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sp1ngirl.bsky.social

@sp1ngirl.bsky.social
388 followers 1.1K following 204 posts

Parent to a child with SEN. Often found advocating for support for own family and others. Likes to learn/share info on related issues incl. UK law/policy. Retweets are not necessarily endorsements.

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Reposted by @sp1ngirl.bsky.social
John Furlong @john-furlong.bsky.social · 15h
Update: the LGA has appealed the decision. Listing window in FTTJan- Mar 2027.
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John Furlong @john-furlong.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
The LGA has been told by the ICO to release the names of the two local authorities that provided modelling data for the LGA's claim that tightening home to school eligibility criteria would lead to a 15% reduction in costs to councils. More info: cerebra.org.uk/legal-rights...
cerebra.org.uk
Home to School Transport – the Local Government Association ordered to hand over data - Cerebra
On 2 July last year, the Local Government Association published a report on the future of home to school transport. It predicted spending by councils was going to ‘soar’ and would reach nearly £2 billion by the end of 25/26. The report recommended scrapping the current statutory right to transport…
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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Brexit revisited. Unscheduled post on my Brexit & Brexitism Blog on why Burnham's conference speech was a significant development in the Brexit saga, the questions and concerns it raises, and why it might come to be seen as a historic moment: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2026/09/brex...
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Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
It’s important to note “those with the most severe and debilitating disabilities would not lose any money.” But we know too often state tests are not accurate in judging “severe”, just as we know people with less severe conditions still face vast expenses and discrimination.
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Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Disability doesn’t care how old you are. Specialist food is no cheaper if you’re 19. Employers don’t lose their prejudice if you’re 21. This is blatant intergenerational inequality from Labour. Younger disabled people of all severities deserve better. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Key disability benefit for young people may be axed under major welfare changes
Exclusive: Plan under discussion involves intensive support to help young people into employment
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Scribbler Pen @scribblerpen.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The more you read this, the more it beggars belief. Do politicians and civil servants think disabled young people get magically un-disabled (and un-discriminated against) if you take away social security? That cutting Motability would help get them to work? How? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Key disability benefit for young people may be axed under major welfare changes
Exclusive: Plan under discussion involves intensive support to help young people into employment
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Dmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · 01/10/2026
I wrote a little something about how we should better separate the legitimacy of the challenges people are experiencing from the legitimacy of what they're then holding up as the solution to those problems. dmitryopines.substack.com/p/on-legitim...
dmitryopines.substack.com
On Legitimate Concerns
Problems, Policies and How To Parse Them
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Stephen Unwin @stephenunwin.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
If you haven’t read Beautiful Lives, please do! Seems to be making quite a stir. It’s in paperback too!
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Caroline Bowen, Speech-Language Pathologist 🇦🇺🇳🇿🌻 @carolinebowen.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
🆓🔓 @tricmc.bsky.social Thomas Choo Heard Ng 2026 ASK Does More Speech Tx Lead to ⬆️ Results in CAS? doi.org/10.1111/1460... ANSWER Tx for CAS is 🎉 effective & leads to moderate generalisation; more weeks of tx lead to stronger gains than fewer weeks of tx. 🦋 #bskySPEECHIES 🧒 #childSPEECHdis #apraxia
doi.org
Does More Speech Therapy Lead to Better Results in Childhood Apraxia of Speech? A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis of the Available Evidence
Background In recent years there has been a significant increase in the number and quality of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) treatment research published. Much of this research has focussed on es.....
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Jay Rosen @jayrosen.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Can't think of any reporter who speaks for me more than this guy— a Canadian. "Hundreds of hours immersed in Trump’s rhetoric has given me some insights and personal opinions about the nature of his lying, how it is received by the public and how it is covered..." www.cnn.com/2026/09/27/p...
cnn.com
I started fact-checking Trump 10 years ago. Here are 15 things I’ve learned | CNN Politics
Ten years ago this month, in my old job as Washington correspondent for the Toronto Star, I started what I believed would be a quick little side project: fact-checking underdog presidential candidate ...
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Gail Myerscough @gailmyerscough.co.uk · 29/09/2026
I’m Gail, a one woman (and a feline assistant) business, based in Manchester. I create prints, homewares, T-shirts & cards inspired by midcentury design, music and architecture. Have a look gailmyerscough.co.uk
A grid of twelve illustrations featuring music designs, architecture designs, books, retro abstract designs and swimmers. Bold and colourful.
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Prasad Jallepalli, MD, PhD @prasad.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
5 potatoes cubed is still 5 potatoes because potatoes are root vegetables
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Tits McGee @scientits.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Video making/editing question: am I right in thinking it's not really possible to convert a horizontal video into a vertical video without losing some of the resolution? Or is there a way you can crop to vertical that will keep the high quality horizontal video that I have? Hope that makes sense!
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Alexa Wilson @alexadwilson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
They'll be no retiring for M and I. We'll be caring 24/7 for E and T now they've both left education and moved to what passes for social care in this country. #autism #FragileX #epilepsy
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Joshua Rozenberg @joshuarozenberg.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Consumers who ask an AI assistant to recommend a solicitor risk being directed to firms that have been fined by their regulator or even shut down, a report says today. It was researched by Blind Justice UK, a charity that seeks to improve access to justice. rozenberg.substack.com/p/need-a-goo...
rozenberg.substack.com
Need a good lawyer?
Don’t use AI unless you know how to ask searching questions
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Emma Wilkinson @emmajourno.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I regularly ask pharmacists about medicines shortages and it’s basically now normal to spend hours every day dealing with it… www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
theguardian.com
Hospitals in England hit by shortages of common drugs such as paracetamol
NHS trusts also report disruption to supplies last winter of co-codamol and blood pressure medication ramipril
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Special Needs Jungle @spcialndsjungle.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
NEW POST: A council's "improvement journey"? How determined SEND parents catalogued the trail of their LA’s unlawful behaviour www.specialneedsjungle.com/central-bedf...
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Special Needs Jungle @spcialndsjungle.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
On SNJ Today: The DfE awarded itself a surprisingly positive Child Rights Impact Assessment for its #SEND Proposals. But that was before the full scale of the assault on rights was known. @tanialt.bsky.social says the CRIA must be repeated—independently www.specialneedsjungle.com/dfe-must-rep...
a graphic image showing children holding banners saying "rights" and a figure holding a heavy mallet smashing through them. the backdrop is a protest at Westminster.
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Frédéric Moreau @goodclimate.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This is very, very good.
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Jennifer Shin - WTAF @jennifershin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Wakefield was a fraud who engaged in deliberate data falsification. Investigations revealed that he had altered patient medical histories, fabricated data, and reported false onset times. He lost his license to practice medicine in the UK in 2010. www.immunize.org/clinical/vac...
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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 27/09/2026
Four days ago, a scientist was surprised by the news that Anthropic discovered new virus genes for making DNA. He says he’s been studying them for years—and feeding his data to Anthropic’s AI as part of his own research. Coincidence? Here’s my story. nyti.ms/3VSWayc
nyti.ms
Did Anthropic’s A.I. Really Make a Scientific Discovery on Its Own? (Gift Article)
An expert at the University of Copenhagen said his team had been sharing its research with the company’s A.I. model, Claude, and that its new finding matched their work.
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Dr Susan Ebbels @susanebbels.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I sincerely hope the @departmentforedu.bsky.social & @ambitioninstitute.bsky.social amend the slides and evidence summary quickly before too much confusion is caused to both the facilitators who will be presenting the training and those attending.
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Dr Susan Ebbels @susanebbels.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I will be explaining these concepts in my portion of the RCSLT webinar on accessible language in education & assessment at 4pm tomorrow afternoon. This is free, so anyone who is unclear on these concepts is welcome to attend, sign up here: www.rcslt.org/events/a-col...
rcslt.org
A collaborative approach to accessible examinations - launch of the fourth edition of Language of Examinations | RCSLT
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Dr Susan Ebbels @susanebbels.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
5. the statement in the evidence summary that “Language includes both verbal and non-verbal communication” needs to be reversed. Communication includes verbal and signed languages and non-verbal communication. Communication is broader than language, not the other way round.
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Dr Susan Ebbels @susanebbels.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
4. communication does not only refer "to the social use of language", it is much broader than that. Communication refers to the transfer of ideas, messages, etc through a range of methods (not only through language, but also through non-verbal communication including signs, symbols, pictures etc).
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Dr Susan Ebbels @susanebbels.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
2. speech is not just "generating sound" (consider clapping or laughing) 3. facial expressions, gestures and body language are not examples of "non-verbal language", but rather of "non-verbal communication". Non-verbal languages are sign languages like British Sign Language
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Dr Susan Ebbels @susanebbels.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Very concerned by errors in definitions of key terms in new @departmentforedu.bsky.social training on speech, language & communication www.gov.uk/government/p... 1. speech sound disorders don't include voice quality (@sharynnemcleod.bsky.social & Graham Daniel 2017 misquoted)
gov.uk
SEND training for schools: speech, language and communication
Training materials on strategies for supporting pupils with speech, language and communication needs in mainstream schools.
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 27/09/2026
Does anyone know any Kurdish freelance journalists based in the UK?
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 26/09/2026
Does my Speak-n-Spell feel pain when I type O-U-C-H? The jury is out. Philosophers and neuroscientists say that's fucking stupid, but I called a guy from the Center for Pretending that Household Electronics Are Sentient and he said there's no way to know for sure.
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Helen Barnard @helenbarnard.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
A clarification: 👬People on Universal Credit 👬Workers 👬Taxpayers Are not distinct groups. c4/10 of those on UC work, many will pay NICs, some also income tax. Everyone pays VAT. Most people pay council tax. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
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Private Eye Magazine @privateeyenews.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Yes, it's that time again when the Fascism scene returns to London and this year black is very much in vogue. From the new Private Eye, in shops now.
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Hannah Fearn @hannahfearn.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Weirdly specific question, but do I know any primary school teachers in Oxfordshire on here?
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Dr_Aust_PhD @draustphd.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Grim joke here is that it was pretty much like this before the announcement. E,g, spent 2 yrs arguing w boy's primary school trying to get them to refer him for assessment. Resisted by them at every turn (££). In the end went via GP. A yr wait, then assessment took >1 yr. And so on.
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Special Needs Jungle @spcialndsjungle.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
We covered the suspension of referrals some time ago. Some NHS ICBs in England have now gone a step further, imposing a two-year minimum wait for ADHD and autism assessments. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
theguardian.com
NHS bodies in England impose two-year minimum wait for ADHD and autism assessments
Patient groups decry ‘scandalous’ delays as four integrated care boards take step due to soaring demand for diagnoses
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Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
As I lay in bed with PEM, always grateful to my colleague @georgemonbiot.bsky.social for helping bring M.E. into mainstream attention. The way people with M.E. are ignored and actively harmed by medics who have been trusted to help them is a hidden scandal. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Abandoned, dismissed and gaslighted: there is no excuse for the way ME sufferers have been betrayed | George Monbiot
Changes in guidance and science seem to have little impact on millions of devastated lives. It’s a social crisis playing out behind closed doors, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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Stephen Collins @stephencollins.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
#TBT to this from 2012 in honour of Michael Gove starring as an invasion-battling leader in Sky's new show The Wargame. If you don't know what or who this comic is about... just count yourself lucky and scroll on, no worries.
[Opening scene is WESTMINSTER, LONDON. Over Downing Street a huge ALIEN SPACECRAFT hovers, silent, still, filling the whole sky a la Independence Day]. 

[Cut to INSIDE 10 DOWNING STREET. The (then) prime Minister DAVID CAMERON is looking out of his office window at the ship.]

VOICE FROM OFF-SCENE, BEHIND CAMERON:
Prime Minister…

CAMERON [addressing the person behind him, still keeping his eyes fixed ahead in dread at the spaceship]:
Yes?

[We see the speaker is MICHAEL GOVE, then Education Secretary]:

GOVE:
Let me do it.

CAMERON:
For God's sake, Michael, you're the Education Secretary! You've never flown a fighter plane in your life!

GOVE:
But I know I could do it, David. I could fly a fighter plane into the big space- ship...

...and shoot all the aliens.

CAMERON:
But you have no military training!

GOVE:
David

I haven't told you this, but...

I used to be a journalist. For The Times.

[Cameron reacts, turning to look at Gove with awe and respect, as if only now truly seeing him for the first time]. 

GOVE:
I wrote two articles about planes, David.

I've got strong opinions about aliens.

I know I can do this job.

[Cut to a title card panel]:

AND SO:

[Then cut again to Cameron on the roof of Number 10, watching a Michael Gove pilot a fighter jet up towards the spacecraft, and then completely miss it, careering towards Earth, as Cameron buries his face in his hands].

[Ends]
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Dr Zubaida Haque @zubhaque.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
85% of UK adults think free, independent advice should be an essential local service. 89% agree that getting advice early can stop problems getting worse. That support needs to be matched by investment in the advice services people rely on. Read our new research @adviceuk.bsky.social bit.ly/4d44EIF
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Over There @coreilly.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
‘Chambers, taking questions for Taoiseach Micheál Martin, said the Government wanted to “continue to support people to remain in their family homes for as long as possible”.’ Interpretation — they want family carers to care until we drop!! #Disability #Carer #Speirgorm
irishtimes.com
Ageing parents of adults with disabilities say: ‘I hope they go before me’
TD highlights ‘cruel and heartless’ crisis management system to provide residential care only after parent’s death
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Tim Harford @timharford.ft.com · 23/09/2026
"They should have thrown away their graphs and hired a science-fiction writer." as.ft.com/r/0e69b26e-1...
as.ft.com
The problem with P(doom)
Predicting AI catastrophe has gone mainstream with predictable consequences
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Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I don’t even know what to say anymore jessica.substack.com/p/her-baby-h...
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Special Needs Jungle @spcialndsjungle.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
NEW POST: Research: SEND case officers are LAs’ “human shield” gatekeepers. But parents shouldn’t have to be their own key workers www.specialneedsjungle.com/send-casewor...
a man's hand looking through clipped paperwork bundles
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Special Needs Jungle @spcialndsjungle.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Over 54,000 people have signed the petition to protect disabled children’s rights. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 There are 27 days left to get to 100,000. Has everyone in your house signed? Friends? Family? Neighbours? Colleagues? Remember children can sign too. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76...
petition.parliament.uk
Petition: Protect legal right to support for children with SEND
A petition created by a British citizen or UK resident. You can share this petition if you agree with its message.
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jon christian @jonchristian.net · 17/09/2026
NEW: We spent months investigating a little-known media startup called Brown Brothers Media, which buys legit news sites and turns them into AI-powered zombie content farms What blew my mind was its traffic -- it appears to be getting more readers than NPR or CBS News futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com
How Three Brothers Built an AI Slop Empire by Buying Legitimate News Sites and Turning Them Into Zombie Content Farms That They Say Get 50 Million Page Views per Month
Brown Brothers Media is a media empire raking in millions of clicks with AI, fake writers, and plagiarism.
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Special Needs Jungle @spcialndsjungle.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
NEW POST: New research finds the Government’s #SEND National Conversation “performative”, lacking pathways for young people’s inclusion: www.specialneedsjungle.com/research-gov... #sendreform #SaveSENDLegalRights
two wooden figures one talking and the other with a sad face
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Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
However much you hate British media, it is not enough www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/09...
How having a disability became cool
Young women, nicknamed ‘sickfluencers’, are turning chronic illness into a lifestyle trend and entrenching a culture of economic inactivity

Young women are also more likely to get caught up in “social contagion” – the spontaneous spread of behaviours or emotions previously observed by sociologists in “outbreaks” of bulimia, self-harm and transgender ideology. What may have otherwise been transitory feelings are seized upon and obsessed over until they form a central pillar of a person’s identity. A chronic-illness influencer won’t want to get “better” any more than a female-bodied transgender person would want to re-identify with their sex.
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Cath Haddon @cathhaddon.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Really helpful piece by @sirjjkc.bsky.social for @instituteforgovernment.org.uk on the tricky question of how and when retrospective legislation is appropriate and what it it might mean for the legislation currently in Lords on political donations. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/retr...
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Legislating for the past: What is retrospective legislation and when is it ok? | Institute for Government
What is meant by “retrospective” legislation, and can it ever be acceptable?
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Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Nurses and staff were sleeping on shift and falsifying reports… and it cost this young man his life. If you’ve ever wondered why disabled people are terrified of being forcibly committed or placed in an institution… this is why. www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Staff slept while patient killed at NHS mental health unit
Inquest hears how Rolando Torres-Pena, 22, was able to strangle and kill Hugo Flint-Cahan on a hospital ward in east London.
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Mr D Brian @dbrian2.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
How did we get here?
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Barbara Rich @barbararich.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I am selling the desk I had in chambers in London WC2. It’s a William IV mahogany partners’ desk with 4 drawers, size 134 cm w x 97 cm l x 70 cm h. I used AI to tidy up the photo background but the desk is as seen. Please DM me or request a FM from me if you’re interested in buying it
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rob witts (undead era) @robwitts.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Win the undying love of your colleagues by showing them how to turn off AI in Acrobat Reader! helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/desk...
helpx.adobe.com
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