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Halfway Through 2025 - See What’s New at Easy Read Online! We're officially halfway through 2025! June has been a rewarding and busy month at Easy Read Online, with several exciting projects on the go. One highlight is our brand-new guide on sharing Easy Read documents, which we’re now giving to our clients. Keep reading this newsletter for a sneak peek of what's inside the guide! Celebrating Learning Disability Week The month of June hosts the fantastic Learning Disability Week, which this year took place from 16th June to 22nd June. The theme for this year’s Learning Disability Week was ‘Do You See Me’, which aimed to highlight the importance of seeing, hearing, including, and valuing disabled people in all areas of life. In support of Learning Disability Week, we centred our online presence around the theme of ‘visibility’. We wrote two blog posts that discuss the importance of visibility in the lives of disabled people. You can check out the blog posts here: Learning Disability Week 2025: Why visibility matters Do you see me? Understanding non-visible disabilities We also shifted some focus onto how organisations can support the visibility of disabled people using accessible information, and in particular, Easy Read. For help with making your information more inclusive, take a look at our guide to commissioning and sharing Easy Read versions of your organisation's information One of our team members also took part in a Learning Disability Week event hosted by Mencap Liverpool & Sefton. The event celebrated Mencap’s history and presented some of the projects the Liverpool & Sefton branch is currently working on. Here is what our team member Karen had to say about the experience: “It was lovely to see some of the members again, and to learn more about the history of the cottage, and to see some of the different projects they've been involved in, like the travel training and work they've been doing at Liverpool John Moores University, where they wrote a sea shanty.” A success story in Manchester Manchester University Hospital NHS Trust asked us to create an Easy Read version of a patient letter being sent to those on the waiting list for a hospital operation or procedure. The original letter followed delays caused by COVID and asked patients to confirm whether they wished to remain on the waiting list or be removed, for instance, if they no longer needed the procedure. The Trust was so impressed with how clearly our Easy Read version communicated the message more effectively than the original letter that they chose to use it as the main version for all  patients, not just those with a learning disability. The result was a record number of patient responses, with many specifically commenting on how easy the letter was to understand. This shows the powerful impact of clear, accessible communication, both in increasing engagement and in making sure that patients who rely on Easy Read information feel recognised and included. Your organisation’s sharing checklist In June, we introduced a new resource: a quick guide titled ‘How to Make the Most of Your Easy Read Document’. We now share this with clients once their final Easy Read document is complete. This initiative came about after multiple clients approached us for advice about how to increase engagement with their Easy Read versions of information. While our full guide to commissioning and sharing Easy Read versions of your organisation's information  offers a deeper dive, we’ve also created a practical checklist outlining where and how you can share your Easy Read content: Make your Easy Read versions of information easy to find, as easy as              the main version of your information! Make sure people are aware that you provide Easy Read versions of your information. Announce your Easy Read information on your organisation’s social media. Reach out to local self-advocacy groups and disability groups to promote your Easy Read information. Train your team so that all staff members feel confident sharing Easy Read versions of information when asked.

When you think of a person with a disability, the most common stereotype is to think of someone with a visible disability. However, it has been estimated that 80% of all people worldwide who live with disabilities are living with a non-visible disability, which is equal to over a billion people globally.  You might have heard of the terms ‘hidden disability’ or ‘invisible disability’ before, however, the term ‘non-visible disability’ is now widely accepted. This is because the word ‘hidden’ suggests somebody is hiding their disability from others, and the word ‘invisible’ gives a feeling that the person with the disability is themself ‘invisible’.  What is a non-visible disability?   According to the UK government website: “A non-visible disability is a disability or health condition that is not immediately obvious.” That is to say, a non-visible disability is not something that someone is hiding purposefully; it is just not always immediately visible to others. However, people who know of or share the same non-visible disability can often see their disability in others who also share it.  Which types of disabilities are non-visible? Non-visible disabilities cover a wide range of disabilities, including, but not limited to:  mental health conditions  learning disabilities sensory, processing difficulties cognitive impairment or learning difficulties autism and Asperger’s syndrome visual impairments or restricted vision hearing loss non-visible health conditions As you can see, the list of non-visible disabilities contains a variety of disabilities, which means that people’s experiences are very different, and they will all require different types and levels of support. Some people will overlap with multiple non-visible as well as visible disabilities and require different support at different stages of their lives. As well as this, some of the support will overlap, and the same support can be useful to people with different non-visible disabilities.  Learning difficulties and learning disabilities, aren’t they the same thing?  It is important here to explain the difference between a learning difficulty  and a learning disability.  A learning difficulty may be described as having specific problems processing certain forms of information.  Learning disabilities  are specific disorders that impact an individual's ability to acquire, process, or use information effectively. You can read more about this in our previous blog, “ What is the difference between learning disabilities and learning difficulties ?” Why does it matter if someone’s disability is visible or not? The overwhelming benefit to having a non-visible disability versus a visible disability is that individuals have the choice whether to keep their disability private or not. This has some advantages, such as being treated equally to non-disabled people. The disadvantage to this is when a person with a non-visible disability requires support.  It may be more obvious to offer support to a person with a visible disability. However, for people with, or carers of people with, non-visible disabilities to receive support, they are more likely to have to:  use their own initiative  seek out information   understand what support is available to them   advocate for themselves This can often be met with  judgement, misunderstanding, discrimination and exclusion, which can feel unfair, confusing and exhausting.  What can we do to better support people with non-visible disabilities? Non-visible disabilities are often overlooked in discussions about accessibility and inclusion. Acknowledging and spreading awareness of non-visible disabilities and the support that people may require is one way to improve this situation.   Awareness campaigns, such as last week’s Learning Disability Week, help to spread awareness. The Learning Disability Week theme was all about people with a learning disability being “seen, valued and heard”, which is highly relevant to the lives of people with non-visible disabilities. Making all information accessible is also a simple way to ensure equality and support for all people, whatever their disability.  Links: Hidden Disabilities Website: https://hdsunflower.com/uk/insights/post/what-is-a-hidden-disability Easy-Read-Online Blog post, What is the difference between learning disabilities and learning difficulties?: https://blog.easy-read-online.co.uk/what-is-the-difference-between-learning-disabilities-and-learning-difficulties   Department of Health and Social Care, ‘Valuing People - A New Strategy for Learning Disability for the 21st Century’ https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7b854740f0b62826a041b9/5086.pdf   Foundation for people with learning difficulties https://www.learningdisabilities.org.uk/learning-disabilities/a-to-z/l/learning-difficulties

Learning Disability Week 2025 is just around the corner, giving us a great opportunity to talk about why people with a learning disability need visibility. Starting on Monday 16 June, this year’s theme, “Do you see me?”, is all about people with a learning disability being seen, valued and heard. From challenging barriers to celebrating achievements, this Learning Disability Week aims to shine a light on the lives and experiences of people with a learning disability. In this post, we dive into why visibility is so important for people with a learning disability - and how you can get involved. 1) Change minds Many people make unfair assumptions about what people with a learning disability can and cannot do. This can make it harder for people with a learning disability to be seen as individuals and take part in activities in their local community. We can challenge these assumptions by helping more people understand what it is really like to live with a learning disability. This also includes explaining things like the difference between learning disabilities and learning difficulties . Awareness campaigns like Learning Disability Week can help people with a learning disability feel more included in their communities. If people are seen, heard and valued by everyone around them, this can help them feel safer and supported to live happy and healthy lives. 2) Break down barriers Learning Disability Week 2025 is also about highlighting the problems that people with a learning disability face in different parts of their lives. According to Mencap’s 2024 Manifesto, 86% of adults with a learning disability want a paid job, but only 26.7% have one. Patients with a learning disability have also told Healthwatch England  that they struggle to find accessible information about healthcare. But when people with a learning disability share their experiences, it’s harder to ignore the barriers they face. This visibility can encourage organisations to provide better opportunities and make services more accessible for everyone. 3) Celebrate achievements People with a learning disability bring a lot to society, and it’s important to celebrate that! They can be role models for others and challenge assumptions by simply being seen as they are: confident, capable, and in charge of their own lives. Just take a look at MenCap’s Myth Busters  - 18 people on a mission to show everyone what it’s really like to live with a learning disability. Made up of campaigners, artists, athletes and more, the Myth Busters show that when people with a learning disability are given the right support, they can achieve great things. Sharing these achievements can help open up more opportunities for people with a learning disability in the future. 4) Empower people Decisions about people with a learning disability have often been made for them instead of with them. But by giving people a platform to speak up about their personal experiences, they can gain more control over their lives and the issues that affect them. For example, when councils provide Easy Read versions of their public consultations, this can make it easier for people with a learning disability to have their voices heard. As a result, councils can make better, more inclusive policies throughout the year, not just during Learning Disability Week! Get involved with Learning Disability Week 2025 Remember, Learning Disability Week 2025 runs from Monday 16 June to Sunday 22 June. There are lots of ways to take part in Learning Disability Week. For example, you could: Follow and share stories from people with a learning disability. Use the hashtags #learningdisabilityweek or #LDWeek2025 in your social media posts. Start a conversation about visibility with your friends or colleagues. It’s also important to keep championing learning disability visibility throughout the year. By providing Easy Read materials, organisations can help more people with a learning disability take part in events and make decisions that affect them. Check out our Easy Read services  to find out how we can help you during Learning Disability Week and beyond.

What is neurodiversity? Many of us have encountered the words ‘neurodiversity’ or ‘neurodivergent’ at some point in our lives, but many people are unsure of what they actually mean. Neurodiversity refers to the neurological variations in people’s brains and minds - it is about people experiencing and interacting with the world in different ways. An individual whose brain functions differently from the societal norm may be described as neurodivergent. Whereas neurotypical is used to describe someone who has a brain that functions in a way that is considered the norm. Advocates of neurodiversity emphasise accepting and welcoming neurological variations, and do not view them as: Disorders. Defects. Deficits. Illnesses to be cured. Some neurodivergent people have a diagnosis. They may be diagnosed with one of these conditions: Autism. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Dyslexia. Dyspraxia. Tourette’s Syndrome. Some people also include certain mental health conditions under the definition of neurodivergent, although this remains a topic of ongoing discussion. However, some neurodivergent people may not fit into a diagnosis at all, and even if they do, two people with the same diagnosis are not the same - it is a wide spectrum of variation. Neurodiversity and accessing information Neurodivergent people may have varying communication and information needs, meaning they need information to be presented in a certain way to be able to read, understand and use it. It is important to remember that owing to the spectrum of neurodiversity, what works well for one neurodivergent person may not work for another. Accessible information formats for neurodivergent people can include: Audio versions of information. Video versions of information, with subtitles included. Interactive digital content. Text-to-speech tools. Large print versions of information. Easy Read or Plain English.   Easy Read and Neurodiversity One accessible information mentioned beforehead was Easy Read. Easy Read is a way of translating difficult information and making it easier to understand, by using: Shorter sentences and paragraphs. No jargon and complex language, and when more difficult words are used, they are defined and explained within the context of the information. Logical reading orders and easy navigation. Using specific accessible colours for backgrounds, images and text. Using specific accessible text fonts. Images to support the meaning of the text. Underlining links that will take the reader to the relevant information in, at most, 2 clicks. At Easy Read Online, our Easy Read work features: Light, pastel backgrounds for darker pictures for ease of seeing, as exampled in this blog. Use of the FSMe font as the letters are easy to read, in comparison to a more embellished font. Text that is never smaller than 14pt. Bolded text for more complex words with simplified definitions. Underlined, blue and interactive links. A navigational contents page that takes readers to the right page. Appropriate line spacing. Sentences that are around 15 words. A clear image per sentence. Easy Read can be a useful and accessible format for neurodivergent people for many reasons, for example: Many neurodivergent individuals may find complex sentences, jargon, or abstract language overwhelming or difficult to understand. Easy Read uses short sentences, plain vocabulary, and avoids ambiguity, which helps people focus on key information without getting lost in language complexity. Easy Read is accessible to neurodivergent individuals who are visual thinkers through the use of images alongside text. Neurodivergent people with ADHD or sensory sensitivities can find dense text tiring or overstimulating, but Easy Read's clear layout, spacing, and use of bullet points make it less visually overwhelming.

What is digital accessibility? Digital accessibility is all about making sure online content is accessible to people with different needs. Our digital landscape evolves at a rapid pace, with the emergence of new technologies every day - and with this growth, the accessibility of all things digital is a pressing concern. Without proper attention, organisations run the risk of creating a space that can actively alienate people with learning disabilities, but this time online. Digital accessibility is about: Breaking down barriers. Ensuring people of all abilities can harness the power of the internet. Empowering people of all abilities to access the online information and services that are relevant to them. How organisations can be digitally accessible If organisations are aiming to improve the accessibility of their online content, a great start is looking at and understanding the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), these guidelines offer a framework for creating accessible online content. Organisations can ensure their online content is accessible by adhering to these guidelines. But digital accessibility is more than just rule compliance. It is about understanding the daily challenges faced by people with disabilities and considering their needs from the outset. Organisations may find it useful to include people with disabilities when they are designing and planning online content, using user tester groups to check that their online content is accessible. How is Easy Read Online digitally accessible? We must practice what we preach! This is how we at Easy Read Online strive to be digitally accessible: Giving our clients the option of a WCAG 2.2 compliant version of their commissioned Easy Read document. Offering interactive versions of forms and surveys that can be filled in online. Championing accessible online content by incorporating descriptive links, form accessibility, reduced mouse interaction, responsive design and clear fonts into our website. Including alt text on any images that are used on our website and accompany our social media posts. Regularly reviewing, maintaining and improving the accessibility of our online content. To find out more about digital accessibility, you can read about and take part in Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD): https://accessibility.day/

Welcome to the April 2025 edition of the Easy Read Online newsletter! We hope you’ve been enjoying the sunshine as much as we have. This month, we’ve been proud to translate some powerful and important documents, resources that we believe can help to raise awareness and support the rights of disabled people. Working with Amnesty International We were proud to work with Amnesty International - the world’s largest grassroots human rights organisation - on translating their ‘Social Insecurity Report’ into Easy Read. This report is a deep dive into how the UK government is currently managing social security and how it interprets human rights laws set out by the United Nations. Social security is vital for many disabled people, helping cover the basic costs of living. When social security is insecure or inadequate, it hits disabled people the hardest. In their report, Amnesty International offers strong recommendations for improving the social security system, most importantly, by recognising social security as a human right. Translating this report into Easy Read can lead to more people understanding and engaging with the policies and decisions that directly affect them, instead of being spoken about by others. The report is based on responses to a national survey, and one of our technical writers did an excellent job turning those voices into clear, emotional, and accessible writing. You can read the Easy Read version of the report here: Social Insecurity Report Easy Read Working with Activity Alliance Similarly, in October 2024, our long-time client Activity Alliance ran a survey asking young disabled people about their experiences with local sports and physical activity. The findings are now published in a report titled ‘A Game of Inequality: The Reality of Sporting Dreams for Young Disabled People’, which they then commissioned us to translate into Easy Read. We’re always proud to support projects that amplify the voices of young disabled people, and it’s fantastic to see Activity Alliance continuing to prioritise accessibility by sharing Easy Read versions of their work. It’s a clear reflection of their commitment to inclusion. One of our technical writers expertly translated complex statistics from survey findings into clear, easy-to-understand statements, maintaining accuracy while making the content more accessible for a wider audience. If you want to find out more about Easy Read, and what makes the language we use ‘easy to read’, you can check out our website: Easy Read Online - Homepage A new language translation Did you know we also help our clients translate Easy Read documents into different languages? Our process starts with creating the Easy Read version in English. From there, we translate the Easy Read text into the requested language, then format it to match the original Easy Read layout before delivering the final version to the client. This approach has proven successful time and again, and we’ve helped translate Easy Read documents into a wide range of languages, including Polish, Farsi, Punjabi, and many more. This April, we were excited to support a translation in a new language! In 2024, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, Heba Hagrass, visited Kyrgyzstan to assess the country's progress in putting the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities into action, since it was agreed to in 2019. After her visit, a detailed report was produced, which we translated into Easy Read and then into Russian. Our commitment to improvement If you are familiar with our newsletter or our ethos at Easy Read Online, you will know that continuous improvement is at the heart of everything we do. We are always evolving our Easy Read work to better meet the needs of our end users and to give our clients confidence that the accessible information they share is truly fit for purpose. Our latest step forward came this April: we launched a brand new user feedback survey specifically for Easy Read end users. A link to the survey now appears at the beginning of our Easy Read documents, giving readers the opportunity to tell us what they think of our Easy Read. We are excited about the potential of this new feature - it allows us to hear from people we haven’t yet had the chance to co-produce with, and we hope it will lead to even more meaningful improvements in the future. Best wishes from the Easy Read Online team.

Welcome to our spring newsletter. We hope you’re enjoying the sunnier days and lighter evenings as much as us! Remember, Easy Read Online can help if you need: Easy Read translations. Plain English translations. Original documents to be made compliant with web accessibility standards. Easy Read documents that you’d like to be checked by people with lived experience. Other accessibility features or formats. Here are some of the things we’ve been up to recently. Easy Read Online quarterly training day Our team met up in Liverpool last Friday to take part in our quarterly training day. This was a chance for the team to catch up and share knowledge about the recent improvements we have made to our working practices. This included some training for the whole team on creating Plain Language documents. Plain Language is putting technical text in ‘layman's terms’ which should be able to be read and understood by everybody. We have recently started to offer this service to clients alongside Easy Read. Click here to get a quote for Plain English translation. We hold our training days on Fridays, when we are usually not working due to our 4 day week. This means there is no impact on turnaround times for clients. Contributing to the Disability Business Forum We spoke to around 75 participants at the recent Business Disability Forum about Easy Read. We shared more information about what Easy Read is, who it’s for and the process of translating complex information into Easy Read. The Business Disability Forum is a membership organisation which works with businesses to remove barriers to inclusion for disabled people. New illustrations! Our trademark illustrations make Easy Read Online documents stand out. The illustrations are based on real-world images, so are more relatable and useful to the end user. We work with people with learning disabilities to check the illustrations and have had really positive feedback. All of our images are created by our brilliant in-house illustrator Danni! Recently she’s been working on some new illustrations for specific documents, such as an illustration of a blood transfusion and chest pain. Spotlight project - Easy Read policies for the NHS We recently created some Easy Read translations for an NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB).  The documents were policies for paying people with learning disabilities for their work to co-produce services. The policies outline how the ICB recognises people with lived experience and how much they should be paid. This is a great example of why Easy Read is so vital. Providing these policies in Easy Read will enable the co-producers to understand their rights and be able to advocate for themselves. That’s all from us for this month. We hope you have a great month ahead and enjoy all of the upcoming Easter bank holidays! Best wishes from the Easy Read Online team.

This week is National Hate Crime Awareness Week. Many councils and organisations will write: ⏺ Reports about what they are doing to tackle Hate Crime. ⏺ Strategies that set out their plans to stop Hate Crime. ⏺ Leaflets and information to raise awareness of Hate Crime; and signpost victims to get the right support. If your organisation is providing information related to Hate Crime, have you considered producing versions in Easy Read? Easy Read will make the information easier to understand and more accessible to people with leaning disabilities and others who have difficulty with standard information. Hertfordshire County Council have published some Easy Read information about Hate Crime on their website: #NationalHCAW #HateCrime #HateCrimes #EasyRead #LearningDisabilities

Happy Halloween from the Easy Read Online team! Here’s a roundup of all the work we’ve done in the last month… Awareness in October October saw many impactful awareness events and global campaigns, all united in their mission to speak up on important issues. Notable for Easy Read Online was #WorldMentalHealthDay, which we actively express our solidarity with. We believe equal access to information plays a pivotal role in connecting people with disabilities with the vital support needed to improve their mental health. Our Easy Read translation of many documents related to mental health services enables people with learning disabilities to find and understand the help they need. Spotlight Projects UN Disability Inclusion Strategy Report In 2019, the United Nations shared its Disability Inclusion Strategy - a policy and accountability framework that details how the UN will include people with disabilities in its workforce and all pillars of its work. In October, we were delighted to translate the annual strategy report into Easy Read for the 4th time. The Easy Read report is an effective way of accessibly sharing progress, holding true to the values of the strategy. You can check out the report here: Ofsted Report In October we also produced an important Easy Read report for Ofsted which outlines the key results from their consultation with children in social care. The report highlights a significant improvement in the safety of children and young people in their social care environment, including those with extra educational needs. You can read the report here: The I Need Easy Read Campaign The "I Need Easy Read Campaign" group recently had a productive meeting with our co-producers at Mencap, who gave us feedback on our campaign website - which we promptly actioned! As a result, our website has undergone some accessibility changes and is now even available in the Welsh language. You can explore these updates on our campaign website: Following a positive reception from the public when sharing our "I Need Easy Read" leaflets, our campaign's next steps include widening our outreach and exploring new ways of raising campaign awareness, such as working with local radio stations. Easy Read Development We enthusiastically welcomed Karen White as an Easy Read technical writer to our team this month. Karen has fast become an invaluable member of the group, bringing fresh ideas and new outlooks which are already filtering into our work processes and improving them. On Wednesday 8th November we will be closed for a team training day. We will be looking at potential improvements to our Easy Read work, such as reviewing and critiquing our document design. We will also assess our internal work systems, which will involve an ‘Overcoming Obstacles’ workshop and an evaluation of our company values. Thank you That’s all from us for this month. We wish you a good November! If you would like us to produce Easy Read for your organisation you can request a quote for information here:

Hello from the Easy Read Online team! We hope you are well and getting ready for the festive break! Here’s the last update from us at Easy Read Online for 2023. Some highlight projects we have worked on this year Rail ticket office consultation In the summer, we were able to support the work of several rail companies as they consulted on changes to ticket offices in England. This included quickly turning around key consultation documents which enabled more people to fully engage with the consultation. We then supported Transport Focus with an Easy Read version of their report on the consultation and outcomes. You can read the report here: United Nations disability inclusion strategy progress report This strategy aims to make sure disabled people are fully included in the work of the UN and provide an example for member nations. We were delighted to support the UN’s work on this important strategy. You can see the Easy Read report here: NHS England We have supported NHS England with many documents this year relating to their merger, and helping members of their staff to navigate the changes. This is part of our ongoing contract with NHS England. Feedback from clients UN Disability Inclusion Strategy Report We are always pleased to hear from clients about how we have supported them in creating accessible information (And how we could do better!). We were really pleased to hear this positive feedback from officers at Bristol City Council: Feedback on our work from people with learning disabilities A group of people with learning disabilities at Mencap Liverpool and Sefton regularly review examples of our work to check that the documents are clear and accessible to them. This is a key part of creating high-quality Easy Read documents. We also meet with the group regularly to discuss accessible information and best practices. Here is some of the feedback we’ve received this year: “Really clear and informative document that enabled the group to have a good discussion around health inequalities.” “Everyone found the document interesting and really liked how the original quotes were kept in as it made it feel more authentic and that they were getting a real point of view, the trickier words in bold with explanations underneath were very helpful too. Overall, a really good clear document!” “Overall - Simple. clear pictures that stand out, bullet points used well.” “We liked the use of bold writing and not too much text in one place.” “There was a lot of information in this document but it was broken down well and made manageable for everyone to understand.” We have also made some changes to our documents based on their feedback over the year, including: Adding text captions to icons to make them clearer in images. Adding a page at the start of documents which explains what Easy Read is and the features they will encounter. A big thank you to the coordinators and members at Mencap Liverpool and Sefton for their continued help! Welcome to the newest member of our team A warm welcome to Presley who recently joined the team as our web-accessibility support. He has been helping to prepare and remediate PDFs to make them accessible and compliant with the WCAG 2.1 web accessibility standard. Office shut down A quick reminder that our office will be closed for the festive period from 5pm on Wednesday 20th December until 9am on Wednesday 3rd January. Thank you That’s all from us for this year. Thank you to all of the clients we have worked with, it’s been a pleasure to support your work in creating accessible information. We hope you have a restful break and wish you the best for 2024! As ever, if you need to request a quote for information in Easy Read, you can use our online form: Best wishes The Easy Read Online team

You can see Easy Read information about the Learning Disability Register from Mencap here:   The Learning Disability Register is a list of people who have learning disabilities. It is kept locally, by individual GP practices. The NHS requires every GP practice to keep a list of their patients who have a learning disability - and this is the Learning Disability Register. People with learning disabilities are more likely to face health inequalities, including having poorer physical and mental health than people without a learning disability. A lack of access to the right knowledge, care and support leads to people with a learning disability generally living shorter lives than the average population and having inadequate support from health and care services. One way that the NHS tries to tackle this is by offering an annual health check to everyone over the age of 14 who is on the Learning Disability Register. This helps to find out any problems that someone might have early on, so they can be treated. It also provides a chance for the doctor to understand any adjustments that the patient might need. A health action plan can be requested at an annual health check, which will advise about how someone can live more healthily. It can also include ways that the doctor’s surgery will support someone to be fully involved in their healthcare. The GP surgery is required to make reasonable adjustments to support people on the Learning Disability Register. This might be a quieter place to wait for an appointment at the surgery, or having appointments at certain times of day. Getting health information in Easy Read is another reasonable adjustment that can be requested. Another benefit of being on the Learning Disability Register is that you will be contacted for any vaccinations that you might need, like getting the free flu or Covid-19 jabs. How to join the Learning Disability Register If you or someone you know would like to join the Learning Disability Register, you should first talk to your doctor’s surgery. You may need to make an appointment to talk about your needs before you join the Learning Disability Register. Mencap have produced an Easy Read guide on how to join the Learning Disability Register: You could also use this Easy Read letter to tell your doctor’s surgery what support you need: Sources: Mencap; https://www.mencap.org.uk/advice-and-support/health/learning-disability-register NHS: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/learning-disabilities/annual-health-checks/ Learning Disability Matters: https://learningdisabilitymatters.co.uk/annual-health-checks-gp-learning-disability-registers/ https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/improving-identification-of-people-with-a-learning-disability-guidance-for-general-practice.pdf https://www.unitedresponse.org.uk/resource/the-learning-disability-register-how-to-sign-up-and-why-you-should/

Happy Easter from the Easy Read Online team! Welcome to this month’s update. March’s Highlight Easy Read Projects We have been working on some incredibly important criminal justice documents this month for: All of the documents feature crucial information, and people with learning disabilities must also be afforded the opportunity to read, understand and interact with this information. It would be great to see more government departments offering Easy Read versions of their information! A Naidex Day Out On the 21st the whole Easy Read Online team went to this year's Naidex exhibition at the NEC Birmingham! The day was filled with inspirational talks, innovative products and fun activities. We came away from the exhibition even more committed to, and enthusiastic about, accessibility. A personal favourite amongst our team members was a very special LIVE recording of the fantastic People First Podcast - featuring special guest Brooke Millhouse. Are you an arts organisation? Are you part of an arts organisation that is based in the West Midlands? The West Midlands Combined Authority is offering grants to arts organisations that are currently working on an arts project with a group in another country. We have created some handy Easy Read information about these grants, which you can find on their website! Wrap Up That’s all from us this month - a big thanks to all the clients we have worked with, we have thoroughly enjoyed supporting you to create accessible information. If you would like to request a quote for information in Easy Read, you can use our online form: Best wishes, The Easy Read Online team.