I’m just back in the UK, waiting for my train and the final leg home. Toronto Pearson airport was absolutely rammed last night, this weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving. I’ve got so much I’d like to blog about still but for now I wanted to post a quick post of thanks. One of the absolute most […]

I arrived back in Toronto late on Saturday and now am writing this final post on Thursday evening from the airport, waiting for my flight home. The last few days has felt like a bit of a whirlwind, I feel like I’ve blinked and the time has gone. It’s been amazing though. Sunday was a […]

I’m sat in Edmonton airport writing this and my mind is on overdrive, so many thoughts, ideas and reflections buzzing around my head. I had a far too short trip to Edmonton (which is my responsibility entirely) but am glad to have met with the people who kindly made time for me. I’m also very […]

In my last post I mentioned that from 1876 to 2009 thousands of children and adults with developmental disabilities/learning disabled people lived in the Huronia Regional Centre institution at Orillia. I also stated that the abuse and neglect they were subjected to was utterly dehumanising, life altering and in some cases life ending. In 2008 Marilyn […]

I’ve chosen not to write blog posts daily on my Canadian leg of this trip, instead I’ll do a post every few days. I flew into Toronto a week ago on a fairly turbulent flight due to wind and jet streams. I was productive on the flight, met a few deadlines and was excited to […]

I started this post on the airplane to Canada and have only just got around to posting it a few days later. I’m lucky enough to have two weeks in Canada, I start in Toronto, before spending 4 days in Edmonton and then return to Toronto for my final days (which includes a one day […]

It’s 9 months since I returned from Phase 1 of my WCMT travels visiting Australia and New Zealand and I’m preparing for the start of Phase 2 in Canada. This post will capture a few of the developments in the UK in the last year. I’ve live tweeted two more inquests of learning disabled. Richard […]

This will be my final blog post from Antipodean soil. I had a few days in Sydney before flying home and managed to cram in some social and some craftivism, as well as in person meetings at Sydney Children’s Hospital and the Clinical Excellence Commission and two phone meetings, one with a bereaved family member […]

My penultimate day in Australia and I had the absolute joy of a day with Aine and Eddie. We met in the city and got the ferry across to Cockatoo Island. We scooted and wandered around taking in the old industrial sights, and the more contemporary, it’s currently being used for filming a new series […]

Why are you going to Tassie? It’s been a frequent question on this trip and I’ll be honest I did start asking myself the same question when I realised the distance I was travelling for 2.5 days. When it came to planning my WCMT Fellowship I knew I wanted to visit the countries I’m visiting […]

Last week started in Brisbane and I flew back to Melbourne on Wednesday. Wednesday evening I met John Chesterman, Director of Strategy and currently Acting Advocate, at the Victorian Office of the Public Advocate. John was one of the first people I contacted when planning my WCMT travels as he himself is a former Australian […]

I’m at the stage in my trip where my motivation to blog daily is waning a little. A lot of what I’m hearing is reinforcing what I’ve already been told, and I’m taking copious notes whenever I meet someone, however the heat in Brisbane (it was hot, very humid and damp – a little like […]

I spent today, International Day of People with Disability 2017, in Brisbane. Well that’s not strictly true, I spent some of it in Brisbane, some of it travelling to the Gold Coast and a significant chunk of it having an incredibly pleasurable lunch and walk on the beach/paddle in the shallows and chat with Sally […]

During my very limited time in New Zealand (10 days, not nearly enough) I spoke to a number of people about investigating the deaths of learning disabled people and improving their access to healthcare. I asked all of them the same question ‘who should I be speaking with to find out about academic research in […]

I wanted to record some random thoughts generated through the exceptional Disability Matters Conference. You can visit the conference website here and see what was covered. I can honestly say its been a long time since I’ve been at such an eclectic and authentic conference. The three days brought together disabled people and self advocates, […]

So it’s Monday evening and I’ve not blogged since Friday so I’m going to do a quick post on my weekend as an aid memoire of the end of my time in Wellington. It was a busy week last week, split between Melbourne and Wellington, and I knew I only had one day in Wellington […]

Day 14 of my #WCMTLD trip and only Day 2 in New Zealand but it really feels like time is flying by. Today was a bit of a blur of meetings, walking to meetings and discussing how the deaths of intellectually disabled people are investigated in New Zealand. First up I met with Claire and Martyn […]

My first day in New Zealand today and it’s been great for setting the context. First up I met with Esther Woodbury from the Disabled Persons Assembly New Zealand followed by Cindy Johns from People First New Zealand (who I forgot to photo). Both disabled people’s organisations form part of the coalition of DPOs who […]

Today was a day of downtime, the meetings I’d hoped to pull off didn’t happen so I had some much needed nothingness before a flight to New Zealand. Last night I caught the tram down to St Kilda to see the fairy penguins, the most gorgeous sight. I didn’t even think I particularly liked penguins, […]

Day 11 #WCMTLD and it was an early start and a bus ride up to La Trobe’s Bundoora campus for a 9am coffee with Professor Chris Bigby. Chris is the Director of the Living with Disability Research Centre. A unit committed to not just conducting good quality research, but also to translating and applying that […]

Day 10 #WCMTLD today, feels like time is flying by. Today I visited the Office of the Disability Services Commissioner (ODSC) in Melbourne. I got to spend time with their Systemic Review Team, who are a very newly formed (still forming) team charged with looking into reviewable deaths. The Disability Act 2006 was amended in […]

I took the weekend off from blogging and just enjoyed taking in the rays, wandering the city (I flew down to Melbourne from Sydney on Saturday afternoon), people watching and musing on what I’d heard and thought from week one of #WCMTLD. I know I’ve already said it but I feel so totally and utterly […]

Last day of my first week in Australia, Day 7 of #WCMTLD. I had left my diary clear this morning which I was exceedingly grateful for, my head is buzzing with ideas and reflections and it was good to spend a couple hours in another cafe, Scout’s Honour with a stunning breakfast and some time […]

Day 6 in Australia today and I spent the day at the New South Wales Ombudsman’s office for a training workshop Handling serious incidents in the disability sector. The workshop looked at handling allegations of abuse and neglect in a disability service setting. It covered: Identifying serious incidents – the legislative and policy framework Planning and […]

I’m not sure whether it was coffee consumption, nerves/excitement about today, jetlag or something altogether different but I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. I woke feeling a little jaded and stumbled across the road to the cafe for breakfast. Turns out avocado on toast is like the food of superheroes, I felt […]

Pinching myself today, that I’m in Australia, spending dedicated time looking at learning from deaths. Feels somewhat surreal, a real privilege and a huge opportunity. I’ve deliberately kept my focus broad during this trip, trying to combine multiple perspectives, as much as it’s tempting (and possibly safer) to go deep on just one issue, I’ve […]

Day 3 of #WCMTLD today and my first day of face to face meetings. I spent the morning and early afternoon at the New South Wales Ombudsman‘s office, talking with Kathryn McKenzie their Disability Director and team members from the reviewable deaths team and the disability reportable incidents team. One thing I hadn’t expected was […]

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy…. and George a very grouchy and overly analytical girl, so luckily for me I arrived in time for the Sydney weekend. The timing of my trip was set up around a work event, the JusticeforLB book launch and the JusticeforLBGMC tribunal (I rejigged slightly to […]

A few people have been in touch since I shared this site asking what I am doing and who I am meeting in Sydney. I’m still seeking bereaved family members to connect with (more info here) and have some time set aside for those meetings, and any other opportunities currently unplanned that might crop up. […]

I can not tell you how lucky I feel to have been given the opportunity of a WCMT Fellowship. The chance to travel, to meet people and to spend time exploring an issue that has been a backdrop to my life for the past few years. I am ridiculously excited and very humbled. You can […]