Consultancy & Training

The Foundation team is made up of experienced practitioners, managers, researchers, people with learning disabilities and family experts.The team works across the Uk and internationally to  improve services, increase staff performance, develop new and innovative approaches and use research findings and policy directives to create more effective services. We also have a long track record in helping organisations evaluate their services with a resulting improvement plan.

Our work is with Local Authorities, the NHS, the Department of Health, third sector providers, parents and self advocacy groups as well as mainstream services such as Colleges and employers.

We offer a tailor made approach to every request for training, seminars and consultancy.

The team have a long term interest in improving health outcomes, developing better services for people with a dual diagnosis of mental health and learning disabilties and in the unmet needs of older families concerning planning for the long term.

Our new Campaign and development programme called Planning for the Future/When I'm Gone has created new awareness about helping families prepare for the future.

Examples of recent training/mentoring courses include:

• making a positive difference with personal budgets
• how to help people with learning disabilties set up their own business
• community connecting and building opportunties within mainstream services including faith communities, leisure centres and libraries
• person centred approaches and support planning
• people with complex needs-improving opportunities in the community and quality of support
• improving access to mental health and general health services
• strategies for shifting day centres and day services to become opportunties in the community
• working with senior managers and elected members-what is the evidence base when designing services for people with learning disabilities?
• mentoring for managers and practitioners.

The teams' specialist knowledge of learning disability has been called upon to assist a wide group of interested parties sitting outside statutory health and social care services. Examples include:

• support and advise to architects to design learning disability and autism friendly environments
• informing HR managers about reasonable adjustment in employment practices for those with learning disabilites or Aspergers Syndrome
• seminars for Employment Tribunal Judges to improve the tribunal experience for people with learning disabilities and for those with Aspergers Syndrome.