C.E. Jottings

"Conductive education: a revolution for families with children suffering cerebral palsy" a view from 2008

This is a translation from Russian, using Google Translate, of an article link posted by Andrew Sutton on Facebook, for which there is not otherwise an English language version. (https://www.facebook.com/conductive.world/posts/10225360546550893). Andrew, the author, comments on Facebook that the article, written in 2008, was “a little optimistic in the event”. For those who may be interested, the original article, with its accompanying photographs, can be found at https://www.ya-roditel.ru/upload/files/satton.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1E49YP1XFiORBjxmh6Vf8XagwcWL8BZwttryQkZDafo4UCOQYQLGbisGo Here is the article in English translation (with American spelling!): Andrew Sutton, psychologist,... Read more →

Care about Care? Work with children? 2 devastating must-read articles.

In January of this year the UK Government announced a review of children's social care, with the intent to invite "a wide range of views to feed into the review’s work". As one vehicle for such views, the Review recruited an "Experts by Experience Board". If you have any interest whatsoever in children's social care in the UK - and I assume everyone working in conductive education in the UK will do so - then my single purpose here is... Read more →

Déjà vu, all over again. The dysfunctional services that confront parents of children with cerebral palsy

Two news items earlier this week: the report in Charity Today “Children’s Disability Charity Launches New Occupational Therapy and Sensory Integration Service” and the announcement by Action Cerebral Palsy of the All-Party Parliamentary Group’s report “Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and Investment”. Charity Today has this to say: “CPotential is a one-stop-shop of rehabilitation services for children with movement disorders. The charity also offers physiotherapy, conductive... Read more →

A Churchill Travel Fellowship remembered - the Education of Children with Cerebral Palsy

In the summer of 2007, I had the great and unforgettable good fortune to be awarded a Winston Churchill Travel Fellowship: for 3 weeks in Canada and the United states and later in the year to the World Congress of Conductive Education in Göteborg, Sweden. If you have not heard of the Churchill Travel Fellowships, I strongly urge you to check them out. The application process couldn't be easier nor the interviews more friendly and, what's more, the Fellowship will... Read more →

"Treasured city charity Paces opens its new HQ" & "New home at last for treasured city charity"

"Time present and time past / Are perhaps both present in time future / And time future contained in time past." T.S. Eliot. Burnt Norton. (Four Quartets) Last Friday, under the headline "New home at last for treasured city charity", the Sheffield Star reported the opening of Paces' new office and adult services base at Smithy Wood. Amidst the celebrations, the congratulations and the plans for the future, maybe a moment can be spared to remember those who came before?... Read more →

Damning report on Post-16 advice for young people & their families

Are we stuck with hand-me-down institutions? A report published earlier this week sets out 'damning' conclusions about the quality of information and guidance (IAG) available to young people and their families when choosing further education. The report, "How young peoplewith special educational needs and disabilities find out about their post-16 options" published by Natspec, the association for specialist colleges, was based in part on a survey of parents of young children aged 15-25. "The findings were worse than we imagined".... Read more →

Cerebral palsy and managing pain - with thanks to @chloeltear

I don't know that we talk much about cerebral palsy and pain. It's certainly not a subject that I recall much comment on in conductive education. So it is especially interesting to read a new blog posting by "disability blogger and freelance writer" Chloe Tear, about her personal experience of managing pain as an adult with cerebral palsy. "Experiencing pain when you have cerebral palsy (CP) is very common, especially in adulthood," begins Chloe, adding near the end "One explanation... Read more →

On blogs and blogging in conductive education

Conductive education seems almost wholly to have moved away from blogs as a means of sharing news and reflections. Not so in other areas of interest: Family History and Genealogy, for instance, or Disability, where there is still a wealth of must-read blogs. There's still much on Facebook that's worth reading; there are any number of websites and newsletters. Personally, I am tiring of Facebook - largely because of the incessant intrusions into my timeline but also because of a... Read more →

Adult continuing conductive education - Oliver Sachs on the wonder of maintaining brain health #CondEd

"It is not just the absence of disease or preservation of function that we should be concerned with, but the potential for a continuing development throughout life. Cerebral function is not like cardiac or renal function, which proceeds autonomously, almost mechanically, in a fairly uniform way throughout life. The brain/mind, in contrast, is anything but automatic, for it is always seeking to categorise and recategorise the world, to give meaning to its own experience. "It is the nature of living... Read more →

The death of a teenager at a Priory hospital is tragically just one example of a national crisis

"Britain’s cruel care system shames us all" by Ian Birrell in "The Times" today. "The details are shocking. A troubled girl just 14 years old, sent for the first time into a place of supposed sanctuary for her psychiatric problems. She was subjected to the terror of physical restraint by four adults on her second day, then many more times over subsequent weeks. She was forcibly injected with drugs. She was bullied. And then she killed herself, despite warnings about... Read more →