Photosymbols @photosymbols@learningdisability.social

#DisabilityHistoryMonth
#inclusion #disabilityhistory #learningdisability #journalism #research

Arthur Pew was a lance corporal in WW1, trusted with responsibility for his fellow men.

Pew also had a learning disability.

Before signing up, he was regarded as incapable of contributing to society and was segregated in an institution.

This is an old piece for @BylineTimes but one I loved writing with brilliant campaigners at UK charity My Life My Choice:

https://bylinetimes.com/2020/12/16/last-in-line-the-forgotten-learning-disabled-soldiers-of-world-war-one/

I added this to my profile.

"If it is interesting, boost it. You are not on Twitter"

There is no algorithm to help us here #Mastodon. So if you believe others should see it, #boost it. A favourite is just an individual token of appreciation.

This is one of my key learnings from a couple of weeks here...

Get your glad rags on and get ready to celebrate.
Free tix to #LDALeadersList celebration event this Friday.
#FridayFeeling
buff.ly/3OxfrNT

Need a flash of joy? Here's a new short film of highlights from the recent Dance Westminster competition in London.

I had the total privilege of being involved in this annual competition, with people of all ages and abilities, everything from hip hop to modern ballet, ballroom, Bollywood, The Twist.

Smiling!

Kudos to the pioneering Step Change Studios.

#inclusion #dance #diversity #happiness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK2cluLyxCY

A bit niche, but I'm looking for people in the #RettSyndrome #SETD5Syndrome #Autism #LearningDisability #Epilepsy community. Our daughter has all of the above. Would love to meet fellow #ParentCarer #UnpaidCarer folks

this is a beautiful read https://makingchromosomescount.co.uk/2022/11/14/just-the-way-she-is-rett-syndrome/

Since July 2022 I've been reporting on Twitter, detail of care rated inadequate for #learningsdisabled and #autistic ppl, by the Care Quality Commission in England.

I've written a post about the current state of care in England (based on 1 Nov CQC data release) here https://www.georgejulian.co.uk/2022/11/20/care-homes-for-learning-disabled-and-autistic-people-in-england-providing-inadequate-care/

I'm interested in whether people would wish to see inadequate care highlighted here in the same way? Pls share, TY

#disability #socialcare #learningdisability #autism #healthcare

Had privilege to hear Alexis Quinn talk this week about her book Unbroken: Learning to Live Beyond Diagnosis.

A truly brilliant individual. Her book is a hard read, rage inducing, but necessary.

This week the latest NHS monthly data was released that shows:

* 2k people with learning disability and autism are in hospital in England

* over half of those have been there for over 2yrs

* 17% have been in hospital for over 10yrs

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/learning-disability-services-statistics/at-october-2022-mhsds-august-2022-final

If you want to see Mastodon at its best, strongly recommend these options:

Android - Use apps Tusky or Fedilab

iPhone/iPad - Use apps Metatext or Toot!

💻 Computers - Log in through your server's website

Mastodon was designed for websites and third party apps. These are *still* the best ways to use Mastodon!

(Official app exists because new people were only looking for an official app in app stores, and giving up when they didn't find one. You don't need to use it!)

I'll be using this account slowly as I get used to it so do bear with me. All hints and tips appreciated

Well I’m here but still a bit unsure how to find folks so please do reach out if you spot me!

As someone who regularly uses screen readers and works with blind colleagues who rely on screen readers to access the internet, please let me assure you that using #hashtags within the body of a post is not a problem.

You don’t need to move them to the end!

It is helpful to use #CamelCase to avoid gibberish for many word combos, but the extra # is so minimal as to disappear given how much else screen readers say & how fast they speak to experienced users.

A few recommendations for life on Mastodon:

1) Follow anyone you think looks potentially interesting; you can always unfollow later, and they may lead you to new people via boosted posts.

2) Boost posts you think are worthy, so others can discover new content.

3) Don't obsess on replicating your Twitter follows on Mastodon; let it be its own experience, and grow it organically. Obvs follow anyone you miss from Twitter, but this isn't a 1:1 replacement; have fun, follow your instincts.

Some folks have asked, "why not replicate your Twitter follows?" Obviously you should do what you want, but the Twitterverse was created with a lot of perverse incentives and strange distortions. To discover what makes this design unique, you may have better luck hand-curating your experience here than simply trying to replicate something from before, which is arguably broken in weird ways. A slower, more considered approach is, I think, worth trying.

I was explaining Mastodon to my wife and how it's different from other social media sites. I explained that I find it to be an inclusive, welcoming place. I explained that nearly everyone I follow is either gay or neurodiverse or trans or disabled. I explained that it's the first place I feel like I can actually really be myself and that people here are welcoming and supportive of me being myself. And that's why I've been so happy lately. She said "why don't you tell them that?" and I said ok!

Not sure how many of the people I'm connected to here are interested in #OpenJustice but have read two pieces by @jtownend today that are incredibly relatable/interesting

1) Judith's blog post: The practical reality of open justice and what can be done: reflections on the justice committee’s new report https://openinfoandideas.wordpress.com/2022/11/12/the-practical-reality-of-open-justice-and-what-can-be-done-reflections-on-the-justice-committees-new-report/

2) (Open access) Paper from last year: Remote trial and error: how COVID-19 changed public access to court proceedings https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17577632.2021.1979844 by Judith and @Maggotlaw

i used my AAC on the bus to one of my sports programs today ! i think the sound was not up loud enough for the driver to hear but i used it to say hello and thank you. usually i just wave and nod but i am working up to being confident using my device :)

OK #Mastodon. I've seen several toots on #accessibility for #screenreader users, however, I've not seen one from a screenreader user (as far as I know). I've used ZoomText, Outspoken, JAWS (AKA JFW), Supernova, NVDA (Windows), and VoiceOver (both on Macs and iPhone). I don't have experience with Windows Narrator or TalkBack. I would like to rectify and clarify a few small things.
First off, any awareness of accessibility issues, and endeavours to make things more accessible is great. Keep going!
But…
Blind/low-vision people have been using the internet as long as everyone else. We had to become used to the way people share things, and find workarounds or tell developers what we needed; this latter one has been the main drive to get us here and now. Over the past decade, screen readers have improved dramatically, including more tools, languages, and customisability. However, the basics were already firmly in place around 2000. Sadly, screen readers cost a lot of money at that time. Now, many are free; truly the biggest triumph for accessibility IMHO.
So, what you can do to help screen readers help their users is three simple things.
1. Write well: use punctuation, and avoid things like random capitalisation or * halfway through words.
2. Image description: screen readers with image recognition built-in will only provide a very short description, like: a plant, a painting, a person wearing a hat, etc. It can also deal with text included in the image, as long as the text isn't too creatively presented. So, by all means, go absolutely nuts with detail.
3. Hashtags: this is the most commonly boosted topic I've seen here, so #ThisIsWhatAnAccessibleHashtagLooksLike. The capitalisation ensures it's read correctly, and for some long hashtags without caps, I've known screen readers to give up and just start spelling the whole damn thing out, which is slow and painful.
That's really all. Thanks for reading! 😘