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In March, we celebrate Developmental Disabilities (DD) and Brain Injury (BI) Awareness month. This webinar will highlight innovative strategies for removing barriers to further advance competitive, integrated employment and economic outcomes for people with DD and BI through small business ownership. Synergies Work, the largest startup hub in the United States for disability-led businesses, will highlight how people with DD and BI have been successful in launching and maintaining their own businesses. The National Association of State Head Injury Administrators (NASHIA) will share the latest data and employment trends for people with BI. NASHIA will also discuss current service gaps and proposed solutions to maximize employment opportunities. We’ll also hear perspectives from Angad Sahgal, an entrepreneur with DD, and Kymberlee Baker, an entrepreneur with BI, on key elements needed to establish and operate a business based.

Did you know that July 22 is International Brain Day? 🧠 The 2023 theme for this international day of awareness is 'brain health and disability', aimed at closing the gaps in disability education and awareness and to break down barriers. Celebrate World Brain Day by tuning in to our #CerebralConversations podcast to hear CPA Research Institute co-founders, Professor Iona Novak and Professor Nadia Badawi, explain the connection between cerebral palsy and neuroplasticity, and our research team's pioneering work in treatment and prevention of CP 👇 https://fal.cn/3A6zc

It’s never too late… At the end of last year, I was due to write a post about a wonderful partnership that Kaleidoscope had created with St James’s Place (SJP). However, as most of us know, Eshan had other ideas at the time ❤️ ... but it's never too late! I am now delighted to share that over the last few months we have been working with SJP on an incredibly exciting project which is to get more people with disabilities / long term health conditions trained to become Financial Advisors. I must confess, when I first thought about financial advice, I had a certain perception (perhaps shared by many!) about Financial Advisors. This was based on my own (un)conscious bias and experience. However, through this partnership, my team and I have been very pleasantly surprised. We have been privileged to get some remarkable insights into the inner workings of the industry and of SJP. The people we have met, the support we have had, the material we have reviewed and the overall processes we have discovered have been exceptional. Their 12-month training programme is a fantastic blend of theoretical learnings and practical human experiential teachings with real attention to detail. Perhaps what’s been most refreshing for me, is to see their genuine desire to continue to learn and adapt their approach to make it even more accessible than it already is. This has fast become one of our most exciting projects to date yet challenging at the same time. Challenging mainly because much of society sees Financial Advisors through a certain lens and if you then overlay this with disability, you are in unchartered territory. However, we all need to play our part in helping to change this lens because ultimately, how we manage our money and where we place it, is important, particularly for the disabled community. Personally, I am fast beginning to see this as a genuine career choice for people with certain types of disabilities or long-term health conditions who might be looking for a new opportunity. This role will offer autonomy, flexibility, independence, and a qualification, together with a strong ability to do well financially. If you would like to learn more about the opportunity to become a Financial Advisor, we are hosting a joint event on the 1st August with SJP at their London offices from 4pm onwards. Please register via the link in the post below. In the meantime, my most sincere thanks go to Micky Harris and Michael Colyer for helping us to build a relationship with SJP in the first place and to the incredible team at SJP that have made this such a pleasurable journey so far! Andy Payne Damian Bradbury Jamie Hammond maria spooner Gee Foottit Jill Parsons Juan Alvarez The Kaleidoscope Group of Companies #disability #disabledpeople #disabledentrepreneur #disabilityinclusion #disabilityawareness #financialadvisor #financialadvisors #financialadvisory Christopher Wood MBE

Just when you think there’s no hope for a situation, a place like The 34 Project comes along and demonstrates that anything is possible. 🤍 This organization is doing AMAZING things for people suffering with neurological disabilities. We 🫶🏽’d working on this #BrandStory. Check it out, and show them a little love by following their page! 👍 #ElevatedMarketing #ElevateYourBrand #VideoStoryTelling #BrandStoryTelling #StoriesMatter #StoriesAreKey #Stories

Welcome to day one of Neurodiversity Celebration Week! Today, we are celebrating Steph's incredible journey of building a neurodiversity-friendly empire! 🌟 'The thing is, when I went into thie stream of work, I didn’t know I was neurodivergent. I suspected I was autistic, but my experience (I thought) was more because I had supported and raised a neurodiverse child. Little did I realise - I had both ADHD and ASD. I started my business in October 2020 after having the 3rd surgery in a long line of surgeries to rebuild my pelvis due to a birth defect found at age 27. In the beginning, I was still figuring out what I liked so I did it all, and I realised that actually I LOVED all of it. Some things lit my brain up more than others, and so I focused on that. A huge “OMG I LOVE THIS” moment was helping others to achieve things for themselves, but a huge block for many people who wanted my services was that they were new businesses with limited funds to spend on getting help. I became aware of the Access to Work programme about 6 months into having my business, but I had no idea that it could do so much for people who needed it - and best of all, it can be used to fund my services which is incredible. I’ve always approached my business with a ‘start where you are, use what you have, do what you can’ mentality. I think these days, people buy into getting lots of advice from lots of people, especially where neurodivergence is at play, and the reality is, THEY ALREADY HAVE A SKILL. By deploying my little mantra, I didn’t need to invest in much until my third year of business, because I just did my best, and researched what I didn’t know.' - Stephanie Ward, Director of Stephanie Ward Online Business Services. To continue reading Steph's celebration, head over to https://lnkd.in/eyZrTHpA #NeurodiversityCelebrationWeek #NeurodiversityCelebration #CelebrateDifferences #EmbraceNeurodiversity #NeurodiversityAwareness #DiverseBrains #EmpowerNeurodiversity #AcceptanceForAll #JanetSmithHarrison #JanetSmithHarrisonCoaching #JanetSmithHarrisonTraining #JanetSmithHarrisonCoachingAndTraining

Why is it important to understand the five different groups of impairments (physical, intellectual, neurological, psychosocial, and sensory) that may result in five different forms of disability? These principles help us identify and analyze the four types of barriers (physical, attitudinal, informational, and communication) experienced by the five disability groups mentioned. Without understanding the foregoing, it is impossible to be able to negotiate (within a legal framework) the four forms of reasonable accommodations to which those concerned may claim, namely assistive devices, technology, adjustments, and modifications. This is a well-structured process that enables persons with impairments to negotiate for equal inclusion in an inaccessible society. The ball is in your hands as to whether you want to use these principles as prescribed in legislation, codes, and guidelines to make a difference in the lives of millions of people with impairments in our country. We also have a responsibility to challenge legislation, codes, guidelines, and systems that are still exclusive in terms of recognizing the specific needs of the five different disability groups. For more information, contact us at the Global Peer Support Network via email at peerssupport@faniedreams.com or by text message at 082 820 7358. National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities Fanie du Toit https://lnkd.in/eDxUDJVb

Since this week is #MEAwarenessWeek, I want to take a moment to discuss something that’s out of my usual parameters on here. I talk a lot about my vision impairment. What I don’t talk about as much is my lived experience of having ME/CFS. I’m determined to change that. My chronic illness is a big part of my life, in the same way my vision impairment is. Here’s the thing. You see some aspects of my vision impairment, like when I’m walking down the street using my long cane, or you’ll hear my screen reader from time to time. What you don’t see is my vision impairment coupled with my chronic illness. ME/CFS pretty much plays the biggest factor in everything I do. That’s one of the hardest parts I’ve had to learn to accept. I’m at the milder end of the scale when it comes to ME/CFS. I know I’m one of the lucky ones. I can work and do most things I want to. But my symptoms still hit me like a ton of bricks. Even though my vision impairment is quite often the star of the show, my chronic illness is waiting in the wings, ready to have its moment. So on ME Awareness Week, I’d like to remind you that a person can have multiple disabilities or health conditions. Hidden disabilities exist. #ChronicIllness #Disability #HiddenDisabilities #MECFS #Spoonie

👀 Let's break free from the stereotypes surrounding neurodiversity and unlock the potential of talented individuals. Embrace the unique strengths that come from unique ways of thinking. Together, we can foster a more inclusive and innovative workplace. #neurodiversity #inclusion #WorkplaceCulture #NeurodiversityCelebrationWeek #NCW #allontheboard

Too often, autistic people are portrayed as unidimensionally gloomy, struggling, or sad. Most AI-generated images of an “autistic person” portray a young, white man, sitting in the dark, looking miserable. Autism stereotypes ignore not just productivity, but the joy that comes with autistic love of nature, animals, writing, inventing – or other types of meaningful work." #EmployDifferentThinking #neurodiversity #TempleGrandin #ChrisPackham Read more on "Embracing Autistic Joy to Build Better Workplaces" in our latest blog post written by Ludmila Praslova, Ph.D., SHRM-SCP, Âû https://lnkd.in/eHSjKUws