C.E. Jottings

Britain's first MP with CP

An interview in this morning's Independent with Paul Maynard, Britain's first MP with CP. You can catch up with Paul on his website or his blog. Paul is an advocate for special schools. I wonder if anyone is talking with him about conductive education? (I'd be interested to know if you cared to share the information. And maybe link that up with approaches we are already making on behalf of CE to politicians and others.) Read more →

Two hugs and a smile that made my day

First the smile. This morning was warm, as it has been mostly all week. In the group of teenage girls at the bus-stop, taller than the others, one stood out. She wore a pair of black tights and a pair of jeans cut down so far as to be little more than hot-pants. On her feet, brilliantly multi-coloured, with a large floral pattern she wore ... a pair of wellington boots! I joke not. The whole outfit carried off with... Read more →

Come on! Give me a hug!

There's a story in this morning's Independent "A hard Chair equals a hard heart" based on a report in the journal Science. John Bargh of Yale Psychology Faculty reports work extending his own 2008 research that experiencing physical warmth promotes interpersonal warmth, that tactile sensations influence social judgments. A couple of quotes from the reports: ""Touch remains perhaps the most underappreciated sense in behavioral research," says co-author Christopher C. Nocera, a graduate student in Harvard's Department of Psychology. "Our work... Read more →

ICF & CP - a link. Maybe useful to you too?

Over on Andrew Sutton's blog, prompted by recent posts on László Szögeczki's blog, and there too, are discussions about ICF (the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health) and conductive education. Thinking I ought to learn more about the ICF (why is it not ICFDH? and what is ICFDH-CY?), I did some googling about. I came across this website of the Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children Looking a little down the page, I found and downloaded two documents: ICF-CY... Read more →

Free Schools - a chance for conductive education?

Andrew Sutton has reported the DfE announcement of the opening of the process for making Free School applications, so I will not repeat it here. The first step is little more than a relatively straightforward 'expression of interest': the completion of a "Proposal". I have begun drafting a Proposal from Paces. If your conductive education centre is thinking of making an application - and now is the time - I'd be more than happy to help you do so. Alternatively,... Read more →

Disability? Long-term health condition? Stop whingeing! Get used to it, says Trevor Cox

Trevor Cox is President of the Institute of Acoustics. Trevor Cox is also Professor of Acoustics at Salford University. An educated man. According to BBC News online ("Can you block out the blare of vuvuzelas?"), Trevor Cox urges those of us who find the sound of the vuvuzela spoils our enjoyment of the World Cup television broadcasts: ""My advice? Get used to it - if you think it's annoying, you will get annoyed by it," says Mr Cox. "Embrace it,... Read more →

Evidence-based practice

No - not in conductive education but medicine. Here are the links. The starter is a blog article by Dr John Briffa: BMJ piece reminds us just how ineffective much of modern-day medicine is. His reference is to an article in the British Medical Journal by its associate editor, Dr Christopher Martyn: Why medicine is overweight (Ref: BMJ 2010;340:c2800 - full article by subscription only). In an earlier post, just a month ago, "With medicine, it seems less can be... Read more →

A surfeit of Governance

A few days or so ago, it was put to me that my managing style as Paces CEO was “too controlling”. Quite what was meant I’m not at all clear although I don’t think it was a compliment. Actually, I was quite surprised, as I have always thought that not being ‘controlling’, was one of my strengths. Coincidentally, I had been listening when possible to a series on BBC Radio 4 about Democracy. One week, Professor Ali Mazrui (as I... Read more →

And so, back to it. Fine week away, too.

And so, ever reluctantly, we returned from Pembrokeshire - a 6-hour, 300 mile run with 2 breaks. Sarah loves it there: 3 consecutive days on the beach sheltering from the sun under beach umbrellas; picnics every day; sleeps well at night - and, for "Auntie Sarah", niece Ria and nephew Ryan to look out for. She takes her duties as an Aunt most seriously! So, back to an important meeting first thing this Monday morning. A tough meeting for all... Read more →