Dr Lisa Appleyard-Keeling

I love this - cleave is one of my favourite words and the "push apart/pull together" suggestion here conjures such a wonderful image.

Forget chatbots: research suggests reading can help combat loneliness and boost the brain People who read report a deeper understanding of others’ experiences and beliefs.

"Forget chatbots: research suggests reading can help combat loneliness and boost the brain" theconversation.com/forget-chatb...

You see this a lot with gender critical men: they use trans women as the ‘proxy’ for the things they’d like to say to all women.

I can't think of anything useful to say about a speech describing our lovely colleagues, friends and neighbours as some 'squalid' failed experiment in immigration.
But I think Sir Keir Starmer needs to reflect on his words, and apologise.

An image of me sat in my wheelchair with blonde long hair and a black cut out AllSaints top. The title - Elle 40 for 40 Women of Hope - sits at the bottom of the graphic.

It’s wonderful - and surreal! - to be named by Elle U.K. as one of their 40 for 40 Women of Hope: “the trailblazers pushing the status quo who will define the next four decades.”

Here’s to another 40 years of progress. Or just the next 40 minutes, to be fair.

The image is a poster with a bold message painted in large, green, brushstroke-style letters on a dark background. It reads: “FIGHT POVERTY NOT THE POOR” The style is raw and expressive, conveying urgency and social activism. At the bottom, it includes the text “Poor People’s Campaign | poorpeoplescampaign.org” and credits the design to Jesse Purcell, 2017.

MPs being (rightly) recalled over the 2,700 jobs at risk in British steel, while 5,000 university jobs are actively being cut this year with a further 5,000 jobs under threat and very little intervention is... interesting. Academia is also an industry in collapse.

www.ucu.org.uk/article/1393...

"Hopefulness empowers us to continue our work for justice even as the forces of injustice may gain greater power for a time." - bell hooks

🧵Important but chilling talks at MMU from @lucyburkemcr.bsky.social & @sarasiobhan.bsky.social- Social Murder in Labour’s Pathways to Work. Burke: punitive history of UK benefit reform & relentless pressure on #disabled people to find work while support is cut —> poverty, health inequalities, deaths

One of my favourite people @lucyburkemcr.bsky.social on one of my favourite pods @trashfuture.bsky.social! What's not to like? Labour's social murder programme. The swears.

Picture of a copy of The Ultimate Guide to Adaptive Teaching on a wooden desk next to a vase of dried flowers. The book has a black cover with colourful fingerprints.

I'm doing a #FreeGiveaway of my latest book "The Ultimate Guide to Adaptive Teaching" to celebrate its publication! Repost this message to enter. Winner announced on 10th April. UK only. #EduSky #inclusion

Writing a letter to your MP about benefits for disabled people Writing a letter to your MP against possible changes to benefits for disabled people Easy Read explanation We are a group of self-advocates with learning disabilities, autistic self-advocates, ...

Click on the link to find an easy read template letter created by #selfadvocates to write to your MP to stop the benefits cuts for disabled people
docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Doesn't the Equality Act's anticipatory duty for public bodies also include the Government?!

For those of us working in the field of disability healthcare we underpin practice with the phrase ‘nothing about us, without us’

Labour would do well to consider this

The needs & voices of the disability community should be at the heart of the Gov’s plans, not an afterthought

bsky.app/profile/resf...

Shitkickers

I know the students will miss you enormously, hope you return to update us on your research (seminar series?!). Best of luck 🤞

Research Associate (Post-doctoral) in the Department of Psychological Medicine

We have 2 research posts currently open to work with us on this project - you can find out more and apply here:
👀 Post-doctoral research associate - closing date 1st April www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/110546-...
👀 Research assistant - closing date 6th April
www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/111005-...

Concerned/confused about Labour's direction on disability. Check out this event:

Social Murder in Labour’s Pathways to Work

Date: 10 apr • 17:30

Location: BR G.78 Brooks Building MMU & Online

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/social-mur...

A protest flyer with bold red and black graphics. At the top, it says “Crips Against Cuts” with an image of a raised fist gripping the wheel of a wheelchair. Red paint drips from the top and bottom edges of the image. The main text reads: “Online Protest, Saturday 29th March, 1pm. Join live on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/live/y2WXIqQU4TM” followed by a QR code. Below that: “Just because we’re not in the streets doesn’t mean we’re invisible!” The final lines read: “Take part in mass online actions. Hear speakers from across the movement. Protest the cuts.”

There is an online protest at 1pm with some brill speakers organised by @crips-against-cuts.bsky.social It’s at 1pm (tinyurl.com/5fambunr). This comes at the end of the week where DPAC organised a nationwide day of action with protests in every major town and city and so many did so much.

*taps the sign*

Households Below Average Income: an analysis of the UK income distribution: FYE 1995 to FYE 2024

🧵

1.

The new official poverty stats came out at 930

Astonishingly bad numbers confirm the UK is in the grip of a building crisis of penury

www.gov.uk/government/s...

Cartoon by ‘Guy’. A man - middle-aged, white, dressed casually, looking downcast - is sat in a chair at the Job Centre Plus. Opposite him, and behind a glass screen, is a white middle-aged woman peering down her glasses saying: ‘We can’t just hand you cash because you’re not working. You’re not Thames Water’.

This

#DisabilityBenefits
#ThamesWater
#PIP
#TaxTheRich

Manchester Metropolitan University launches new Institute for Children’s Futures | United Nations To mark World Children’s Day, Manchester Metropolitan University welcomed over 100 delegates to celebrate the launch of its new Institute for Children’s Futures (ICF). The ICF brings together the Univ...

Earlier this year, our Institute was featured on the UN Academic Impact website, introducing our mission and highlights from our launch event to the world.

Discover what guides us in making a positive impact on #ChildrensFutures: www.un.org/en/academic-...

Image 1 (DPAC Planned Actions Map): A map of the UK with a pastel rainbow background showing locations of planned actions by Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC). Black dots and labels mark cities: Derry, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Darlington, York, Leeds, Norwich, London, Margate, Exeter, Swansea, and Manchester. The DPAC logo is in the top right, and the hashtag #WelfareNotWarfare is at the bottom.

Image 2 (Balls to the Spring Statement Protest): Poster for the DPAC protest titled “Balls to the Spring Statement.” The top features bold white text with a football graphic. Below is a photo of disabled protesters, including a person on a mobility scooter holding up a football, facing police officers. The event is on Wednesday, 26 March, 11AM outside 10 Downing Street, with a march to Parliament. DPAC logo and #WelfareNotWarfare appear at the bottom.

Image 3 (Crips Against Cuts Map): A bold black-and-white UK map with red location dots and arrows, titled “Crips Against Cuts Planned Actions.” A QR code and @Crips_Against_Cuts handle are in the top right. Locations include: Edinburgh, Newcastle, Darlington, Leeds, Sheffield, Cambridge, London, Margate, Brighton, Portsmouth, Truro, Exeter, Bournemouth, Bristol, Northampton, Coventry, Birmingham, Liverpool, and Manchester. The hashtag #CutsKill is in red at the bottom right corner

There are protests against #DisabilityBenefits cuts all over the country today and on Wednesday. The more people/banners the better but the contribution of folk who need to be at home for any of the reasons is just as appreciated. Amplify, amplify, amplify (if you have the 🥄) X

Making people poorer will do nothing but harm. Write to your MP today.

Making people poorer will do nothing but harm.

Let’s make sure the Government hears us: benefit cuts are not the answer.

Write to your MP today.

buff.ly/1pxhsTo

#DisabilityBenefits
#Disability

Moved to a bluesky world & hoping to read about lovely people, doing wonderful things.