UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Ok folks, Pavillion Publishing are interested in running a sensory impairment and mental health conference. I will meet with the director in due course to talk further.
They will be looking for sponsorship as this will be the first conference of it's kind [that I'm aware of anyhow] so I've given them a list of all the sight/hearing orgs.

Please PM me if you might be interested in participating in such an event, in either a 1 hour workshop session [KC Group workshop here would be good Anne]

Or in delivering a 20 min plenary presentation.

Lyne [optom] please contact me because I liked what you had to say before about optoms having input into mental health teams. Can you PM me a title, a sentence about it and your professional titles/ how you like to be described and your contact details.
I want to put your name foward as a speaker.

Here's the Pavillion site for your info;
http://www.pavpub.com/pavpub/home/index.asp

Sent you a pm...

This is an important issue Louise and I am so glad you are pursuing this as its often an overlooked area of research.

I think it IS important for people with visual impairment to describe how it affects their lives. KC in particular as if you wear lenses to see and can't without.. you never actually adjust properly to your situation. You are either perfectly normal with your lenses in OR partially sighted without if you dont have the option of glasses that work.

People who have permanent visual impairment "Know where they are" and can adjust their lives accordingly. So I do hope that some of you here help Louise out in her endeavours!

Lynn

Good news, Louise

More power to you!

Andrew

Lou,

Hey hun! I did pm you before and say that I would think about speaking. Who exactly are you going to be presenting to? Mental health professionals?? Please let me know when it is going to be and I will be interested!

Thanks!

Thanks guys & girls.

Yes Lynn, precisely. Also, I remember stuff you said before about optoms having input into mental health teams and of course psych meds affecting sight. You have good stuff to say. Thanks for your PM, let me have your title in due course.

Anne & Andrew, I'll put you down for a KC Group workshop, give me a title when you can, bearing in mind a mental health and emotional well being slant. Of course this forum goes some way to assisting there.

Sweet, again let me know a working title and what you would like to focus on. I reckon the target audience would be; mental health professionals including those working specifically with service users with sensory impairment [there are mental health units for the deaf, but not for sight impaired as far as I'm aware], local sensory impairment teams, hearing/sight therapists, health & social care workers

ps

timing will depend on Pavillion getting the required sponsorship they need