This document summarizes Philip J Connolly's presentation on translating resilience thinking into tools, products, and services for disabled people. Some of the proposed tools and products discussed include an accessible wiki reader, a social media site called "Resilient Are We" for sharing coping strategies, an annual anthology of personal stories, a third sector currency to fund disability support, and a disability version of Appropedia to share knowledge. The presentation argues that developing these types of tools and sharing experiences can help build resilience in the disability community.

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