Humansolutions Bulletin - March 31st 2016

Neil’s Effective Writing e-book is now on Kindle (and other e-book platforms) as are his two brand new e-books, A Career in Social Work and How to Do Social Work. For a limited period they are available for only 99p each. We hope you will like them and feel able to give them a positive review. https://astore.amazon.co.uk/neilthomp-21?_encoding=UTF8&node=14

There has been some scaremongering going on that involves suggesting that reading and writing are dying out, in their present form at least. I’m not so sure that I would go that far, but things are certainly changing. Let’s start with reading. The traditional idea was that much learning was done by reading and subsequently applying the knowledge gained to situations you encounter. The more reading you did, the better equipped you were to deal, in an intelligent, informed way, with the challenges life threw up for you, whether at work or in your private life. However, a very clear pattern that I have noticed is that many people now are not reading to anywhere near the extent they used…

There are thousands of minority groups living in the UK who are disadvantaged in some way. Instead of spoon-feeding them towards success, a better policy exists to ensure their vulnerabilities are protected These days, almost everyone is familiar with the terms ‘affirmative action’ and ‘positive discrimination’. However, few of us are actually aware of what these policies are and how they’re enforced. Affirmative Action was first introduced in America in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy. The idea was to introduce quotas into the workplace to improve minority representation and increase economic opportunities for those who may not have been able to gain a similar job otherwise. Affirmative Action was also designed to end discrimination in the workplace because of…

There's been plenty of evidence ... to suggest that the UK is suffering from very poor mental health.  The injection of funds promised by David Cameron to help boost NHS mental health services is a welcome development, but it still raises the question: why are we so unhappy as a nation in the first place?  Well, it seems to start quite early on in life. An international survey comparing the happiness of 8 year olds finds England's youngsters languishing near the bottom of the table. Click here to read more

Almost everyone in the UK (99.5%) has heard of autism but, despite this, only 16% of autistic people and families think the public understands them. The National Autistic Society is set to change that, and we need your help. With World Autism Awareness Day fast approaching, this is the perfect moment to begin our major new campaign to improve public understanding of autism – ‘Too Much Information’. We've made a powerful film which allows you to view the world through the eyes of an autistic child in a shopping centre. The child is played by the brilliant young Alex, who is on the spectrum himself, who gets overloaded by everything around him, like he's getting 'too much information' until he can no longer cope. It…

This unique project is the story of one woman’s bid to be a good neighbour. It explores how little acts of kindness can make a big difference to communities. Based on audio diaries recorded over a six-month period, this short publication takes the reader on a journey of delicate observations, as well as experiences and learning. Names and places have been changed to respect people’s privacy. Click here to read more