In the current issue

Welfare bill: brutal cuts that undermine community and opportunity

In brief

The contrast between the Labour government’s plans and the essential support needed to live a good life - a demand which we highlight in this summer’s edition - couldn’t be more stark

Saba Salman: We can all agree on the basics of a good life

Opinion

We know what people need not only to survive, but thrive

New chair of trustees at Community Living

In brief

We’re delighted to announce that the charitable board which publishes Community Living has appointed Rhidian Hughes, chief executive of Voluntary Organisations Disability Group (VODG), as chair of trustees.

In brief

In brief

Welfare bill: brutal cuts that undermine community and opportunity The contrast between the Labour government’s plans and the essential support needed to live a good life - a demand which we highlight in this summer’s edition - couldn’t be more stark. We can all agree on the basics of a good life, so reads our…

Less cash to manage daily life

Welfare rights

It is going to get more difficult to qualify for the daily living component of personal independence payment and the health element of universal credit. Charlie Callanan reports

The danger of the safety valve

Law

A recent case has highlighted how councils are struggling to manage the spiralling cost of special educational needs and disabilities provision, and whether a financial rescue scheme may put balancing budgets ahead of children’s education and wellbeing, writes Saba Salman

When the regulator steps in

Law

The Care Quality Commission is charged with ensuring care providers are up to standard. George Julian describes what action it can take when concerns become apparent

Mary O’Hara: Austerity 2.0 is on its way, courtesy of Labour

Opinion

What the right-wing US administration is doing to welfare could be expected – but it is galling that the more left-wing government in the UK is also savaging the benefits system

Mental health gets expert input

Features

Autistic people, as experts by experience, are creating multimedia learning materials and working alongside professionals to train staff to improve mental health care. Georgia Pavlopoulou reports

A need to thrive again

Features

With pressures on public finances, self-advocacy support has diminished and people are finding things hard. Governments need to focus on both financial and moral responsibility, says Joe Powell

Game to play your cards right

Features

A game gets people thinking about how life stories are linked to human rights. Saba Salman gets playing

Jan Walmsley: inclusive history group has gained an international influence

Opinion

A group including people with learning disabilities set out to correct the official record and paint a more complex, nuanced picture – and set a standard for inclusive research

Our history by ourselves

History

A peer-to-peer oral history project and touring exhibition aims to take people from the margins into the mainstream, covering a huge range of issues and stories. Saba Salman finds out more

The trials of transition

Features

Moving to adult services can cause huge upheaval, with moving home combined with the loss of long-term relationships. How could a person fare with such instability? Beverley Samways asks

Ian Goldsworthy: the hairiest of issues when it comes to personal care

Opinion

The fact that I have to shave my 20-year-old son each morning astonishes people. Our morning routine requires a complicated choreography – and only I know the steps to this dance

Tale of old oak is a treat for all senses

Arts

Wood smoke and rainy storms evoke loss and renewal in a primeval forest. Simon Jarrett lets himself be immersed

When neglect is built in

Books

The enjoyment of something as basic as eating can be compromised by social segregation and dental care so poor it could amount to systemic violence, argues Sara Ryan in this extract from her latest book

Family caring to the end of life

Books

Caring for an autistic person is lifelong and can include managing serious illness in later life. In this extract from her family memoir, Caroline Elton describes supporting her brother Lionel

Nothing off the table

Arts

Celebrities face a shower of eclectic questions by learning disabled interviewers on a TV show. It’s both very funny and deadly serious, but is there a tinge of the king’s wise fool? Simon Jarrett tunes in

Medieval assessments

History

Few records of people with learning disabilities in the middle ages exist – unless they owned or would inherit land. Susanna Shapland looks at how their ability to look after estates was tested

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"It comes back to moral leadership. You’ve got to have someone who is challenging the system"

Laughing Boy: story on the stage

History of Community Living

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