NAIDEX 2023

Will you be attending the National Accessibility, Inclusion and Disability Expo on 22-23 March?

Running for 50 years, Naidex is the flagship event for the disability community, an opportunity to make new connections, browse products, services and adaptations for independent living, share experiences, and to work together to remove barriers for an inclusive society, accessible to all. Plus, it’s a great place to meet up with friends, to enjoy an exciting day out.

Naidex is for everyone, and welcomes anyone who is living with a disability, as well as anyone caring for or supplying to the community. The event falls across two days so there is enough time for you to discover all that Naidex has to offer.

The 50th celebration of Naidex takes place on 22-23 March 2023 at the NEC, Birmingham and is free to attend.

Naidex provides content and features covering the full lifestyle arc: mobility, employment and work, health and wellbeing, independent living, family, sports, rehab/care, relationships, entertainment, food and drink.

Your Chance To Earn Cpd Points At Naidex

At Naidex we are proud to be able to offer a CPD-accredited conference level programme designed to provide expert insight and learnings for professionals. With four theatres as well as interactive feature areas, the programme is packed with inspirational speakers, innovative technology, the latest techniques, and expert advice.

Naidex will look at how occupational therapy promotes positive mental health and wellbeing, how to make use of assistive technology to benefit functional capabilities, improving access to education, work, and leisure opportunities, improving patient experiences, and personcentred care.

CPD is a fundamental requirement for each individual, within your scope of practice, to help improve the safety and quality of care provided for patients and the public. You can earn up to 11 CPD points across the two days of Naidex by attending seminar sessions and workshops. Additionally, as the event is colocated with UK Care Week and Neuro Convention, and your ticket gives you access to these events, there are further CPD-accredited sessions to attend at these.

New Theatres To Discover

The Accessibility and Care Theatre will feature seminars drawing upon lived experience of caring for loved ones and the newest assistance technologies and adaptations that are enhancing care and independent living. The content will provide for healthcare professionals, occupational therapists and carers.

The Lifestyle and Leisure Theatre is designed to promote improvement of daily living and overall wellbeing. Attending the sessions in this fun and exciting theatre is a great opportunity to learn more about all the areas that contribute to happy and healthy living. All the way from sports to dating and sexual wellbeing, there is certainly something for everyone to enjoy in this theatre.

Session Highlights

Steve Ford (Royal College of Occupational Therapists): Stepping up for Occupational Therapy - what progress are we making?

Mike Cowan-Jones (ARMS Rehab): Using Positive Behavioural Support to Supplement Occupational Therapy Intervention

Georgia Vine (The University of Huddersfield & AbleOTUK): Critically Analysing Occupational Therapy Practice Through a Disabled Persons Eye

Charlie Beswick (Our Altered Life Author): Panel Discussion: The journey of Siblinghood and Disabilities

Annette Cmela (Hidden Disability Sunflower): Making the invisible visible and the world’s longest lanyard?

Sally Chalk (Signapse): Artificial Intelligence is transforming the way sign language users can access written and spoken languages.

Other Features To Check Out

Naidex are working in partnership with Disability Horizons to bring you the Naidex Marketplace, where you can source smaller and affordable daily aids, tools, and resources for your clients. There will also be live demonstrations showcasing mobility and assistive tech, care, education, occupational therapy, sports and lifestyle, and accessible living solutions to help you improve your clients quality of life.

Catch Ellie Simmonds OBE, Tommy Jessop, Lauren Steadman MBE, or Steve Thompson MBE on the Main Stage. There is also a live performance space called the Village Green, where musicians, dancers, comedians, sports people, chefs, and entertainers provide demonstrations. Just part of the 50th birthday celebrations, we are bringing you a Naidex Comedy Hour with Aaron Simmonds and Lost Voice Guy on the Main Stage for free!

We can’t wait for you to join us on 2223 March 2023 at NEC, Birmingham!

You can register for free tickets at Naidex.co.uk

During the first lockdown, I had been made aware that I was eligible to apply for the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), thanks to the

Equality Act stipulating that, yes, autism is legally a disability. Here was a method of support that I had gone without for so long. Had I placed a bet as to the eventual turnout, this would have made me a rich woman.

Articles litter the internet detailing how diabolically awful the service is, and how ableism is ingrained at a base level throughout. I have a degree of privilege in that I am able to speak and engage with people; this is so often reflected by the surprise people express when they find out I am autistic. You do not see the hours of preparation, planning, scripting to just be able to sit at the table with ordinary folk, let alone adjusting. Character references had to be presented to the service. A specialist in ‘autistic girls’ (I am over 18, therefore not a girl) assessed me initially. Ostensibly I just need prompting to talk to people, and show no sign of communication issues - which is arguably the definition of autism on a medical level! I can ostensibly read without assistance, despite being a fulltime glasses wearer - with a pretty strong prescription for the lenses I have. Key skills such as cooking, despite my spiky profile and terrible motor skills limiting me in some aspects, can ‘just be learnt’. The strong implication under the spiky words of a stranger was that this was somehow a lifestyle choice I had willingly chosen. arduous, in particular, and the whole process beyond humiliating and degrading.

The commentary around cooking and preparing a fresh meal particularly caught my eye, clicking something in my brain. I had always found this activity immensely difficult, but no one had ever suggested that being autistic may have had any kind of connection. Hypersensitivity to sound can become unbearable in a kitchen, along with smellsand that is before you actually start cooking or the consumption. Resources are lacking for putting together information on sensory issues and how to adapt, or even just the physical adaptations you can make in the kitchen, such as when categorised with a key for sensory needs, as well as dietary requirements; most have some kind of story attached, too. I have also added a skills band - so if someone struggles, say, with timing, then they have more agency in tailoring their food to their requirements. There is also an energy rank, too. Other chapters deal with sensory issues and how to adapt, as well as advice for parents, teachers, guardians, or relatives. It was important to me to put autistic and disabled voices front and centre; there is a tiny number of non-disabled people who have made this book happen, probably less than ten. so often used is tricky to interpret - and I am not the only person to write this out in my own words. Timings are tricky to master, and executive functioning issues can quickly become paralysing. Googling disabilityrelated cookbooks left me disheartened, as the emphasis was so often on the ‘junk science’ that if you eat better, you can ‘cure’ yourself.

Around the same kind of time, my mentor died suddenly. The last thing he’d ever said to me acted as something of a spark to the fuse of an idea, and I put pen to paper to produce The Autism Friendly Cookbook.

The Autism Friendly Cookbook has 100 recipes, with 30 coming from other autistic individuals. They are

Not all autistic individuals will struggle - but I’d argue that those who don’t are extraordinarily lucky, and probably the product of a degree of privilege, such as if someone in a supporting role has had the time to teach and adapt to your specific needs. Research is suggesting more and more that eating disorders may potentially have an overlap in autistic women, for example. Those who use a food bank are more likely to be disabled, too. A conversation about this needs to start, desperately, especially given we now grapple at the coalface with the cost of living crisis.

The Autism Friendly Cookbook is available to buy at Waterstones, Barnes & Noble and on Amazon.co.uk and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Lydia on Twitter @Journo_Lydia

Timed for the beginning of Disability Pride Month, Disability Expo will be Europe’s largest event solely focused on people with lived experience of disability. During a packed 2 days we’ll be hosting a series of discussion panels looking at every aspect of disabled living, celebrating disabled talent & fashion, educating & advising, as well as showcasing the latest and greatest products & services.

Improve outcomes for your clients by discovering the latest innovations on the market in our Exhibition Hall. Our interactive accessible home installation will feature off the shelf products and specialist equipment for you to try out in a realistic home environment.

Increase your knowledge and awareness of disability issues with our series of panels. Featuring panelist Mike Cowan-Jones, OT and Managing Director of ARMS Rehab Limited. Learn more about access to work, routes to funding and much more to assist you in helping your clients.

We are more than just an event. Our I Matter CIC is a campaign and movement that delivers a person-centred approach to equipment provision, supply, funding and accessibility. Follow the #IMatter movement on social media and subscribe to our mailing list to keep in the loop with developments. www.bit.ly/imattersub podcast suited to your style and needs: if you like something that’s very information-heavy, or prefer a podcast that’s a little more casual and chatty, there’s something out there that suits your needs! The world of podcasting can be a little overwhelming to dive headfirst into if you don’t know where to start, so here are a few podcasts to get you started!

Scan QR code to reserve your free place!