Clare Tarling

Freelance Easy Read designer and Development Manager at Dorset Advocacy

Clare has worked in Self-Advocacy and Advocacy for nearly 20 years. On graduating with an Engineering degree in 2001, Clare found a stop-gap job as a support worker in a residential home for adults with learning disabilities. She loved the work, but saw first-hand the complete lack of influence that people had over their day-to-day lives and resolved to change this damaging and sometimes abusive culture.

Her subsequent career in Advocacy has enabled Clare to work collaboratively with people with learning disabilities to increase the amount of choice and control that they have over their own lives. Her interests include communication, accessible information, campaigning and co-production. She has recently graduated from the Open University with a Masters in Business Administration; her dissertation was about implementing an impact measurement system in an Advocacy charity, and the effect of this development on organisational culture. Clare’s current professional responsibilities include strategy, business development, project management and communications.

In 2019, Clare started her own business producing Easy Read information for local authorities, care providers, academic publishers and not-for-profits. She is currently developing training programmes for care providers around choice, control and accessibility.

Clare is also a founder member of a campaign group for parents of young people with Special Educational Needs (SEN). She participates in local authority consultations in her role as parent, and lobbies local authorities to improve the complex systems that young people and families depend on.

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