The Irish Association for Supportive Employment will hold a national conference in Kilkenny this Friday and Saturday. Entitled “Supportive Employment – Positive Solutions”, this conference offers a great opportunity to network with a wide variety of organisations and interested parties to discuss how to improve employment and customer service for people with disabilities. Keynote speakers, workshops and a marketplace of information will be available to all attendees.
Kanchi’s Managing Director, Gabrielle Murphy and Sinéad Harding, Project Manager of the O2 Ability Awards 2010 will be in attendance. Gabrielle Murphy will be presenting on the O2 Ability Awards at IASE’s Awards for Best Practice in Supportive Employment. The Irish Association for Supportive Employment is an Endorser of the O2 Ability Awards 2010.
The deadline for your second chance to apply for an Arts and Disability Award is fast approaching. November 2nd will mark the closing of applications for the 2009 Arts and Disability Awards (Round II).
The Arts & Disability Awards Ireland is a bursary programme for individual disabled artists living in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland working in ALL artforms. An information and advice day on the Arts & Disability Awards will take place in Dublin on Wednesday October 14th, 2009 at Fire Station Artists’ Studios. Contact the Arts and Disability Forum to register.
Today the world’s best known amatures and professional champions of golf will tee off at St. Andrews in Scottland, home of golf. 168 teams made of up one Champion and one Amateur will compete over the next four days in the The 2009 Alfred Duhall Links Championship.
To play at the “home of golf” among professionals such as Padraig Harrington, Ernie Els and Rory McIlroy would be a dream for any amateur golfer. However for Manual De Los Santos, playing at St. Andrews is not only a dream come true, but a testament to how thinking differently can lead to world recognition.
At 18 years old, De Los Santos was pursuing a career as a professional baseball player. However, after a motorcycle accident, he became a left leg amputee. Upon discovering a baseball grip and golf grip are similar, he decided to change games. Today he is sponsored by Allianz and Winner of many tournaments across Europe including the highly regarded 2008 Swedish Invitational Open. Manuel De Los Santos plays with an impressive handicap of only three.
The O2 Ability Awards website has been shortlisted for the Irish Web Award’s category “Most Accessible Website”. This is a true honour and very exciting news. During the redesign of the the Ability Awards website, all involved made accessibly a priority. It is a delight to be recognised as we strive to meet the same best practice standards the O2 Ability Awards promote.
The O2 Ability Awards are a Kanchi initiative. Applications are open now through November 6th, 2009.
Last year, Kanchi’s website was shortlisted for “Most Beautiful Website in Ireland” and won an Irish Web Award for “Most Accessible Website in Ireland”. The Irish Web Awards will take place October 10th, 2009 at the Radisson SAS Hotel in Dublin. Good luck to all!
An Taoiseach, Brian Cowen TD today launched the campaign to encourage organisations to enter the O2 Ability Awards – business awards for best practice in the inclusion of people with disabilities as employees and customers. Created by the founder of disability organisation, Kanchi and visually impaired social entrepreneur, Caroline Casey, the O2 Ability Awards promote organisations that think and act differently in relation to people with disabilities.
Since 2005, over 100 businesses and organisations including Superquinn, McDonald’s Restaurants of Ireland, Bank of Ireland, Mayo County Council, Kerry Local Authorities and Aura Sport & Leisure, have been selected as O2 Ability Award organisations.
The O2 Ability Awards are open to organisations of all structures and sizes from the public and private sectors as well as not-for-profit and voluntary organisations. The programme rewards organisations that have put disability policies into action, delivering real and tangible business benefits both internally and externally.
Organisations are encouraged to enter online at www.theabilityawards.com before 6 November 2009. On completion of applications, thirty organisations will be shortlisted and will receive a free on-site assessment audit which will be carried out by independent disability management consultants. Awards will be presented across six categories and there will be three overall winners: one each from the private and non-private sectors as well as an award for the Best Small Company. A televised series documenting a selection of organisations that participate in the O2 Ability Awards will be broadcast in May 2010. The O2 Ability Awards is supported by Telefónica O2 Ireland, FÁS, The Irish Times, Newstalk 106-108fm and RTÉ.
“Embracing diversity has always been at the heart of O2’s business and our involvement with the Ability Awards since its inception has enabled us to learn ways in which we can take this commitment a step further for the benefit of our employees, customers and society as a whole”
-Danuta Gray, CEO of Telefónica O2 Ireland
The success of the O2 Ability Awards in Ireland coupled with the ongoing support of Telefónica will see the Ability Awards launch in Spain during 2010, the first of several countries outside of Ireland where it is envisaged the Awards programme will be established.
SPECIALISTERNE, a company in Denmark, is mixing idealism and business; two elements they believe are essential in order to remain sustainable. The idea? Give people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) the opportunity to use and develop their special skills based on their own qualifications, strengths and ambitions. The business? Offer new special skills to the business community in niche areas which demand insight, precision and regularity.
This award winning company offers services such as testing, data registration and quality checking. SPECIALISTERNE has attracted some of the best talent by creating an environment where abilities are easily accessed. In turn, this talent has attracted business from some of Denmark’s leading companies, including Microsoft (PDF Doc).
Albert Einstein, Socrates, Charles Darwin, and Sir Isaac Newton were all known for their expertise and brilliance. All also probably had a mild form of ASD called Asperger’s Syndrome. Translating to “the specialists” in Danish, SPECIALISTERNE brings this specialised talent to markets across the world.
Have you visited the O2 Ability Awards website lately? It has recently undergone a makeover. Designed with the user in mind, the Ability Awards website aims to effectively present information about the Awards while providing practical examples of how previous Winners have benefited from achieving best practice in the inclusion of people with a disability as customers and employees.
Created by Kanchi, the O2 Ability Awards celebrate companies who think differently. In an uncertain world, thinking differently and adapting to change through innovation helps organisations to not only survive, but thrive.
Be sure not to miss the new Case Studies section. This section features nine short videos. Each showcase one of the three Overall and six Category Winners for 2007. Leading forces in companies, their employees and customers talk about the importance of remaining inclusive and how it has greatly improved the way they do business. To give you a glimpse, watch why Mayo County Council is an Overall O2 Ability Award Winner in the Non-Private Sector.
Companies across all sectors, both large and small, are encouraged to APPLY for the 2010 O2 Ability Awards. Application deadline is November 6th, 2009.
Bread. Do you need eyes and ears to appreciate it? To bake it? Inside a theatre in Tel Aviv, an ensemble of eleven actors who are deaf and blind invite you to explore these questions and your own senses through the theatrical performance, “Not By Bread Alone”.
This is the Nalaga’at Theater Dead-blind Acting Ensemble’s second production at the Nalaga’at Center. Today the Center employs 70 people who are deaf, blind or deaf-blind and is visitied by thousands each year. Together, they search for a unique “theatrical language”, as well as increase awareness of deaf-blind persons’ needs, in Israel and the rest of the world.
If the aroma of freshly baked bread during the performance leaves your stomach rumbling, the Centre also offers two unique dining experiences. In Black Out, a restaurant run in total darkness, you are served by waiters who are blind. Alternatively, Café Kapish and its wait staff who are deaf or hearing impaired offer you the chance to order your cappuccino by way of sign language.
“Nalaga’at”, translating to “Do Touch”, seems a fitting title as its performances, workshops and dining experience offer participants the chance to reach out, ask questions and learn from difference.
In their words “A visit to the center will change the way you think, the way you feel, the way you are…”
Time to Change has produced and launched two short online films. Each challenges the common belief that mental illness and violence go hand in hand, especially when it comes to schizophrenia.
The first video, Kids Party, plays on people’s fascination with the sinister. It has been posted to video sharing sites such as YouTube with the title ‘Schizophrenic man terrifies kids at party’ and gives you the illusion of home video footage rather than an ad campaign around prejudice.
The second, Schizo, takes the form of a horror film trailer, demonstrating how fear increases the likelihood people will fall back on their stereotypes. Before conclusion, both films introduce you unexpectedly to meet Stewart, a real man who has schizophrenia.
Time to Change is UK based programme which aims to inspire people to work together to end the discrimination surrounding mental health. Learn more about Time to Change through the FAQ’s about their Summer Campaign.
Kanchi was deeply saddened to learn about the passing of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Founder of the Special Olympics. Bearing the legendary name Kennedy, she will be undoubtedly remembered as a Champion for people with intellectual disabilities.
In 1952 she opened up her home to start Camp Shriver, providing a place for children with intellectual disabilities to explore sport. Showcasing ability and the importance of integration, Camp Shriver grew to become the Special Olympics. More than fifty years later, the Special Olympics have hosted thousands of athletes from over 150 countries.
A key leader and advocate, Shriver left her mark on legislation, employment, education and perceptions. Most importantly, it is the stories and expressions from families and individual lives she touched which illustrate just how far reaching her passion belief was.
It was her steadfast spirit and belief that anything is possible which drove so many to think differently. Her legacy will not only be remembered and cherished but carried on through the lives of her children and the countless she inspired during her lifetime.
