The first Czech book on person-centred planning, and the work that inspired it.

Milena Johnová has just published the first Czech-language book on person-centred planning. In this episode, she talksabout why she wrote it, what she learned in the process, and the stories behind the work — including a woman who left an institution and now lives independently with no formal support at all, and the closure of Svojšice, an institution near Prague where over 100 people moved into lives of their own choosing.

The conversation also turns to a harder truth: Prague, one of the wealthiest regions in Europe, still sends people with disabilities to institutions hours away from their families. Johnová explains what's really driving the slow pace of deinstitutionalisation in the Czechia, and why she believes the answer starts with simply listening to people.

In this episode:

In this episode, we talk to psychiatrist Jan Pfeiffer about mental health reform in Czechia and how this helped create a broader European deinstitutionalisation movement.

As a psychiatrist Jan realised early on in his work that institutions were more harmful than helpful to the people who lived there. So, he decided to make a change. Since the 1980s he has been working to close institutions on both national and European level.

When the case of a young boy who had been forced to live in a caged bed in a Czech institution became public and gained international attention J.K. Rowling got involved. As more and more countries joined the EU, Jan and J.K. Rowling decided to take the issue of institutionalisation to Brussels.

Jan ended up working on this in many different countries. Key lessons include the importance of collaboration, using resources better, and keeping a clear focus on people’s needs and rights.

For this, Jan helped create the European Expert Group on the transition from institutions to community-based support (EEG).

Finally, Jan speaks about the impact of the mental health reform for people with intellectual disabilities, especially those with complex support needs.

This episode is co-funded by the European Union.

In this episode:

In this episode, we take you to Timișoara, Romania, to meet  Roxana Damaschin-Țecu.

Roxana is an economist by education, working to support people with intellectual disabilities to get out of institutions and to have a good life included in the community.

Roxana shares her journey, beginning in 2002, working closely alongside Elisabeta Moldovan, a self-advocate and survivor of institutional abuse.

Roxana talks about the need for community-based support for people with disabilities, about her work with self-advocacy organisation Ceva de spus. About development of housing with UnLoc, and about a social enterprise OilRight providing jobs for people with disabilities while reducing environmental impact.

She also discusses the challenges and necessary steps for deinstitutionalisation in Romania, emphasising the importance of collaborative efforts between public authorities, NGOs, and community partners.

This episode was done with co-funding by the European Union.

In this episode of Inclusion Europe Radio, Milan Šveřepa talks with Freek Spinnewijn, director of Feantsa.

Feants is an organisation working to end homelessness in Europe.

The conversation is about homelessness solutions, focusing on the principles of the 'Housing First' approach.

Freek talks about the critical role of housing in ending homelessness, explaining that solving housing issues also helps tackle related challenges such as mental health and addiction.

The discussion expands to cover EU housing strategies, the connection between homelessness and disabilities - especially in regards to deinstitutionalisation -, and the importance of pragmatism in designing social policies.

In this episode of Inclusion Europe Radio, Milan talks with Theresa Shearer. Theresa is the CEO of Enable, a member of Inclusion Europe in Scotland.

Theresa talks about what it means to be a good leader in NGOs and disability organisations. Theresa explains how working together with people from different areas helps make a bigger impact. She also talks about the importance of a supportive workplace culture.

Theresa shares her personal leadership journey and the story behind Enable’s successful personal assistance (PA) model. She explains how organisations need to adjust their approach depending on the culture and country.

They also talk about the key role of self-advocates in shaping what NGOs do. Theresa speaks about challenges for women in leadership roles, and how stories can help change laws and policies.

Episode highlights:

The current director of Inclusion International talks about disability rights advocacy and her future role in Disability Rights Fund.

Key points discussed include the importance of self-advocacy, the progress in topics such as deinstitutionalisation and inclusive education, and the need for practical tools for policy advocacy. The discussion also highlights the shift from simple awareness to active engagement and implementation of policies. The episode further explores the significance of plain language for broader participation and the evolving leadership within the disability movement. The executive director also talks about their upcoming role with the Disability Rights Fund and its objectives. Finally, they discuss the plans and expectations for the upcoming World Congress of Inclusion International.

Hanna Solovei, Raisa Kravchenko and Olena Tsarenko are representatives of Ukrainian people with intellectual disabilities and their families. They visited Brussels to present the situation in their country, discuss how it needs to be improved, and to learn about the work being done in other countries.

Soufiane highlights barriers like stigma, communication challenges, inaccessible spaces, and fear of backlash from caregivers.

Soufiane suggests collaboration with other organisations, sharing personal stories, engaging policymakers, and using social media. Leadership skills and clear goals are crucial.

Soufiane emphasises providing easy-to-understand information, ensuring diversity, sharing decision-making roles, and building long-term relationships with policymakers.

Guillaume shares examples of self-advocates facing tokenism and inaccessible public events, highlighting the importance of proper preparation and meaningful participation.

Guillaume encourages joining experienced groups, building confidence through collective action, and sharing personal stories to drive change.

Guillaume provides a few examples and best practices to inspire listeners.

Conversation with former President of Inclusion Europe, Maureen Piggot.

Time stamps:

Marie Devitt (TCPID Employment Pathways Coordinator) and Hugo MacNeill (TCPID Ambassador) gave an overview of their innovative TCPID programme and their partnerships with businesses. Sadbh Feehan (TCPID Graduate Intern) presented her own experiences, as a student in Trinity College Dublin and more recently as a graduate intern.

Timestamps

More information: The road to employment: Trinity College's programme for people with intellectual disabilities - online presentation - Inclusion Europe (inclusion-europe.eu)

One of the many challenges that people with intellectual disabilities face is technology and more specifically surfing the web. This is why we invited, Inge Rutsaert from AnySurfer to talk about how to facilitate web navigation for people with intellectual disability.

Camilla Lindholm and Ulla Vanhatalo are professors and researchers at the University of Tampere and the University of Helsinki, respectively, and they wrote a book about easy languages in Europe.

Neil Crowther is a freelance consultant from the United Kingdom. He previously worked for the Disability Rights Commission and the Equality and Human Rights Commission in the UK.

Milan Šveřepa, director of Inclusion Europe interviewed Simo Vehmas and Reetta Mietola, authors of the book Narrowed Lives.

Harry Roche from Inclusion International interviews Soufiane El Amrani about the impact of Russian war on Ukraine and how is Inclusion Europe helping its members.

Katarina Ivanković Knežević is the director for Social Rights and Inclusion at the directorate general for employment, social affairs and inclusion of the European Commission.

In this episode we talk about:

• @katarinaik
• @EU_Social

Julie Beadle-Brown and Jan Šiška talk about their book, The Development, Conceptualisation and Implementation of Quality in Disability Support Services.

On the 8 March, Milan Šveřepa spoke with Adam Zawisny from our member in Poland PSONI. They talked about Ukrainian refugees with disabilities, and how organisations in Poland are helping. 

Inclusion Europe organised a call with Raisa Kravchenko and Yulia Klepets form the VGO Coalition (All-Ukrainian NGO Coalition for Persons with Intellectual Disability, vgo.coalition@gmail.com). They shared with us and our members their plea for help and described the situation of families who are unable to leave Ukraine during the Russian attack.

Soufiane El Amrani interviewed László Bercse, vice-president of Inclusion Europe, about what kind of Europe we want and how can we achieve it

Jan Savage, director of ENABLE Scotland talks about their work and impact on self-advocacy groups

Sebastian Foreman talks about the Campaign4Change and he reads a poem he wrote about living in isolation during the pandemic

This year, because of the pandemic situation, the Hear our Voices Conference was different.

Self-advocates from all over Europe got together in their own countries and organised several events to talk about how was it for them to go through the COVID-19 situation.

We interviewed Valerie Van Hees for Inclusion Europe Radio. Valerie is the coordinator for the Support Centre of Inclusive Higher Education in Flanders, Belgium. The support centre for higher education was founded in 2009 when Belgium ratified the UN convention for persons with disabilities.

Houston Vandergriff was born with Down Syndrome. While many doctors told his parents that he wouldn’t be able to achieve much in life, Houston, at age 23, has managed to chase his passion for photography, winn awards for his work, and inspire countless people along the way. Houston and his mother Katie joined us on Inclusion Europe Radio to talk about Houston’s journey.

Melanie Wimmer talks about her use of social media in her work as a self-advocate, her job at Atempo and difficulties faced in education and later in employment.

Myrto and Soufiane spoke about daily life
and employment for people with disabilities.

Myrto and Soufiane also talked about COVID-19
and the way COVID-19 has changed the employment of
people with intellectual disabilities.

Soufiane spoke about how important it is
for people with intellectual disabilities to have a job
and make their own money.