Disability awareness

Susan Baird of Kilbarchan NWR sheds some light on two hidden disabilities.

Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)

A guest speaker from Adoption UK provided us with some thought provoking information.

Some of the key facts we learned were: ■ Care experienced children and young people, along with adopted babies and children, could be four times as likely to have FASD, having been pre-exposed to alcohol during pregnancy; ■ More children are currently living with

FASD than autism spectrum disorder (ASD); ■ FASD is the most common unrecognised neuro-developmental condition in the UK; ■ Worldwide, the UK is the fourth worst country for drinking during pregnancy—a pretty sobering statistic!1 ■ There is often co-morbidity with other neurological conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and ASD; ■ Someone with FASD doesn’t look any different from anyone else!

There is no one characteristic that makes it obvious that a young person has FASD. There used to be a belief that certain facial features were the only factor but now the condition embraces a wider spectrum of factors, including a smaller head circumference and poor concentration levels, commonly also diagnosed with ADHD.

Our speaker stressed that expectations of those with FASD should be adjusted to consider their developmental age not their chronological age, and it is important we don’t miss the strengths and understand the challenges of an individual with this condition. These children and young people are often very gifted physically, with excellent verbal communication skills—so it wasn’t all doom and gloom!

Deaf awareness

Many of Kilbarchan group enjoyed following Rose Ayling-Ellis on Strictly Come Dancing last year and were keen to raise deaf awareness. We sourced a free one-hour session through Eventbrite, run by a charity called Deaf Action which is based in the east of Scotland. Some members attended their talks and fed back to the group.

There were many aspects to the subject but for the purposes of this article we wanted to focus on how we could better communicate with deaf people who are oral.

The speaker, Tomas, outlined the number of deaf or deafened (this usually refers to someone who became deaf as an adult) people living in the UK. Note that 10m deaf people in the UK equates to approximately one in seven people having some form of deafness.

One useful tip is to begin your sentence with the subject as it helps a lipreader to know right from the start what the conversation is going to be about. A great deal of lipreading is down to guesswork, relying on body language and facial expressions. So, asking: “Your holiday, was it good?” is a big improvement on: “I was wondering, how did you enjoy your holiday?”

It was also pointed out how tiring communication for a deaf person can be.

It is hoped that the “Rose effect” will be long-lasting and not just temporary.

1 https://www.statista.com/chart/7689/ the-worst-countries-for-drinking-duringpregnancy/ https://www.deafaction.org/

DO

■ Get the person’s attention before speaking ■ Be brief ■ Make sure the lighting on your face is good ■ Keep good eye contact and speak directly ■ Place yourself at a comfortable distance ■ Use facial gestures and expressions ■ Speak clearly ■ Write things down if necessary

DO NOT

■ Shout ■ Be impatient ■ Look down or away ■ Lean too close ■ Cover your mouth ■ Be embarrassed ■ Talk too fast ■ Change the subject without warning ■ Give up

Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

The mobile phone: one of life’s misnomers?

I read an anecdote about a lady hunting for her lost mobile phone while using the device’s torch app, and it raised a smile, but I then began thinking of all the items made redundant, thankfully, by my phone. For example: address book, birthday book, magnifying glass, calendar, clock, diary, notebook, compass, street planner, torch, shopping lists, camera, photo album, video, audio (tape recorder), music (transistor radio/Walkman/ boom box), films (portable DVD players), thesaurus, encyclopaedia, calculator, magazine, book…

And the many new opportunities it has opened for me: worldwide contact on the go via instant messaging, social media, the editing and sharing of photographs, video, audio, data and files. Face to face virtual contact, fitness and health monitoring, space station orbit tracking. Plant, bird, planet and aircraft identification, language translation, satnav and route planning. Access to skills tutorials from unblocking a drain, servicing a guitar, making jewellery to setting up a home sound system. Banking, shopping, remote control of home electronic devices from entertainment systems to heating. Podcasts, personal security alarm, word processing.

PLUS this phenomenal device also allows me to make and receive telephone calls!

Thankfully network black spots are fast diminishing. All I need to do in this relationship? Ensure I charge and take it with me!

To call this modern miracle a mobile phone would seem to be a gross understatement. Any re-naming suggestions? Alethiometer, Man Friday or maybe mobile life hub?

Wendy Jefferies Ringwood NWR