December Activity Blog
It has been a busy month; I have been out and about meeting as many professionals and parents as I can. Getting a feel for what is already going on in Staffordshire and more importantly listening to parent's views on different matters.
During December I was kindly invited to a number of "Walk in our shoes" sessions held by a charity called Jigsaw. They support parents with children who have Autistic Spectrum Disorders. It really gave me a chance to see first hand what the charity do and talk to parents about life for them and what it is they need from services.
I went to visit another organisation also called Jigsaw. This one was based in Lichfield, and is a support group set up by parents with children with ADHD for parents of children with AHDH (that's Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder). The peer support they provided for one another seems so valuable.
I also gate crashed a parents Christmas party in Tamworth where I got the chance to meet with over fifty parents in the area. The event was put on by a group of parents called POB, which stands for Parents of Board. They are parents who have established their own local committee and work to help engage other parents in activities in the local community; the Christmas party is one of the many things they have organised for the community -what a great example of peer support and community cohesion.
During my visits to professionals and parents alike I have been trying to work out structurally what we need to do to improve the engagement of parents and how we can support the implementation of the Parenting Strategy. I have written some proposals which you can download. I met with the Children's Trust Executive Group (a group of senior managers from the different agencies) on the 17th December and they liked the ideas. So during January will be taking the opportunity to develop these ideas into reality. So watch out parents I will soon be asking for nominations for representative to be on parent boards.
Last Modified:
22/05/2009 07:16:27
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