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Thinking Disabilities strives to be a one stop location for advice and information that could be helpful to people with a disability or their carers.

Thinking Toys Smile & Bridge the Gap Thinking Jobs Thinking Disabilities

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Thinking Disabilities.ie

There are a myriad of wonderful websites that provide very useful information on disabilities in Ireland. Thinking Disabilities strives to be a one stop location for advice and information that could be helpful to people with a disability or their carers. The advice covers many categories including:

• Education (these should be linked to their category by clicking on them)
• Finance & Tax
• Sport & Entertainment
• Resources & Equipment
• Travel & Mobility
• Entitlements (Financial)
• Caring
• Therapy & Services

We also provide pointers and advice on how you might complete documents such as:

• Domiciliary Care Allowance
• School Leavers Funds
• Wills
• VAT Repayment form
• Med 2 form

The site is “live” so we aim to have the information as up to date as possible.

Please contact us on info@thinkingdisabilities.ie if:

• You offer a service that you would like included on the site
• You are aware of useful information that is missing. Remember information is a huge weapon / tool in ensuring that your child or adult receives everything that they are entitled to, so if you know something helpful, please share it.

Smile and Bridge the Gap

This is a wonderfully successful and simple initiative that has been developed in the communities of Killaloe / Ballina on the Clare Tipperary border.

It is called Smile & Bridge the Gap and it was created by Ailis who is 23 and has a number of disabilities including Autism & a Visual Impairment.

A key daily challenge she faces is to develop the skills and confidence to interact with people in her community. The social difficulties arising from her Autism leads to huge levels of stress and anxiety for Ailis when she has to try and carry out the simplest of tasks in her community.

As she has matured, she has become more able to explain in simple terms what people in the community could do to help alleviate this stress and anxiety.

Essentially, all Ailis was seeking was for people to:

1. Smile (reduces her levels of anxiety as Ailis reads a “neutral” face as being cross)
2. Say Hello (Ailis knows that you are speaking to her)
3. Introduce yourself by Name (gives tools to Ailis to respond and communicate)
4. Ask Ailis if she is OK (Ailis will then be able to say if something is stressing her)

Thinking Jobs

Thinking Jobs is currently at pilot stage. In essence it is a Specialist Recruitment Agency

It will be tasked specifically with getting a significant number of adults with Disabilities into sustainable and long term employment.

It will be a Not for Profit, Social Enterprise and its goals are threefold:

1. Provide Real Commercial Value to Employers
   • We are not looking for Charity or for Sympathy.
   • We are looking for the opportunity to deliver a very high quality commercial service to meet a real commercial need.
2. Provide Benefits to Employees
   • Increased Self Esteem
   • Improved Mental Health
   • Improved Quality of Life
   • A “Purpose” to day to day living
   • Additional Financial Resources to assist independence
3. Provide Benefits to the larger society and local communities
   • Tap into a under utilised Workforce
   • Provides Integration within communities
   • Reduced Healthcare & Caring costs

Thinking Toys have successfully trialled our approach with 2 adults with Learning Disabilities. It was challenging for both the Employer and Employees but working together over a 3 month period resulted in a very positive outcome. We are currently involved in a Social Enterprise Incubator Programme run by BNest to try and determine how we can expand into a larger pilot programme. We plan to have a new pilot programme up and running later in 2019.

Thinking Hotels

The aim of Thinking Hotels is to create a network of Hotels across the country that are Disability Friendly.

There are two elements to this initiative. The first target is to introduce the Smile & Bridge the Gap concept to as many hotels across the country. Staff and residents will be made aware of what the badge means if they see someone wearing one and hopefully this will lead to positive interaction between all parties. We are currently in talks with the Hotels Federation to determine how we can, jointly, best achieve this target.

The second part of the plan is to introduce Sensory Rooms into hotels across the country. This will allow customers and guests, the comfort of knowing that there is a pleasant, quiet and safe room to go to if the need arises.

We are planning a pilot of this concept in The Ardilaun Hotel, Galway in 2019.

We are intending to use the feedback from this pilot to prove to hoteliers across Ireland that not only would this be a good thing to do but that it also makes sense from a business perspective.

Thinking Events

There is also an Events section (Thinking Events) that details upcoming events throughout the country pertaining to or relating to Disabilities. Please submit details to info@thinkingdisabilities.ie if you are organising, or are aware of, an upcoming relevant event in your area.

Thinking Toys

Thinking Toys was established in 2004, with the aim of increasing the awareness of a range of products that can bring specific benefit to children with special needs or learning difficulties.

It is a family business set up by Aine and Michael and was inspired by their eldest child Ailis (now 23), who has Sturge Weber Syndrome. She had major brain surgery when she was 2 years old. The frustration and difficulties endured in trying to source suitable products that would assist in her development was a catalyst in deciding to try and reduce this frustration for other parents in similar situations.

As parents who have “been there and bought the tee-shirt”, they have a few simple philosophies that Thinking Toys aims to achieve in their aspiration of creating a One Stop Shop for Special Needs Toys and small scale specialist equipment in Ireland, namely:

• Most extensive range of products available in Ireland (over 4,000 products available on the website)
• Most competitive pricing (please compare!)
• Products in stock and available for immediate shipping (not easy with a range of over 4,000 products, but we succeed most of the time)
• To constantly liaise with therapists, parents and children to identify gaps in the product range and then strive to fill them (the range is constantly evolving for example they have recently added the Adult Appropriate section)
• Every product has as much potential importance as the next (the Thinking Toys team invest as much time and care in sourcing and promoting a €1 whistle as they do a €100 weighted product or a €800 bubble tube)

Hopefully, the website assists in increasing awareness of the types of products that are available and the areas in which they can potentially make a difference.

Contact Us

Contact us by email at info@thinkingdisabilities.ie or by completing the form below if you have any queries or have any information or input that would improve the content of the website.

Remember Information helps us all obtain what we are entitled to.