Author: Suzanne Conboy-Hill

academic, disability, health care, NHS1 Comment

Goodbye friends and family!

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

∑ Until mid June at any rate! For some reason, all the calls for new research funding bids are open now and have to be submitted in the next few weeks, come Hull, Hell or Halifax! Along with that is the mandatory report on our virtual world study, delayed by Christmas, snow, and participants who would rather go line dancing (who can blame them?) than talk to us. We pleaded for an extension. Computer said no. Resoundingly. So today I went into free-fall over the data for the recent study, had an apoplectic moment over my mean squares while trying … Continue reading Goodbye friends and family!

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Michael Gilbert, murdered by the people he lived with

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

This is the man whose name I could not find. It was on a news item that preceded a programme I had recorded and I am relieved that I did not imagine it but horrified that the details were far worse than I had thought. here are some quotes from the newspaper: ‘Michael Gilbert, 26, was used as a ‘dogsbody and slave’, shackled to a bed and attacked by the group’s pet pit bulls.’ ‘Mr Gilbert finally died after a new form of torture was devised, involving members of the family jumping on his stomach.’ ‘They then hacked his corpse … Continue reading Michael Gilbert, murdered by the people he lived with

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Vulnerable Victims: a new page to record our shameful society

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

People with learning disabilities used to be unseen members of our communities, hidden away in institutions with no voice and little contact with their more advantaged neighbours. The changes in philosophy that came with Wolfensberger’s ‘Normalisation’ thrust in the early 1980s led to closure of institutions and the end of inappropriate incarceration for people whose only ‘fault’ was one of intellectual limitation. I have worked in some of those institutions and I have also worked in services at the leading edge of change. In the 21st century, it is the norm for people to live as independently as possible with … Continue reading Vulnerable Victims: a new page to record our shameful society

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Another man with learning disabilities murdered

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

The news item appeared a couple of days ago. It reported on the perpetrators of years of abuse and dreadful attacks made on a vulnerable man who was unable to defend himself. This family had taken him in when he was homeless but not, it seems, for his care and protection, more to meet their own needs for a servant who could be scapegoated and beaten for amusement. The Court was shown mobile phone footage of this man being hit in the face, seeing the blows coming but having neither the wit nor the will to protect himself. He died, … Continue reading Another man with learning disabilities murdered

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St George’s Day, April 23rd

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Good ol’ Enger-land, still here and shouting the odds with the big boys despite being Empire-less and, currently, lacking any sort of government as we dangle between the dissolution of parliament and the Britain’s Got Talent final on May 6th when we pick our new Head Boy. Of course when we do choose our new boss, we’ll be inflicting him on Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland too whether they like it or not. Or they’ll be sticking it to us, safe in the knowledge that they have their own devolved governments so they can vote with impunity for the party … Continue reading St George’s Day, April 23rd

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This post is, evidently, super-awesome

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

At least that’s what the new button on my WordPress dashboard promises. I can’t vouch for that but, since some people who have activated a ‘surprise me’ feature on their blog have seemingly seen funny videos and humanising effects on their blog traffic pages, I’m giving it a go. Of course they might just have eaten an out-of-date yogurt but when I press this much larger PUBLISH button to my right, we could all find out soon enough. Hang onto your hats, here we go…. Continue reading This post is, evidently, super-awesome

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What Havok and Smurfs can do for you

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Remember my post about Havok7 and things tumbling about in virtual worlds? Well this week, events in my real world have been tumbling about too! First up, I played football in Second Life with Dave Taylor (Our Man at Imperial College ) using an on-the-spot created ball by way of a demonstration of what the current version of Havok can do. We already have bump, jiggle, and dislodge, it seems so next time we can maybe incorporate it into our build. That’s the value of teams – Dave knew what could be done but not that it might be useful, … Continue reading What Havok and Smurfs can do for you

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Don’t come visiting northern Europe today – we’re shut!

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Ok, I don’t live near a major airport but you could view this as an exemplar of the skies over GB-PLC today and it hasn’t happened before EVER! Because of Iceland’s reprehensible inability to control the behaviour of its volcanoes, pretty much the whole of Europe has been grounded and can’t expect to be on its way again until tomorrow at the earliest. Most people have been pretty phlegmatic about it; after all, it’s in rather poor taste to criticise Mother Nature, not to mention fairly pointless. That didn’t stop one chap, with a degree in Advanced Twerp self evidently, … Continue reading Don’t come visiting northern Europe today – we’re shut!

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Authors and writers in Second Life

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Just a little while ago, we were talking about the kinds of support we get from other writers and how we value the small communities that build up around blogs and tweets. Some of us are beginners with little to offer except awe for those who are into their third novel. Published or not, that’s tenacity, and if so far they haven’t hooked a publisher, this may say more about the vastness of the market than the quality of their work. If you can’t find ’em, you can’t impress ’em, and as the same principle applies in reverse, getting an … Continue reading Authors and writers in Second Life

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