ofchildren with mental disability die beforethe age of five; and 70 per cent of disabledadults are unemployed and live in abjectpoverty

Around 20 per cent of all people livingon less than one US dollar a day have a disability. Opportunities to rise above

poverty are limited, in many cases by thelack of legislation to improve skills and employment options, and they are amongthe most impoverished and marginalisedmembers of society.

The barriers to formal employmentfaced by people with disabilities are great.Specific challenges stem from a widespreadlow level of education amongst disabledpeople. At most, just five per cent of children with disabilities attend secondaryschool and less than one per cent has finished vocational education. Only around

‘Around 50 millionin peoplein Africaare disabled’



15 per cent of people with disabilities havecomputer skills. Without an education, chil-dren with disabilities often become unemployed, isolated adults.

Women with disabilities in Tanzania areparticularly vulnerable and face additional barriers to full equality and advancement because of such factors asrace, age, language, ethnicity, culture, religion or disability. Persistence of certaincultural, legal and institutional barriersmake women and girls with disabilities thevictims of two-fold discrimination: as

women and as persons with disabilities.In households, which include a

disabled person, average household con-sumption is less than 60 per cent of the national average which is a strong indicatorof the links between poverty and disability.

Lack of adequate transport, accessibility and reasonable employmentadjustments are also major factors, whicheffect employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

This is a situation which serves to per-petuate poverty levels for people with dis-

abilities and their families, and continues todrain an economy to which disabled peoplecould effectively contribute. People withdisabilities are a human resource, whichshould be valued and harnessed to enablethem to be productive members of society.

• Contact Disability Action at Portside Business Park, 189 Airport Road West, Belfast Phone: 028 9029 7880 or sendemail [email protected]



By Una Murphy

Hidden disability is the theme of performance artist Sinéad O'Donnell’swork. A Dubliner who now lives is

Belfast she always knew she had learning difficulties but didn’t find out she was dyslexicuntil her 20s.

“It was then I started to bring hidden disability into my practice and received a commission to coincide with the London 2012Olympiad”, she said

We are sitting in the Golden Threadgallery in Belfast while under fives – some withdisabilities and some without - are taking partin the free Makey Makey Mob! art workshop.

Sinéad worked with international performance artists from Japan, Iraq, Canada,Germany and Peru visiting them abroad to explore hidden disability which is the theme ofher exhibition and book ‘CAUTION’.

It was commissioned as part of Unlimited– a project celebrating disability, art, culture andsport as part of the London 2012 CulturalOlympiad.

In New York with another exhibition‘Headspace: White Cube’ – in which she placedher head in white cube suspended from theceiling she had an interesting encounter. “Awoman came to the gallery who had read a review in the Washington Street Journal about‘Head Space’ my exhibition on hidden disabilityand said she suffered from claustrophobia butshe wanted to go in. I hesitated but the galleryattendant had been waiting for hours, so Istood beside her and told her to tap my armwhen she was finished – she was in there fiveminutes”, she said.

“How do you define head space?” sheasked.

I left the Golden Thread gallery – wherethe under fives were still enjoying creative funwith brightly coloured paints – and on thestreet I noticed a ‘Take Five’ poster promotingemotional well being. Much disability is hiddenand all of us need a bit of ‘head space’.

GIVEMY HEAD SPACE


Entranced: Children enjoying artat the Golden Thread Gallery inBelfast Image: Deirdre McKenna


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