Blast from the past and what is to come!

Recently I was sent a link to an item on the old Foundation for Conductive Education website.

http://web.archive.org/web/20010303171104/http://www.conductive-education.org.uk/html/news/library.html

When the National Library of Conductive Education was ten years old  this piece was put on the Foundation for Conductive Education's website and has a couple pictures of the library and me. The first was taken  shortly after it was established in 1991 at the old Birmingham Institute of Conductive Education  and the other in 2001 at the National Institute of Conductive Education. Shortly after this piece the library moved again into bigger premises in Cannon Hill House where it still is. I was made redundant in 2009 from the post of Librarian as part of a financial belt tightening.

I am still involved in Conductive Education, but in other projects. On thinking about this, I realised that there are, in fact,  quite a few :

     I started the virtual library of Conductive Education  at

    http://www.e-conduction.org/?page_id=115
 
    which now has over 400 items listed and nearly thirty   complete documents in its Depository.
    More to be added to both soon as time permits.

    My lists of CE centres and conductor consultancies have now been converted into a Map of Where
    Conductors Work  using the technical expertise of Ben Foulger.

    http://intelligentlove.org/institution/map

   With Andrew Sutton I have been involved in producing five titles for Conductive Education Press,

   http://www.blurb.com/user/store/cepress

   and we have plans to publish another book, a quotationary, very soon, with another to follow for
   the World Congress.


Watch this space for more details on both titles.

Not bad going! It just goes to show that you never know what the future may bring.

New book coming soon from Conductive Education Press

A few months ago the possibility of publishing a book of blog postings made by Ralph Strzalkowski about his time at the Pető Institute, and his life as a man with cerebral palsy was put to Ralph by Conductive Education Press, and he agreed. Since then we have extracted relevant postings and intend to publish at the time  of the forthcoming CE World Congress, in October, at which Ralph will be a key-note speaker.

Today Ralph has posted on his blog his thoughts about this at

http://blog.lawyeronwheels.org/2013/06/the-book.html

This book may be an eye-opener, as a child's  perspective of Conductive Education has not been published before. Parents, professionals and researchers have all reported their experiences, thoughts, and opinions, but the memories and experiences of the children have not featured in CE literature. A very different and interesting perspective.

Ralph shows himself to be determined, realistic, hard-working  and personifies Pető's principle that 'you should never give up'.

Further information about the book will follow soon. Watch this space.

London Centre set to expand

The London Centre for Children with Cerebral Palsy

 http://www.cplondon.org.uk/

which opened in 1988 with a mother and baby group, is hoping to move into bigger premises and is exhibiting the plans for developing and moving into the former Green Man pub in Muswell Hill Road.

http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/10491911.Charity_supporting_sick_children_displays_plans_for_new_school/

The centre is exhibiting the plans  because:

We are very keen to hear what local residents think of the plans before we submit a planning application and we hope as many residents as possible are able to attend our public exhibition to see the plans and meet our team.

 Their current premises have become too small for their current services for children up to the age of eleven, and the  new building will be twice the size, allowing for new services for older children.

 

 

It is good to see that in this current financial turndown that it is possible for Conductive Education centres to not only survive but expand too.

Norman Perrin named as an honorary conductor for 2013

The World Congress of Conductive Education takes place every three years and the next one will be in October this year in Munich.

http://www.ce-worldcongress2013.org/default_en.asp

At these congresses a number of people are awarded honorary conductor status for their contributions to Conductive Education. The first group of these, announced in 1990 at the First World Congress in Budapest, included Andrew Sutton, and I was surprised to be included myself in  2010.

This year Norman Perrin, a British parent who established and runs his own centre, Paces, in Sheffield, Yorkshire has been named as honorary conductor. Norman, parent of Sarah, who has cerebral palsy, has worked tirelessly for Conductive Education since the late 1980s publicising its benefits, attending conferences and meetings, lobbying politicians,writing papers, and now his blog, whilst dealing with the day to day running of Paces.

 

In the past there have usually been a number of people selected, but I have looked on the Congress website, the International Pető Association website and the Pető Institute website to try and discover who this year's might be, but without success. There is nothing there, maybe it will come later.

In the meantime, congratulations, Norman, a well deserved honour!

ECA Newsletter and Conductors'' Workplaces map

Today I received a copy of the ECA (European Conductive Association ) Newsletter in my email inbox. This publication is new to me and I assumed it was a new  venture, but on checking the Association's website I found that there have been five previous newsletters, the first coming out in December 2010.

www.conductiveeducation.eu


This latest one, number 6, will probably go on-line soon.

The last item in the Newsletter was about the Conductors' Workplaces map and it was a surprise, and very nice too, to see my name mentioned as the creator of this. Although I did all the input of information, it could not have been done without the help of others - Ben Foulger who set up the software used, and Andrew Sutton and Susie Mallett, who helped by giving me lots of URLs to check and use. Like most things, this was a 'team' effort.

It was great to see mentioned that everyone needs to help with maintaining this and keeping it up to date, by letting me know about any new places or closure of any on the map.

Thank you ECA for mentioning it and I will look forward to receiving more workplaces information as a result.

By the way, this is my first posting using my new toy - an I-pad - and it has been a bit of a learning curve for me!