Testimonial List

It was very informative and would help people engage correctly .... A good insight to living a disabled life - both the good and the bad .... Informative .... I think for people working with people with disabilities that we are always scared on what you can and can't say so it was good to just be yourself and treat people all the same .... A good way to understand more about disabilities and a way to approach it ..... A very well laid out course ..... I found the whole experience extremely worthwhile, I learnt more in two hours than in a semester of modules at University .... It's made me feel much more confident about interacting with people with disabilities .... I think all front line staff in all organisations would benefit from this course .... Opens the mind!

What was best at the workshop: having an insight of a communication barrier using communication game ..... seeing through the eyes of the service user, to put myself in a different situation and this makes me think more about what I do ....
Facilitator being able to share lived experience .... I really enjoyed being challenged although it was a bit uncomfortable it was good to have the discussions .... Support planning was great and the communication game
The discussions were really interesting and challenging for the participants that really helped drive the message home

Always a pleasure to be part of All Inclusive events! .... Excellent day for networking and meeting individual people as providers - beneficial day. .... Great networking and meeting different organisations. Well done!

"Brilliant!" .... "Seeing all the different opportunities was great." .... "I liked the Better Life Smart Living stand best."

The discussions we had as a group and listening to the view from an actual CP person gave a good understanding of CP.

I found Iain very inspirational and I can certainly see him as an example to our service users with CP and other disabilities who feel frustrated or disappointed at times. Everyone should be able to have the opportunity to understand how those with CP think and live their lives.

Learning what CP was and how it can be caused was the most useful bit for me but I think it was all useful and thought provoking.

Assistance with communication from Debbie was really useful. Iain's won views on his life experiences was great as a basis for increasing CP awareness. It was all informative and thought provoking.

Insights from Iain and the questions asked really made people think. Very informative and thought provoking.

Discussions and group work were very useful, it was very interesting to gain an understanding f other peoples opinions too.

Thank you - very useful and interesting, especially the group work, interacting with Iain (through Debbie) and the film.

I found this to be thought provoking and challenging and feel others would benefit from this workshop

It was useful being with other people who work in a similar environment and sharing views and opinions.

All of the discussion and information given was extremely useful to have and much better understanding.

It was really useful listening to the speaker (Iain), very interesting, learnt some new things, a perfect workshop really.

A very helpful and honest workshop

I found the workshop most helpful and will put it into practice. As far as improvements are concerned, you can't improve on perfection!

Hello Iain
I just wanted to say how much I enjoy reading your newsletter. I attended one of your courses a while ago and got a great deal out of it and it's nice to be able to 'top up' that awareness regularly through your humorous articles based on your personal, day to day experiences. I would agree that levels of disability awareness seem pretty woeful these days, but it's nothing compared with people's understanding of some of the other 'protected characteristics'. So many organisations like to kid themselves that they have mainstreamed equalities. It's a fond illusion to protect the training budget!
Best wishes
Nick

Everything was helpful today, particularly learning about PA's and advocacy, the activities were really good too.

Everything was really good but most of all I gained greater understanding of advocacy.

It was all useful, but the best bit was the part about advocates.

All the points on what it takes to be a P.A. and what advocacy is along with the group activities got me thinking, all useful.

I found it all interesting although my least favourite part of the presentation was Equalities Act 2010 and the Diversity Strands but I know it's important and I have to know it. Had a good laugh and learnt a lot.

It was good to learn about the differences between carers and PA's. I also found learning about advocacy interesting.

It was good learning about what a P.A. job role was and also learning about advocacy.

I learned a lot from the activities and the feeding back from them.

The open discussions and setting of objectives from the group was good.

I enjoyed hearing about Iain's own experiences and his thinking as well as others on the course.

A general 'airing' and 'sharing' of views and experiences of working with disabled students was really interesting.

It was good being able to ask Iain questions.

It was useful hearing about real situations and real questions.

I enjoyed the discussions about specific circumstances, examples and anecdotes.

Hearing Iain's experiences an take on the issues; and sharing experiences with other teachers.

The relaxed and informal style of training always works well and the way you encouraged people to speak their mind was very refreshing. I thoroughly enjoyed the day. Thank you.

Just a note to say thank you for your work with our students today. Their feedback has been very positive and students have said that they will take inspiration from your session and apply it to their own lives. Particularly using humour to overcome difficult situations.

As part of the ongoing disability awareness training for my team I purchased Iain’s Cerebal Palsy awareness training for a day session. We are a team who provide supported employment support to people with all types of disability, including cerebal palsy, so the aim for me for this training was to improve the team’s knowledge about it and to find out suggestions for reasonable adjustments within the work place.

The beginning of the training was about Cerebal Palsy, and was extremely interesting and informative, fulfilling my aims for the course.
Iain provided so much more than Cerebal Palsy awareness training. His witty and challenging take on the social model of disability was extremely thought provoking, and we all benefited from revisiting our own perceptions of disabilities.

The next day, the team were still discussing the course, and how beneficial it had been to them. I would personally recommend attending one of Iain’s courses.

A more in depth knowledge of CP and the everyday barriers that Iain gave were an eye-opener. Very good workshop and would want employers to go to the workshop. It held my attention at all times.

Talking beneath the surfaces and talking about some of the more sensitive issues was very interesting.

It was useful to have such an open forum for discussion and development of ideas within the team and the challenging questions were very good.

It was useful listening to Iain talk about barriers he has to encounter and the fact he has CP and knows in depth

Challenging attitudes and assumptions section was useful and meeting other from widely differing areas of involvement with CP

We will cascade learning to the rest of the team. It was useful discussing how CP is caused and the different ways it affects people and also thinking about various issues.

Thank you for an excellent workshop today.

Excellent source of information to understand CP. Most useful parts were the open discussions, Iain as a role model and the interpreter

I would recommend this workshop to enhance awareness of this disability.

It is an eye opener to the topic of cerebral palsy and will help us understand it in a different way.

Iain was very approachable and his style was laid back and informative. I felt very comfortable.

I will be telling the rest of my team about the workshop.

Challenging attitudes and assumptions was useful and meeting others from widely differing areas of involvement with CP. I learnt lots.

I would recommend this workshop to raise awareness and understanding of CP.

The day was nicely balanced between discussion and group work. I would recommend that people come to this course after receiving some training.

It was very inspirational and was great to hear Iain's side of things.

I think staff and managers would benefit from this training

It was useful hearing about the content of the workshop from the perspective of someone what has experience of it. It was informative and enjoyable. I would recommend it to anyone working the social care sector.

Good group work, discussions and listening to other peoples ideas. A good day that covered a large area of topics. It was a good opportunity to listen to a service user. Work-based training would be useful.

The most useful part was listening to Iain and his experiences .... maybe from his perspective will help me tune into others at work more often. I would recommend this workshop to cares, not just managers.

Useful parts for me were the Person Centred part - the theory - well explained communication game - good learning political correctness. I would recommend this to other organisations and service users

Debates on social model, communications and assumptions was useful. I would recommend this workshop as it's helpful to encourage people to challenge their views

Iain's own experiences and the group participation and comments I found useful.

The workshop was useful, especially definitions as I had no prior knowledge of CP. I would recommend this workshop as I've learnt a lot and can take this into practice.

Meeting Iain and getting some handouts was useful and I would recommend this workshop to the rest of my colleagues at my children's centre

It was useful spending the day learning from someone with CP and understanding what CP is. I would recommend this workshop for specific learning about the condition.

Hearing experiences across all sections of the workshop group were similar was interesting and to have a clearer understanding was useful. Really enjoyed workshop, I think it was pitched well for my staff. Any further feedback I receive I'll ping your way.

The most useful part for me was the explanation of CP and how society treats people with CP, how people used to be treated and how it affects people. The workshop helps to give more awareness of CP which will help me when working with people.

Iain's view of CP from the inside out was useful. An excellent and thought provoking day

The personal information that Iain gave was useful and I'd recommend this workshop to anybody not having a full understanding about CP.

Service user involvement was useful and understanding what CP actually is and the ways in which service users can overcome boundaries. It was a positive and informative session.

I liked the group work sessions, explored lots of different thoughts and ideas. I also liked the DVD.

It was useful Iain giving a service users point of view. It was an informative day and more people should have the opportunity to come.

Finding out about CP was useful

Challenging my first thoughts

Theme was a good balance between questions, discussion etc., and the objectives were fully met

Seeing and listening to the interaction between Iain and his Personal Assistant was useful and interesting. I would love to have heard more about Iain's experiences and the barriers he regularly faces.

Iain's personal experiences were useful and his first hand experience helped the learning

I would recommend this workshop for anyone who wants to learn more about CP whether just interested or working with CP clients

Very informative yet a relaxed environment. Facilitator very knowledgeable yet spirited.

Fulfilled all my expectations. I will go away more knowledgeable and more confident about working with people with CP.

Thank you very much for your time/knowledge and enthusiasm

Well worth attending, increases knowledge and understanding

A valuable workshop to everyone, not just those who come into contact with people with CP

Thanks for the training session today. It really was very informative and inspiring and i shall endeavour to take some of your tips and positivity away with me. Jane and I will be happy to cascade the information back to the support team at BCoT. Will look put for you next time we are a lecturer down at BCoT.

Finding out about CP was nice and meeting Iain was lovely to be able to talk to him and him asking questions to us and we could ask him anything ....
Having someone with CP give the presentation and sharing experiences ..... From time to time was unsure of what Iain was saying so it was handy to have Deb "translate" ..... Being able to freely question ..... Meeting Iain and learning about CP as I had no knowledge before the course ..... Meeting new people, learning new things, learning how to do my job better
Having your own personal expereinces and situations explained to us
CP compared to other disabilities discussion about barriers
How to do job better
Group discussions very rewarding
Understanding of CP and its effects
Abilities/potentials of people with CP
Myths about CP
Group work/feedback
Getting to know about CP without having personal experience
Learning first hand about CP, very informative about effective ways of working with people with CP.
Thinking about CP in more depth
Understanding obstacles which get in the way
Open discusions and various views explored
Iain's personal perspective
The discussions
New knowledge

Hearing Iain's first hand experiences ..... Overview of issues ..... Listening to Iain's views
open discussions at the end ..... Practical application ..... Everything! ..... Iain's answers ..... Enjoyed it very much ..... All parts were very useful ..... Learnt new things which I was unaware of ..... That I learnt a lot and I was motivated by what I had learnt ..... I think I will take this knowledge and put it into action in certain situations (I will also learn how to drive) ..... Others opinions/difference of peoples experiences ..... Listening to Iain speak and trying to understand ..... This will give me more confidence listening to others with communication difficulties without running away ..... Listening to Iain and realising that a lot of what he said was common sense ..... Meeting Iain and seeing and feeling disability from a true prospective .....
Having an interpreter was required, however Suzanne's contribution was excellent. Well done to both of them ..... More of this style of learning/course is excellent in today's world ..... Hearing that it was appropriate to treat disabled people the same as able-bodied people

Iain's insight and honesty ..... Learning how inspirational Iain was ..... We can't change who we are ..... Learning/understanding ..... Stereotyping, how we all use it daily ..... Hearing opinions etc from a disabled person and the fact that sometimes they aren't as bothered/upset over things as the PA/carer gets ..... Special thanks to Iain and group discussions ..... Learning about seven strands of diversity ..... Group participation, discussing issues within groups then feedback from other groups and chatting this all over with Iain ..... Getting Iain's input and points of view very valuable on his perspective ..... Cross over discussions between adult and children services were interesting related to communication difficulties ..... Showed how disabled people are completely equal to anybody else .... I also enjoyed talking to Iain and seeing everything from his point of view ..... Learning more about the diversity strands and the group discussion about stereotyping ..... Being able to meet and talk with Iain and see things from his perspective ..... I found the legal bit quite interesting and the policy bit because I was a bit unsure about them

I have spent a wonderful day at 'through the eyes of a service user' with the inspirational Iain Speed - Thank you Iain - I will make sure I pass the word on.

We commissioned Iain to carry out access audits of the ‘Front of House’ of our Andover office and of Knightwood Leisure Centre.

The audits were thorough, and were carried out in a professional and timely manner. The reports were presented in a clear and accessible way, delivered on time and within budget. The audits have been of great value in helping the organisation to move its equality and diversity work forward.

We are very pleased with the work undertaken and would wholeheartedly recommend Iain and All Inclusive Disability Consultants.