Research has always played an important role in how we understand the experiences of people with disabilities and how we find out if policies are being put into practice and impact they are having on people.
How research is done and how it is used are important in shaping the future.
This event, hosted by partners involved in the Coronavirus and Disability Learning Study team in Wales, is the third in a series highlighting significant issues raised by the Covid-19 pandemic. We will hear from all 5 of the partners and they will be joined by Prof. Debbie Forster from Cardiff University who worked on the research that led to the Locked Out – Liberating disabled people’s lives and rights in Wales beyond COVID-19 report.
We want to hear from you if you have questions for people doing research in Wales and ideas about how findings from research can be used and who needs to use it. How can we make our messaging stronger and more effective? What do we still need to know and how can we work together to address this?
We will talk about the challenges and opportunities the COVID-19 pandemic has presented for doing and using research.
This event is free and open to all.
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Gerraint Jones-Griffiths is lead ambassador for the Engage to Change project, an employment project to help get young people between the ages of 16-25 with autism and or a learning disability into paid employment. He is also an outreach worker for All Wales People First.
Gerraint is an active member of his local community in sports, politics, and choir. Gerraint says “I’ve always had a motto. A is not for Autism; A is for Achievement”
Dr. Stephen Beyer is a Senior Research Fellow at the School of Medicine, and Honorary Lead in Learning Disability Employment at the National Centre for Mental Health, at Cardiff University. He has published widely on supported employment and transition, carried out national research studies on the job coach model of supported employment, employment of disabled people, and has worked on a number of European projects.
Professor Debbie Foster is Professor of Employment Relations and Diversity at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University. She is also author of a Welsh Government report on the impact of Covid-19 on disabled people “Locked out: liberating disabled people’s lives and rights in Wales beyond COVID-19″, which was co-produced by a steering group of disabled people drawn from the Disability Equality Forum. The report considered written evidence and oral testimonies from disabled people and organisations representing them, between September 2020-February 2021. A Minister led Task Force will begin to address its recommendations from September 2021.
Edward Oloidi is a research assistant at University of South Wales. His PhD thesis explored how perceived public perceptions regarding personal and sexual relationships of adults with intellectual disabilities might influence social care workers’ attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours (Wales). Accordingly, Ed has published on sexuality and sexual health amongst adults with learning disabilities and worked with colleagues at USW on various projects: Learning Disability Health Communication Tool, Learning Disability Educational Framework for Healthcare Staff (Wales), and Mapping of learning disability research (Wales) amongst others.
Joe Powell is the Chief Executive of All Wales People First a national umbrella body of self-advocacy groups, representing the voice of people with learning disabilities in Wales. He was also a campaigner for better outcomes for people with learning disabilities and autism.
Zoe is the CEO of Learning Disability Wales, a national organisation working to make Wales the best place for people with a learning disability to live. She has a background in working with young disabled people.
Kate Young is the Director of the All Wales Forum of Parents and Carers, the national network for family carers of people with learning disabilities, engaging with over 4,000 families across Wales. She holds the Chair for Wales Carers Alliance, is the Health and Social Care representative for the Third Sector Partnership Council, sits on the Ministerial Advisory Group for Carers and is a citizen member of the National Partnership Board for Social Services. As a sibling carer to her brother who is autistic and lives with severe learning disabilities, she has a personal understanding and lived experience of the social model of disability and of the inequality issues within society in Wales.
This event is hosted by the organisations that have been involved in running the Learning Disability and Coronavirus Study in Wales. University of South Wales and Cardiff University will be doing the study with help from Learning Disability Wales, the All Wales Forum of Parents and Carers, and All Wales People First.
Please register to attend and a link will be sent to you with instructions on how to join the event.
Date: Monday 27 September 2021
Time: 10:00 – 11:00
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