Big Society? Disabled People with Learning Disabilities & Civil Society

1. Big Society? Disabled People with Learning Disabilities and Civil Society This research project is a partnership between Manchester Metropolitan University; The University of Sheffield; The University of Bristol and Northumbria University as well as SpeakUp; Mencap; Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities; Pathways Associates; Manchester Learning Disability Partnership; Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Circles of Support. We ask: how are people with learning disabilities faring in a time of Big Society? For more details, please visit: bigsocietydis@wordpress.com Follow: @bigsocietydis Day 46: the Violence of Disablism #107days Big Society? Disabled People with Learning Disabilities & Civil Society Impact Summary Card 12: Day 46: the Violence of Disablism #107days d.goodley@sheffield.ac.uk & k.runswick-cole@mmu.ac.uk

2. Day 46: the Violence of Disablism #107days Day 46: the Violence of Disablism #107days http://107daysofaction.wordpress.com/2014/05/04/day-46-the-violence-of-disablism-107days// • What is #107days: • Connor Sparrowhawk (known as LB on-line) was a young man who drowned alone in a bath in an NHS setting – his death was found to be ‘preventable’; • #107days is a campaign to get #justiceforLB and to improve the life chances of disabled people with learning disabilities; • As part of that campaign, we wrote a blog about violence in the lives of people with learning disabilities. • We said that: • It is right to hold the individuals responsible for LB’s preventable death to account but it is not enough to blame a few individuals; • It we want #justiceforLB and all disabled people, we also need to tackle the attitudes and systems that allow violence against people with learning disabilities to take place; • We need to look close to home, including families and schools, as well as at care settings and hospitals, to understand how this happens; • We need to act now to expose and challenge widespread disabling attitudes and practices in the lives of disabled people with learning disabilities.