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Emma D

@emmadimps.bsky.social
141 followers 177 following 74 posts

Likely to post about: learning disability, epilepsy, caring, lived experience in research, coastal life, cocktails.

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Emma D @emmadimps.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Brilliant, vital thread. “The one thing the state is afraid of is a chorus." I’ve never joined a choir, but I’ll join this one.
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Ramandeep Kaur @mumof3amigos.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
This is why @sabasalman.com new book, ‘Double Discrimination’ cannot be ignored. When you ignore a whole population in reports such as this from the BBC, and when groups like Mencap and the Staying Alive group don’t mention the double discrimination, we still have work to do!
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Ramandeep Kaur @mumof3amigos.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
It is shocking that people with a learning disability die much earlier than the general population. But once again, nobody has mentioned the even more shocking statistic that people from an ethnic minority who have a learning disability die much earlier still. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Over half of adults with learning difficulties do not live past 65, report says
The government says the findings are stark, while a campaign group says they should be "headline news".
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Anna Holmes @annabookwriter.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Warning for graphic burn photo. Every year, nondisabled people scoff about the necessity of disability justice, let alone Disability Pride Month. The fact that “nobody knows” what happened to a vulnerable man who told people what happened is up there. www.independent.co.uk/news/health/...
independent.co.uk
I was banned from speaking out on five-year battle over disabled son. I want answers
When Grant McPherson, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, temporarily went into care, his father Leonard McPherson had no idea they would be separated for so long. During that time, Grant su...
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Saba Salman @sabasalman.com · 23/04/2026
Worked with brilliant people on this: a snapshot based on my upcoming book on racism and ableism, Double Discrimination geni.us/Double_Discr... TY Paul Christian, making Black history easy reads with @gpadmoreinstitute.bsky.social, Bollywood dancer Harry @mumof3amigos.bsky.social & pianist Chapman
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Ben Titford @dr-b-titford.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
This is great, and points to a common and frequently overlooked cause of misunderstanding. The language we use frames our understanding- and superficially it often appears we are speaking the same one… but are we?
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Saba Salman @sabasalman.com · 08/04/2026
… and we need the lift the projects and people in this latest edition offer, alongside a focus on shameful failures in support and care (and how to avoid them!). Thanks to all involved in creating this latest issue⬇️
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Emma D @emmadimps.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
I cannot overemphasise how important and brilliant this research is!
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Emma D @emmadimps.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Beautiful post in recognition of those living with rare diseases - which their can quickly become shorthand for a professional shoulder shrug. My own child didn’t get diagnosed until adulthood - partly due to advances in genomics but largely due to professional curiosity and a willingness to listen
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Saba Salman @sabasalman.com · 03/03/2026
Interrupting the grim with the light: my book Double Discrimination is out 21 May🔽 It's influenced by my sister Raana, it's on racism and ableism, what happens when you feel both, why that matters (to us all) - and to do about it. Feat. awesome people & projects www.hachette.co.uk/titles/saba-...
hachette.co.uk
Double Discrimination
Whilst white privilege, unconscious bias and institutional discrimination have become high profile issues, learning disabled people of colour continue to be ...
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Stephen Unwin @stephenunwin.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Forgive the boasting but that’s the 47th five star review for my book and a very nice one it is too!
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Epilepsy Sparks @epilepsysparks.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
What's the business re Keppra rage 💊😡? True? False? Inbetween? Who cares about seizure control when they are feeling so depressed (or worse)? 🙄 Watch 👇! 🎬 YouTube lnkd.in/eAhf66-2 This episode is presented in partnership with EASEE®Epilepsie, by PRECISIS GmbH. #epilepsy #keppra #kepprarage
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Pablo 🎧 @pabloista.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Agency and Responsibility socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com/2026/02/agen... @officialspgb.bsky.social
socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com
Agency and Responsibility
The controversy surrounding the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards, in which John Davidson, whose life with Tourette’s inspired the film  I Swear , invo...
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Nancy Doyle PhD @nancydoylepsych.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Tragedy at the BAFTAs. There are no winners here, but there are some lessons for group and collective safety, some learning for leaders. www.forbes.com/sites/drnanc...
forbes.com
Tragedy At The BAFTAs: A Tale Of Victims And Villains?
Can we call on this tragic moment to reflect on accepting two truths as valid, and harm as systemic rather than a game of villains and victims?
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Emma D @emmadimps.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
If you are fond of an ale, I can thoroughly recommend this little beauty. A small, independent North Devon brewery too - chin chin.
A brown glass bottle of Country Life brewery golden amber ale standing next to a glass of said ale. The label is black and turquoise with a logo of a sea bird silhouette gliding over waves in a Celtic style. It also states the ale is called Reef Break, is 4.0% ABV and is bottle conditioned.
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Denis Colombi @uneheuredepeine.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
“Evil starts when you treat other people as things. There are perhaps worse crimes, but they begin when you treat other people as things.” - Terry Pratchett
SAM ALTMAN: "People talk about how much energy it takes to train an Al model ... But it also takes a lot of energy to train a human. It takes like 20 years of life and all of the food you eat during that time before you get smart."
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Adam Schwarz @adamjschwarz.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
She never lived to see this moment, but it’s worth remembering that none of this would have happened without Virginia Giuffre. She had the courage to speak out against power and privilege when it was just her word against Andrew’s. Thanks to her, justice & accountability may finally have its day.
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Sean Jones KC @seanjones.org · 19/02/2026
“Let me state clearly: the law must take its course”. This makes me feel more patriotic than any number of bedraggled lamppost flags.
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orbette @orbette.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
AMAZING NEWS LADS! A good couple of thousand raised by this genius move by RSPCA Altrincham.
Our 'Neuter your ex for Valentines Day' campaign has raised £2590 + CA$40 + US$23 + A$20 + 10 Euro's + many neutered feral cats + lots of laughs!
Thank you so much to everyone who has joined in, donated, cheered us on and most importantly, captured and neutered the cats.
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Sean Jones KC @seanjones.org · 17/02/2026
Positive action: an explainer
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Emma D @emmadimps.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
When you have a child with learning disabilities, this is the barbaric and terrifying reality that keeps you awake at night.
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Catriona Moore @catrionamoore.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
It's a year since my extraordinary daughter died unexpectedly. Re-sharing her obituary because it matters so much that the world understands who children w/ SEND actually are - especially right now when their right to the support they need in education is at risk. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
theguardian.com
Amy Reyes obituary
Other lives: Music-loving teenager who was a consummate communicator, despite the restrictions imposed on her by Rett syndrome
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Emma D @emmadimps.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
New year, new home, lots and lots of change but the cassis made from our blackcurrants (gathered at our old place) has been bottled, and tonight we will raise a Kir Royale to new adventures.
7 small bottles (approx 2 shots) and 2 larger bottles of homemade cassis sitting on a kitchen worktop), deep purple in colour and looking highly drinkable.
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Saba Salman @sabasalman.com · 05/02/2026
Should you need a bit of positivity rn👇🏾
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Emma D @emmadimps.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
While I figure things out, here’s a kind of holding post. My (now adult) kids are out the other side of the statutory Education system - a door I’m delighted to shut. Recently stepped into the world of the rare epilepsies and all that entails. Still ranty and sweary, moved from a farm to the sea.
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BookwormVaught - Dr Anna Vaught @bookwormvaught.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Thread. It is a great honour to announce the shortlist for the 2025 #Curae prize for unpaid carers POETRY CATEGORY Mistletoe. Sam Garvan Diagnosis. Elizabeth Loudon Sinkhole. Charlotte Ansell I Love Him (like salt and water). Emma Wilson The Shop at the End of a Wave. Ia Kozoboli. thecuraeprize.uk
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Emma D @emmadimps.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
“But talking about my daughter feels like the most important thing I can do. She mattered because she was here and she was exceptional.” What a beautiful and heartbreaking and important piece of writing this is.
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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 29/04/2025
This is a new image from #JWST. The bright points with spikes are stars in the Milky Way. Everything else is a galaxy. Everything. Else. Is. A. Galaxy.
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Claire Kotecki @klarusu.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
🧵 I want to tell you why I think this is one of the most important prizes running and I’m sorry that the book press and mainstream publishing hasn’t dived on it with bells on and support …
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Stephen Unwin @stephenunwin.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
"This book is both heartrending and gorgeous. It crosses the line many times but, ultimately, it’s about love. He teaches us humanity." Miriam Margolyes Published June 5th, available for preorder now.
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Special Needs Jungle @spcialndsjungle.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
On SNJ Today: Our post today remembers “fierce, funny and fabulous” Amy Reyes, the daughter of our columnist, @catrionamoore.bsky.social & @edreyesjourno.bsky.social whose funeral was today. You can donate to Amy’s hospice #DemelzaCharity at the link in the post. www.specialneedsjungle.com/r...
Amy in a love heart frame. Amy is smiling and has  auburn hair and bright eyes
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Emma D @emmadimps.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
It’s a very easy to use and well composed template. Collective action is all we have right now folks 💜
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Emma D @emmadimps.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
Chilli germinating season is upon us 🌶️ 😁
9 small freezer bags with pieces of damp folded kitchen towel wrapped around chilli seeds, all labelled in marker pen according to the seeds are sitting on a kitchen worktop. Each one is a different variety - there is a bag each of Centi, Aji, Pink Tiger, Orange Habanero, Habareaper, Kashmiri, Curry, Jamaican Yellow and Tequila (a sweet pepper).
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Sam Whyte @samwhyte.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Every journo who bangs on about the ease of falsely obtaining PIP: go on then.
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tricianicoll.bsky.social @tricianicoll.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
In preparation for ‘I Open My Own Front Door, Do You?’ launched today, I asked people to share what ‘front door’ means to them. The blog is about what people told me - beautiful, heartfelt, thoughtful quotes. www.gloriouslyordinarylives.co.uk/gloriously-o... @learningdiseng.bsky.social
gloriouslyordinarylives.co.uk
Gloriously Ordinary Sundays - 2nd March 2025 — Gloriously Ordinary Lives
In preparation for our campaign this week, ‘I Open My Own Front Door, Do You?’ I asked friends, colleagues, and family to share what ‘front door’ as a concept means to them. The majority of this blo...
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Alexa Wilson @alexadwilson.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
For #RareDiseaseDay, here's a series of posts I wrote a while ago about how #FragileX Syndrome affects our family. #FragileX is a chromosomal abnormality & is the most common form of inherited learning disability. It's called Fragile X as the end of the chromosome looks like it's about to drop off.
On the left of the image is a normal X chromosome the extremities of which are smooth. To the right is a Fragile X chromosome showing the fragile sites on the bottom two branches of the X. They are constricted and look as if someone has tied a tight rubber band around them.
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Cathy Dean @cathypsych.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Such cruelty at the hands of the system #carers www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
theguardian.com
Mother had carer’s allowance stopped while with disabled daughter in hospital
Rachel Adam-Smith says stopping benefits when loved ones are in hospital fails to recognise carers’ ongoing role
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Emma D @emmadimps.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
As well as showing deep systemic failures, this piece is so devastating and terrifying to me as the parent and full time carer for an adult child with epilepsy. The sheer lack of understanding outside of specialist services is truly unacceptable. What a heartbreaking and needless loss of life.
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BookwormVaught - Dr Anna Vaught @bookwormvaught.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Why is it important that #Curae exists?
Comments from a Curae prize entrant
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Emma D @emmadimps.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
I have many pieces of @beckyrwhin.bsky.social beautiful artwork and would encourage everyone to take a look through her back catalogue as she captures the essence of things in a remarkable way.
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Emma D @emmadimps.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
Meet Blossom and his harem: Blossom is the giant and flamboyant cockerel, named by my mum when still an unhatched egg in our incubator (it’s a tradition). Honestly, the most inappropriate name for that brute, but here we are.
4 hens and 1 very large and flamboyant cockerel pictured picking through a muck heap with the bare frame of a marquee in the background (which was stripped of its skin in the last big storm).
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BookwormVaught - Dr Anna Vaught @bookwormvaught.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
#curae - It matters. It REALLY matters. Shining a light changes lives and makes community - no not me; the brilliant people who enter do all that - and it is the ONLY national initiative for unpaid carers in this area. It’s also unfunded by Arts organisations. Still. Two weeks left to enter! 💙📚
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Dr Dawn Cavanagh @dawnc05.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Make no mistake, the detention of people with learning disabilities in secure hospitals is a HR issue. There will be more claims and settlements. www.doughtystreet.co.uk/news/justice...
doughtystreet.co.uk
Justice for AP: Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust pays damages following detention and seclusion of man with learning disabilities and autism for 340 days
The High Court has approved the settlement of a civil claim brought by Bindmans client ‘AP’, by which Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust will pay significant damages for the detention and treatment
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George Julian @georgejulian.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
This makes for a difficult listen but is so important, the brilliant @ellychapple.bsky.social and myself on The Skies We're Under podcast talking about Ella's human rights claim and the impact of unlawful care proceedings on their family open.spotify.com/episode/2rRf...
open.spotify.com
Entering the Gladiator Ring with Elly Chapple and George Julian | S4 | E22
The Skies We’re Under · Episode
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Helen W @2tubies.bsky.social · 02/02/2025
So it’s Feeding Tube Awareness Week - an opportunity to shed light on a topic that is personal to me. My children are tube fed and there are many misconceptions about it. Please read my eldest’s perspective. helen2tubies.wordpress.com/2022/10/29/a...
helen2tubies.wordpress.com
A Decade of Tube Feeding
2012 …………………………………………..2022 On 31st Oct 2012 I had my first NG tube put in by my nurse, this was just the beginning of my bumpy, un…
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Becky @beckyrwhin.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
It's not easy being in Government right......
A drawing of a simplified stylised  person on a scribbly black/purple background with their arms raised as if they don't know an answer. To the left of the drawing are the words "Insist billionaires pay their taxes" and to the right "Slash disability payments". Below are the words "Decisions Decisions"
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Saba Salman @sabasalman.com · 30/01/2025
Very brilliant that @cmic-uk.bsky.social just got the go ahead to create a training microbrewery for adults with learning disabilities, so here's a reminder of @beckyrwhin.bsky.social's words in @communitylivingmagazine.com a year ago. #LearningDisability communitylivingmagazine.com/there-was-a-...
communitylivingmagazine.com
‘There was a real hunger to learn and absorption in work’
Brewery veteran Becky Whinnerah and her husband John founded a collective to support employment with brewing experience, Saba Salman reports
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Emma D @emmadimps.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
I am a massive supporter of Count Me In Collective @cmic-uk.bsky.social - and this is fantastic news! Cant wait to sample that first beer! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
'Life-changing' brewery in Reading given the go-ahead
The project aims to provide training for adults with disabilities and neurodivergence.
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Carrie Purcell @drcarriep.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
📢Launched today: The Gender Pain Gap consultation on Pain in Sexual & Reproductive Health Procedures (UK). Aim: To understand experiences, priorities & views of people with experience of painful procedures. openeducation.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_... Open to 31 Jan. Please share widely!
A flyer which says:  

We would love to hear from you.  

Are you Over 18? Living in the UK?  

Have you experienced pain during: smear test, colposcopy, hysteroscopy, IUD (coil) fitting, assisted conception or abortion?  

If so, please follow the QR code to complete an online survey which will help us to improve understanding of pain during these procedures.  

For any questions about the study please contact the lead researcher carrie.purcell@open.ac.uk.   
The Open University logo.
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Special Needs Jungle @spcialndsjungle.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
NEW POST: The Commons Public Accounts Committee #SEND report warns of a "lost generation" of children. But SNJ's @captaink77.bsky.social finds warnings all a bit pointless when decision-makers don’t know what they value more—money or children’s futures... www.specialneedsjungle.com/p...
image shows darvaza gas crater overlayed by a silhouette of parliament
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