C.E. Jottings

Work, Citizenship and Orthofunction #CondEd

The aim of conductive education, one might say, is orthofunction. One way I interpreted this when at Paces was that our aim for all children and adults was “independent adulthood as active citizens”. Just hold that as a thought for a moment. Who knows what a “saggar makers bottom knocker” was? Saggar-making was a skilled job requiring a craftsman, someone with experience; bottom-knocking however was less skilled, often left to young lads who worked with the saggar makers. There were... Read more →

Vulnerable to nonsense and worse

I happen to believe that words matter. In the summer before I went up to University College London to read English Language and Literature, we were sent a reading list. On that list was "The Use of English" by professor Randolph Quirk. In it, Quirk set out 12 uses of language, one of which (from memory) was to convey thoughts. Below, Quirk added a 13th to his list, that some people use language to disguise the fact that they have... Read more →

"Language which dehumanises leads to abuse of human rights" Jenny Morris on Twitter

For my first blog post after another period of silence, I am republishing with her permission an entire posting by Jenny Morris "Language and the small places of human rights". The posting is nothing to do with conductive education as such, as Jenny suggested I might point out. However, in writing about language and human rights, Jenny deals with issues which - and I hope you will agree - should concern us all. The subject line of my posting today... Read more →

"Making hope possible" - more of the essence of Conductive Education - with thanks to Raymond Williams and Neil Crowther

‘To be truly radical is to make hope possible, rather than despair convincing’. A quotation I have just come across, liked and thought I'd share. Its original source is Raymond Williams ("Resources of Hope" - not a book I knew, from a cultural critic who was one of the high priests of radical students in the 1960s; compulsory reading while marching on the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square). I found the quote as a 'strapline' to the new-to-me blog "Authors... Read more →

Has Bradley Wiggins "reached his full potential"? Not if he's minded to overcome fatigue.

Has 2012 Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins reached his full potential? Have you? Do you know anyone who has? Perhaps the problem lies with the whole notion of "reaching potential"? One of the minor irritations of the Murdoch press is the paywall. Behind it are two of the most interesting journalists writing occasional articles about human performance: sports writer Matthew Syed and Chief Sports Correspondent Matt Dickinson. Just such an article recently was that by Matt Dickinson "Cyclists can... Read more →

An afternoon pleasantly spent reading

Retirement has compensations, it seems. This afternoon I have largely spent slumped in an easy chair, the MacBook Pro propped open and balanced between my knee and the arm of the chair, guiltlessly reading. An altogether pleasant occupation. 2015, I hope, will offer more such afternoons. What have I been reading? Something I would not previously have found time to linger with: One is Not Born a Personality - Profiles of Soviet Educational Psychologists By Karl Levitin, Edited by Professor... Read more →

Learning Disabilities Week - Paces goes Brazilian

CORRECTION: Natalie Yarrow's telephone number is: 07733 503592 Read more →

Minorities within minorities. Who speaks for whom?

This has been lying around since about early last December in the folder on my laptop called "Ideas for blog posts". So I've dusted it off a bit, sorted out a few links and post it today just as a 'for thought' piece, more a draft than the finished article. Since then, ActionCP (about which, as I said previously, more later) has come in to existence, an opportunity for a genuine voice for children with cerebral palsy and their families.... Read more →

Denied her means of communication. "We ain't gonna take it anymore"

Here's a blog you might like to read in full. “We’re Ain’t Gonna Take It Any More”: Communication Access Now, No More Social Injustice" by Glenda Watson Hyatt. Glenda begins: "Individuals with communication disabilities, which affect how we speak or understand what others are saying, typically experience inequality in employment, healthcare and numerous other situations on a daily basis." The blog post came about when Glenda's was in A&E having injured her foot, and her husband Darrell, also a wheelchair... Read more →

Cerebral palsy: the impact of limited expressive linguistic abilities

Googling for something else, I came across this. As so often, it seems to be an online abstract of a full work that is not easy to access. The abstract is of Chapter 4 in "Access to Language and Cognitive Development" Michael Siegal and Luca Surian, 2011. What interested me? What intrigues me about this abstract is that unlike typical statements about cerebral palsy that it 'may be accompanied by' other impairments, this work explores the notion of a much... Read more →