1. Disability Resilience Network
Resilience - turning concepts into
tools, products and services
The fourth presentation
Philip J Connolly
RNIB

2. The presentations so far
• Changing the storyline, disability led
recovery and the purple pound - 19/0711
• Resilience an introduction - at the launch
of the network on 19/09/11
• Resilience: Going beyond an introduction
on 17/1/12
• Concepts into tools, products and services
- 13/6/12

3. A reminder of useful definitions
of resilience
• The magnitude of disturbance that can be
absorbed before the system changes its
structure by changing the variables and
processes that control behaviour
(Gunnderson and Holling, 2002)
• The capacity of a system to experience
shocks while retaining essentially the
same structure, function, feedback and
therefore identity (Walker et al, 2006)

4. An example of resilience in
practice - learning difficulties
• Barbara Arrowsmith-
Young
• Left occipital temporal
parietal region
dysfunction
• Told she had a
mental block -
affected reasoning
• "The woman who
changed her brain"
2012

5. "The brain can be changed" -
Neuroplasticity
• Arrowsmith-Young
was inspired by
Rosenzweig's rats
and Luria's account of
Zatzensky's recovery
• devised exercises to
change her brain's
functioning Changing the focus from breaking
down the tasks to learning
• She taught herself
how to reason starting
with telling the time

6. Her success
• Arrowsmith-Young founded a school in 1980
• She now has 35 schools under licence in the US
and Canada
• Effective in 19 distinct cognitive functions
essential for reading, writing, maths, general
comprehension, logical reasoning, visual
memory or auditory processing
• Dream for every child from five or six to
undertake some cognitive work

7. Translating resilience thinking
into tools, products and services
Tools
• that allow for appraisal of risk
• the development of contingencies or options
• offer social structures of personal support
• provide spaces that serve a multiplicity of uses
• that are multi-functional in application
• that promote systems that put the person back
in charge of their situation

8. Some proposed tools
1) an accessible wiki-reader
2) the "Resilient Are We" social media site
3) an annual anthology of personal testimony
describing successful belief systems that
aid adaptation and coping
4) a third sector currency to fund care,
support and employment initiatives beyond
state provision
5) a disability version of appropedia

9. A brief tour through the possible tools
A wiki reader has the whole of wikipedia on it - why not an how
"pedia" for disabled people and why not text to speech for blind
people?

10. "Resilient Are We"
• Inspired by Tumblr
• Encouraged by the
success of Martin Lewis's
save money website
• Resilient Are We would
be a social media
presence whereby people
could up load their video
or audio diaries of the
adaptations or coping
strategies developed in
response to their
disability

11. Resilient Are We
• Purpose
• 1) to promote self development through
peer to peer support networks
• 2) to facilitate the formation of support
groups e.g. around mentoring for a job,
access to new treatments, challenging
inaccessible practices etc
• 3) to enable people to connect and self-
organise

12. Expertise sought and offered
• Website design
• Website accessibility
• Digital marketing
• Audio and Video production
• Fundraising bid writing
• Intellectual copyright
• Content sourcing

13. "You've got to fulfil the book" -
Bob Marley
• At present there is no
book for newly
diagnosed disabled
people or their carers
or families to support
their process of
finding a adaptation
or coping strategies in
response to their
impairment

14. Chicken soup for disability
resilience
• Could we produce an
annually updated book
building upon successful and
documented psychology and
based upon stories written
by disabled people?
• Could this be made available
at the point of diagnosis or
statutory care service
interventions?
• Could we use www.lulu.com
to test the market for it?

15. Money becoming scarce
• In 2010 the Government announced over 18
billion of cuts to the welfare budget
• In 2012 a further £10 billion of cuts have been
stated as being necessary
• Incomes are falling as benefits and wages are
being outstripped by inflation
• The numbers of newly diagnosed disabled people
are growing as the baby boom generation nears
retirement
• Whilst needing to press Government for resources
what is the appropriate response if the
Government withdraws from its historic obligations

16. A third sector currency?
•Fureai Kippu to fund social care
•Doraland to cover education costs
•C3 a Business to business currency
•Natural savings - to conserve forests
•Terra a global B2B currency to promote
long term investment
There are amny successful complementary
currencies why not a third sector currency
to promote social care and employment?

17. A disability version of
Appropedia?
• Appropedia is a website
based collaboration to
solve problems of
sustainability
• In partnership with the
University of Michigan it
hosts a global medical
health deice compendium
Appropedia runs on the software
• Why not a disability mediawiki and hosts 14,000 articles
version?

18. The future is already here but
who will write it?
• Us
• But in partnership
• In collaboration
• In compassion
• With fairness

19. Thank you
• Philip J Connolly
• RNIB
• 0207 391 3266
• philip.connolly@rnib.org.uk