Keynote Speakers

Sara, Dawn and Shaun were the Keynote speakers this morning at the conference and kindly agreed to be my Blip. This quote is taken from the publisher’s blurb on Sara's book about her son's death five years ago 'Justice for Laughing Boy’,

“On July 4th 2013, Connor Sparrowhawk, also known as Laughing Boy or LB, was found in dead in a specialist NHS unit. Connor, who had autism and epilepsy, had a seizure while in the bath and no member of staff was on hand to stop him from drowning. An entirely preventable death...."

The organisation to which Dawn and Shaun belong is called My Life My Choice and it provided practical, financial and emotional support to Sara and her family in the devastating aftermath of Connor's death and through the subsequent inquest and public inquiries. Their presentation was perfectly judged  and set the tone  for the conference theme – Advocacy and the Social History of Learning Disability: Family and Self-Advocacy.

It’s been, as always, a great event. A range of inclusive and accessible presentations have provided a hugely stimulating day. For Lyn & me it’s been a chance to catch up with old friends and colleagues. Tonight we're off to the conference dinner in downtown Milton Keynes.

By the way I know there's an awful lot of clutter in the background of this photograph but that's how it was so this is a truthful record.