Challenge accepted?

Headteachers, teachers, and school business and support staff – you are all invited to try your hand at our “one-handed shoe-lace challenge” on the Ability Digital stand at the Northern Education Show. Take on the Ability Digital team to find out what it’s like living with a particular disability in a fun, non-judgemental and interactive way.

The challenge has been designed by Claire the founder of Ability Digital, who has lived experience of disability and has never let Cerebral Palsy and Dyslexia hold her back from achieving greatness. A former Great British para-athlete in discus and shot, today a Paralympic classifier and coach, and award-winning business owner, she founded Ability Consultancy and Ability Digital following retirement from competitive sport, to promote inclusivity and accessibility for all.

Claire Buckle delivering training session

Don’t let Claire’s athletic success put you off taking part in our challenge though! Her team, who you will meet on the day, are yet to master the technique fully and also haven’t achieved a ‘tidy’ look when trying to put their hair up with a one-handed hair bobble! Claire is open and honest about her disability, and this is one of the main reasons that both of her businesses (Ability Consultancy (NW) Ltd and Ability Digital Ltd) are so successful.

Ability Consultancy runs a range of in-person and online training courses, alongside teaching disability awareness training courses in schools as part of a programme called “See Me – not my CP”. Claire explains that:

“I didn’t have a good experience in school, because I was the only disabled child in my class and the school as a whole, so I am trying to educate and change mindsets among the next generation so that everyone is treated in an inclusive manner”.  Claire says. “I want to make sure that disabled people in future can live, learn and earn like their peers.

Improving Inclusivity in Schools

Ability Digital works alongside Ability Consultancy to promote disability knowledge and educate people.  However Ability Digital uses its new interactive app called Xplore DisAbility to allow people to learn through information, augmented vision experiences, fun challenges, videos, and quizzes.

The Xplore DisAbility app aims to help non-disabled people learn and understand more about what it is like to be disabled. Simple to use, yet impactful and through the latest technology of augmented and virtual reality, Xplore DisAbility offers people the opportunity to try out some of the difficulties faced in a disabled person’s daily life, effectively “Exploring Disability Through Experience.” The overall aim of the Xplore DisAbility app is the ambition of creating a more diverse, inclusive and disability accepting society. The app will be able to view on the day along with the story of how the idea for the app was born and how the app was developed.  We may even have news of our next phase of development as well! Special introductory offers will be available for schools who wish to book a follow up meeting with Claire or Karen.

Who should visit us:

Anyone with a responsibility or interest in equality and diversity, inclusivity, accessibility, and disability, (within sport or for general disability awareness), especially but not limited to, those with disabled children in school.

• Headteachers & Deputy Headteachers
• Bursar/Finance Director
• Principal
• Director
• School Business Manager
• Governor/Chair of Governors
• Senior School Leadership Teams
• Purchasing Manager
• Financial Director
• Property Manager
• Administrative Staff
• SEN Co-ordinator
• ICT Director
• School Budget holder

We will see you there!

Put Thursday 28th September in your diary and visit us on stand number 149 at the Bolton Stadium Hotel between 8:30am and 3:30pm. Find out more about the show on www.northerneducationshow.uk. For detailed directions to the venue at Bolton Stadium, please visit: www.boltonstadiumhotel.co.uk.

#Education, #NorthernEducationShow, #TraintheTrainer, #DisabilityAwareness #Inclusion