Deaf Awareness Week 2021
It’s Deaf Awareness week and at appa we will be showing our support online with regular posts on Deaf awareness and “Coming through it together”, the motto for this year’s event. Deaf Awareness Week is organised by the UK Council on Deafness. Their aims for the event are to; Raise awareness Improve access to education, […]
BSL NEWS 01 June 2020
News Headlines With the lockdown easing, primary schools in England are re-starting classes. In sport professional snooker and horse racing are benefiting from the relaxation of social distancing rules. America has witnessed more clashes between police and anti-racism protestors.
Shock and sadness at the death of Sean McGovern
Sean McGovern Disability Rights Campaigner and activist, died 6 May 2020.He chaired the Disabled Members Committee for Unite union for 12yrs, representing disabled workers on the executive committee. He was also co-chair of the Trade Union Congress TUC and Branch Secretary for London’s 5 Remploy factories. He was a well known and highly respected campaigner […]
May you live in interesting times
Have you heard of the curse, “May you live in interesting times”. An old English curse falsely attributed to the Chinese philosopher, Confucius.These are interesting times. Times, when we look back to the Brexit crisis and think of it as the good old days. We could introspectively consider it preparation for the anxiety and uncertainty […]
Help for Lockdown Sufferers
Do you remember the first pandemic film? Not the 2007 Will Smith version the original Omega Man, Charlton Heston (candidly the original was with Vincent Price, but I didn’t see that one), who is the only human left in the world following an epidemic. The rest of humanity were either turned into zombies or had […]
BSL NEWS 30 APRIL 2020
News Headlines 1. Lockdown The cabinet will meet this morning to discuss how the coronavirus lockdown measures may eventually be lifted. Boris Johnson is expected to explain the government’s approach to the public about how they’ll make the decisions. He’ll restate the hurdles that must be passed before any restrictions are lifted including making sure […]
BSL NEWS 28 APRIL 2020
News Headlines 1. Health Services Hospitals in England are to begin restoring some services which have been put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic. NHS England ensured that 33,000 hospital beds were cleared to cope with an expected surge in coronavirus patients. The Health Service has successfully handled the inflow of COVID-19 patients. The […]
BSL NEWS 22 APRIL 2020
News Headlines Care Homes The latest figures from the 10th of April say 1,043 people have died from the virus in care homes in England and Wales although ministers have admitted that number is inaccurate. The Shadow Health Secretary John Ashworth says the government urgently needs to pull together a detailed plan for the sector. […]
BSL NEWS 21 APRIL 2020
News Headlines 1. Face Masks Experts on the Government’s Scientific Advisory Committee will discuss the issue of advising the public to wear masks in public during the Coronavirus pandemic today. Chris Hopson of NHS providers said that the impact on the health service must be fully assessed and that securing the supply of masks where […]
BSL NEWS 20 APRIL 2020
1. Lyrics Sale The original lyrics to Bob Dylan’s 1960’s classic ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’’ are up for sale. It’s a sale on behalf of a collector at a fixed price of £1.7 million or $2.2 million. It went on to become one of the legendary protest songs of the ‘60’s. It’s just one […]
BSL NEWS 17 APRIL 2020
News Headlines 1. Lockdown The Government is today expected to extend the UK’s Coronavirus lockdown by a further 3 weeks. The Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab who is deputising for Boris Johnson will chair meetings of the Cabinet and Cobra Committee before a decision is announced this afternoon. Ministers have signalled they are not planning to […]
BSL NEWS 09 APRIL 2020
Dominic Raab Stands In For Prime Minister The Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, who is standing in for Boris Johnson, will chair a meeting on the Coronavirus today to consider whether restrictions on people’s movements should be extended. The Welsh Government have decided to inform the Welsh public that the lockdown restrictions are being extended. The […]
BSL NEWS 08 APRIL 2020
Prime Minister’s second night in Intensive Care The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, was admitted to St. Thomas’ hospital in London last Sunday and moved into Intensive Care after having tested positive for the Coronavirus 10 days earlier. This was due to his cough and high temperature. He is being administered oxygen but is breathing unaided. […]
BSL NEWS 07 APRIL 2020
Prime Minister Moved to Intensive Care. The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson was moved to Intensive Care due to his Coronavirus symptoms worsening and so that if there comes a need for a ventilator he is closer for that to happen. Mr Johnson doesn’t currently have a tube inserted in preparation for the use of a […]
BSL NEWS 06 APRIL 2020
Prime Minister Working Remotely. The Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, chaired a meeting on the Coronavirus Response. The Prime Minister is currently in hospital after being admitted last night for more tests since being ill for the previous 10 days. Lord Kerslake, former Civil Servant, said the Prime Minister can work remotely with Dominic Raab but it […]
BSL NEWS 02 APRIL 2020 part 2
Coronavirus Testing The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has faced widespread criticism over his government’s testing strategy for the Coronavirus. He has failed to set up large scale testing. For example of 0.5 million NHS frontline staff in England, only 2,000 have been tested. Mr Johnson has said he will ramp up the process of testing […]
BSL NEWS 02 April 2020
Coronavirus Testing Taken from BBC News website on 01 April 2020 Last weekend 900 NHS staff were tested for the Coronavirus. The government have said they feel these numbers are low and they would like to see more testing of Health Workers. The government says that increased testing hasn’t been possible due to not being […]
Coronavirus Information
The following links have information about the Coronavirus: https://www.signhealth.org.uk/coronavirus/ New government announcement 19 March 2020 – schools update What is Coronavirus? How do I avoid getting sick or spreading the virus? What are the symptoms of coronavirus? I was in contact with someone who might have coronavirus, what should I do? How do I avoid […]
BSL News 30 March 2020
News highlights from the past few days in BSL. Taken from BBC News website on 27th March 2020. The government has advised that people buying and selling property should put on hold all property sales until after the Coronavirus crisis has subsided. The Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has asked parties of contracts that have already […]
Ordrs
If you have certain disabilities then some day to day activities can be pretty hard to do. Shopping, in particular, can be quite a challenge. Wheelchair accessibility can be poor, communication with shopkeepers can be limited for the Deaf, searching shelves a barrier to the blind. There are delivery services run by supermarkets that allow […]
Developing British Sign Language
BSL is living, growing and evolving better than it has ever done and the lives of Deaf Britons are more empowered than ever.
Love is for All
It’s said that the Eskimo language has a lot of words for “snow”. In some respect they do, words for snow on the ground, falling snow, drifting snow. When it comes to Love, in English we have that one word. The Greeks had many, 4 of which are; eros a sexual or romantic love, philia […]
When accessibility is lip service
One of the activities at Appa me ltd is teaching. We teach hearing people British Sign Language (BSL) to foster communication and accessibility between hearing and Deaf communities. There already plenty of issues surrounding this, such as lack of the current lack of a GCSE in BSL (see Independent article) or even the recognition of […]
The Sound Shirt
A Tactile Symphony for the Deaf Music is one of the hardest things to make accessible to deaf people, but that’s not stopped the people at CuteCircuit trying. And they have come up with the Sound Shirt. The Sound Shirt 2.0 is a garment featuring 30 actuators that express physical movements in the fabric of […]
Whorlton Hall
A Statement by APPA BBC Panorama recently aired a documentary about Whorlton Hall, a specialist hospital for the treatment of vulnerable adults. The torture that the staff inflicted on these patients angered and sickened us. The Care Quality Commission failed in it duty to protect the vulnerable patients it is responsible for through failing to […]
Spring is on its Way
What does it mean for You? by Michaela Aitken What a wonderful day its bright out, my coat stays on the hanger as I walk my dog Dfa around our local park, its 15 degrees with some light fluffy clouds. March has given us an insight as to how glorious spring and summer can be […]
Brexit, Deaf & Disabled people and our Welfare State
Brexit: What does it mean for Deaf and Disabled people living in the Welfare State? by Michaela Aitken Today I received some disability news that reminded me we are living in unprecedented times; another disability provider has had to close its doors due to funding withdrawal. Its clients and customers now left with a solitary […]
DWP Raises Cap on Access to Work Payments
In March 2015 the Access to Work (AtW) payments scheme was capped for induvidials at 1.5 times the National Average Salary. This left Deaf and Disabled people without the full support they wanted as the cap was too restrictive. However, the cap did bring down the cost for the more expensive support services. The Cap. DWP have […]
Disabled Persons Railcard
Do you know about the Disabled Persons Railcard? It provides great travel discounts for you and a companion. If you have a disability, for £20 a year you could get yourself a Disabled Persons Railcard. This entitles you to 1/3 off adult rail fares for travel on the National Rail network in Great Britain. It also gets […]
PIP suffers blow on mental health at High Court
UPDATE: The PIP saga rumbles on with the Government now committed to reviewing 1.6 million claims at a cost of £3.7 Billion by 2023. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42862904 It seems to have gone somewhat unnoticed but the much-maligned Personal Independence Payment (PIP) has lost a significant case at the High Court over mental health issues. On the 19th of January they […]
