Raising the Bar

Thomas Doukas and Annie Fergusson share what happened at the second Raising the Bar, National PMLD conference on 2nd November 2018.

Thomas Doukas and Annie Fergusson share what happened at the second Raising the Bar, National PMLD conference which took place at the University of Birmingham on 2nd November 2018.

Following the launch of the co-produced Core and Essential Service Standards for Supporting People with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities in 2017, ​when the 1st conference was not only oversubscribed but a great success, the need and drive to create a better life for the people we care about was palpable. In the year since the launch, everyone has been working hard to see those changes happen. With this in mind and the continuous interest shown online at the Community of Practice Facebook Group we established to keep in touch, this 2nd conference was a much bigger event and a triumph again!

The day was packed with keynote speakers and workshops and an unprecedented number of families members of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) were involved and attended the conference — and this was the strongest feature of the conference.

Keynote speakers included:

A series of parallel workshops sharing the influence of the PMLD Standards ‘in action’ ran across the day:

The organisers (all volunteers): Annie Fergusson (PMLD LINK), Michael Fullerton (CMG), Joanna Grace (The Sensory Projects) and Thomas Doukas (Choice Support) welcomed the delegates and explained about the journey of this initiative and its importance for people with PMLD and their families.

People with profound and multiple learning disabilities are, like everyone else, unique individuals. But sometimes are excluded from being full citizens in their community because their needs are often not understood. These service standards were co-produced by a group of families, carers, sector professionals and experts interested in improving the quality of support and life of people with profound and multiple disabilities.

The aim of the standards is to ensure people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, of any age, have access to consistent high-quality support throughout their lives​ and wherever they live. The standards will help services to ensure people have full citizenship rights and acceptance/respect within their social circles and local communities. We aim for each person to be supported (with regard their likes and wishes), to participate and be included in their communities and to achieve citizenship in a meaningful manner. These standards are designed to be used by educational, health and social care providers and commissioners of these services – to work together to ensure consistently good practice in all settings and respect the right of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities to be included.

People from across the UK and abroad, joined Raising the Bar II to hear about the progress of the ​PMLD Standards and to learn from inspirational speakers from a range of backgrounds. The ​conference feedback was overwhelming and we cannot help but feel really proud to have hosted this event.

We will carry on running the Community of Practice Facebook Group and ​continue to publish articles about the PMLD Standards in the journal, PMLD Link.

We plan to host a 3rd conference next year and we also want help to review the standards for next year’s event, so please get in touch if you want to be involved and share your ideas.

Check out the website and journal at: www.pmldlink.org.uk

Email Thomas Doukas at: Thomas.Doukas@choicesupport.org.uk

Article | 16.11.18

community, disability, intellectual disabilities, England, Article

Thomas Doukas

England

Executive Coach & Consultant