Philip Hammond, Why Blame the Disabled?
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Productivity fell this year between March and June by 0.1 per cent despite people working for longer hours, the ONS found. Chancellor Philip Hammond had this to say; “It is almost certainly the case that by increasing participation in the workforce, including far higher levels of participation by marginal groups and very high levels of engagement […]
Communicating with People who have Hearing Loss
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Some general Advice for clear communication for people with hearing loss. A small amount of thought and effort in communicating with deaf and hard of hearing people can make a huge difference. For Sign Language Users whose main link to the world is visual, it is helpful to use: Some basic signs and […]
MidlandsAbility
MidlandsAbility Improving Workplace Opportunity for those with Disabilities Our director Imran Umar had the pleasure of attending the MidlandsAbility Network Launch at KPMG in Birmingham. MidlandsAbility is an exciting new network which aims to increase confidence in recruiting, developing and retaining employees with a disability. MidlandsAbility is made up of a core group of Midlands […]
Funky Finger Weekly Baby Group
An Event on behalf of James Wolfe Primary School in Greenwich, London Are you a deaf parent, or are you a parent of a deaf baby? If so this group, run by the specialist Centre for Deaf Children at James Wolfe Primary School is for you. Come along and share your experiences as a […]
Mental Illness, the Poor Cousin of Disability.
The welfare state set up to support Britain after the First World War was to ensure our economic success with so many injured and disabled soldiers returning home. Over the years though campaigning, education and focusing on equality and diversity the concession that disabled people had been dealt a cruel hand has started to turn. […]
2017 General Election and Accessibility
The 2017 General Election is fast approaching and the parties have all published their manifestos. So how do they score on accessibility?; Conservative Party: Green Party: Labour Party: Liberal Democrats: UKIP: Scottish National Party: Main presentation: PDF with text and images Main Presentation: Webpage Main Presentation: Webpage Main Presentation: Webpage Main presentation: PDF with […]
Mental Health Awareness Week 2017
Mental Health Awareness Week 2017 has started and there seems to be a greater push than ever to raise awareness of mental and in doing so remove the stigma it bears. It’s vitally important that awareness of our own mental health is raised. Why? – Well the condition of our mental health is as fundamental […]
A Simple Intro to BSL Grammar.
Having read our previous article on how to learn languages let’s have a look at some useful ideas for learning British Sign Language (BSL). In English you would say something like; “I made some pancakes” But in BSL it would be more like; “Pancakes I made” In a language, the sentences (clauses) have a specific […]
The Benefits of Second Language Learning (Particularly Sign Language) On the Developing Mind
The benefits of second language learning on a developing mind is talked about a lot. I think it is self-evident that many, many parents want to give their child any edge they can. There is a lot of evidence (both correlated and tested) that learning a second language is enormously beneficial to mental development, particularly for children. […]
A Guide to Learning a Language – In Theory
You may have heard of Ted Talks – you maybe an avid follower of new speakers or it’s something we are introducing to you, in essence TED talks help spread brilliant ideas, findings, knowledge. For us this talk was of particular interest as well as 9.6 million other viewers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0yGdNEWdn0 If you don’t have time […]
The Great Appa Bake Off: Patisserie
As some of you may be aware there’s a rather popular TV show on right now, The Great British Bake Off. We thought it was a great opportunity to start The Great Appa Bake Off. Every week will we be baking something new and exciting in line with the programs themes. Each week the bakes will be judged and […]
The Great Appa Bake-Off: Pie
As some of you may be aware there’s a rather popular TV show on right now, The Great British Bake Off. We thought it was a great opportunity to start The Great Appa Bake Off. Every week will we be baking something new and exciting in line with the programs themes. Each week the bakes will be judged and […]
The Great Appa Bake-Off: Desserts
As some of you may be aware there’s a rather popular TV show on right now, The Great British Bake Off. We thought it was a great opportunity to start The Great Appa Bake Off. Every week will we be baking something new and exciting in line with the programs themes. Each week the bakes will be judged and […]
The Great Appa Bake-Off: Cupcakes
As some of you may be aware there’s a rather popular TV show on right now, The Great British Bake Off. We thought it was a great opportunity to start The Great Appa Bake Off. Every week will we be baking something new and exciting in line with the programs themes. Each week the bakes will be judged and […]
The Great Appa Bake-Off: Pastry
As some of you may be aware there’s a rather popular TV show on right now, The Great British Bake Off. We thought it was a great opportunity to start The Great Appa Bake Off. Every week will we be baking something new and exciting in line with the programs themes. Each week the bakes will be judged and […]
The Great Appa Bake-Off: Cake
As some of you may be aware there’s a rather popular TV show on right now, The Great British Bake Off. We thought it was a great opportunity to start The Great Appa Bake Off. Every week will we be baking something new and exciting in line with the programs themes. Each week the bakes will be judged and […]
The Great Appa Bake-Off: Bread
As some of you may be aware there’s a rather popular TV show on right now, The Great British Bake Off. We thought it was a great opportunity to start The Great Appa Bake Off. Every week will we be baking something new and exciting in line with the programs themes. Each week the breads will be judged […]
ISO9001- Laura Gilby – Teamleader
Laura Gilby – Team Leader appa me ltd appa me | appa life | appa training | appa fitness | appa kids By achieving ISO9001 we have now joined over a million different companies across 170 countries in complying with the requirements of a quality management system. The quality management principles include a strong […]
ISO9001 – Lea-Ann Penaluna – Team Leader
Lea-Ann Penaluna – Team Leader appa me ltd appa me | appa life | appa training | appa fitness | appa kids Introduction I first became involved with ISO 9001 June 2015, formatting and referencing the in house approved documents to then be linked to the Document Log. A simple task which then led to […]
ISO9001 – Kyla Aitken – Operations Director
Kyla Aitken – Operations Director appa me ltd appa me | appa life | appa training | appa fitness | appa kids What’s in a Name? ISO has a different acronyms in different languages, so adopted the short form ISO, derived from the Greek isos – meaning equal appa as a company stands by its […]
4Talent and Equality of Opportunity
appa me would like to congratulate Channel 4 for their recent positive action in ring fencing 50% of their apprenticeships for people with disabilities. In this day and age in a developed Western country disability should not be an issue for anyone. According to official government statistics “Disability Facts and Figures” published in 2014 “There […]
Yes I Can
appa were delighted to see the new ‘Yes I Can’ advert for the Rio Paralympic Games 2016? The advert delivered beautifully to highlight the prospective Paralympians performing with grace, power and skill. Ok, as an allegedly abled bodied person I can assure you I am no threat to the current UK Olympic roster. I can […]
DWP Overlooks SME Advice and pays the cost
Turn a Corner appa were delighted at the recent successful prosecution of Ethel and Paul Neal, founders of Neals Communication. A Croydon based deaf support company purportedly serving S.E. London and local regions. It is one of a group of companies in an interconnected collection of directors, owners and employees forming a conspiracy of fraud. The […]
Public Shaming – Shifting Perspectives
Public Shaming – Shifting Perspectives Is Social Media the best method in which to raise awareness? appa looks into a recent case of mistaken perception and the immediate negative implications it can have for disabled and Deaf people in the wrong hands. You may have seen the news this week when a well-known rapper, ‘50 […]
Universal Credit
Universal Credit Universal credit was introduced in early 2015 (February) and now in May 2016 is being rolled out across the rest of the country. Universal credit, the brain child of the former DWP lead Ian Duncan Smith, merges the following benefits: Income-based Jobseekers Allowances Income-Related Employment and Support Allowance Income Support Child Tax Credit […]
Rita and Caleb: Special Needs Clothing From Marks and Spencer
On the 3rd of October 2015 Rita Kutt posted a message on the Netmums website. Her grandson Caleb has special needs and his mother was finding it very hard to find suitable and affordable clothing for him. Six months before posting her message Rita had been in contact with Marks and Spencer asking them to […]
Curing Deafness with Genetic Engineering
Curing Deafness with Genetic Engineering News on methods to treat deafness and hearing loss waxes and wanes, and when the news includes the word “genetic” the clamor waxes stronger. Since news came out about trials for a genetic cure that started in October 2014 the headlines keep resurfacing. So where are we at? Firstly it […]
Our Clients: Andrew Muskat
Andrew, a grafter, has worked at Lloyds for over 34 years. Today he tells us about some ofthe barriers and solutions of working as a Deaf person in hearing corporate Britain. In the early days (1980’s) paperwork was king. Proper paperwork, where you had to use pens, paper ledgers and handwritten procedures. In many ways […]
Blog of a Support Worker: Rhys Farrugia
Bus Drivers! When I was at the youthful age of 5, I was asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” As bold as brass, ambitiously and confidently, I replied with “Bus Driver!” At the time, I obviously didn’t envisage the unsociable hours; London congestion and faulty Oyster card readers. 20 years […]
Blog of a Support Worker
Love what you do – Blog from one of our interpreters at appa Life is full of ups and downs. I don’t mean to sound profound and dramatic, I mean it in a casual sense…let me explain! Some mornings upon hearing what can feel like the sound of hell (otherwise known as my alarm), I […]
