Humansolutions Bulletin - November 4th 2020

An essential resource for practice educators and study supervisors. Helping others to learn is a skilled job. This practical guide offers extensive advice and guidance on how to get the best results, whether in student supervision or any other process of helping colleagues to learn. Available for purchase here or here

In the people professions we will often come across people who are distressed, agitated or otherwise in a bad place. Often this will result in their being unkind or worse towards others, including ourselves – even though we may be doing our best to help and support them. They may swear at us, insult us or even physically attack us. Now, while such behaviour is not acceptable and should therefore not be condoned, we should also recognize that we would be wise not to take such matters personally. It is much more likely that they are taking their frustrations out on the role we occupy or the organization we represent or, ironically, may be venting their dismay and/or wrath in…

International Men’s Day in the UK is on 19 November every year (Thursday this year) – it is celebrated around the world in at least 60 countries. Every year, International Men’s Day in the UK is marked by more and more women, men and organisations across the country. Across November in the UK there is a Parliamentary debate, policy launches, employer days, community events, health days, business events, debates, student events, political events, gigs, conferences, competitions, comedy nights and charity fundraisers – the most anywhere in the world. There were over 200 events in 2018 – and even more in 2019 (plus #internationalmensday was the biggest Twitter trend in the UK on the day). 2020 will be even bigger! Click…

After the age of about 75, people tend to feel more anxiety, sadness and loneliness, and less in the way of positive emotion. Strategies to prevent or at least counteract these deteriorations are badly needed, and new research by a team in the US, published in the journal Emotion, has now identified one apparently promising strategy: so-called “awe walks”. As Virginia Strum at the University of California and her colleagues note, awe is a positive emotion felt by people “when they are in the presence of something vast that they cannot immediately understand”. A walk through a desert, a beautiful piece of art, a wedding — all of these things, and more, can lead to feelings of awe. Earlier work…

Black History Month celebrates the enormous contribution Black Britons have made to society. This is an important time to highlight black, asian and minority ethnic (BAME) autistic people’s stories – and the double discrimination so many face trying to get the right support and services. With this in mind, we caught up Judith Turkson-Baidoo, autistic woman and Fine Art graduate. Judith currently works for a charity that provides educational support for children and young people. We chatted to Judith about her experiences as a black autistic woman and what Black History Month and the Black Lives Matter movement means to her. Judith also shared her diagnosis story, responding to being told ‘you don’t look autistic’, and why being weird is…

Facebook page Facebook Social Work Focus group LinkedIn Twitter YouTube channel Neil’s website The humansolutions website Information about Neil’s online learning community, the Avenue Professional Development Programme