OUGD505: Brief 1- Part 1 Topic considerations

When researching into different areas within issue led design I have found that I am more interested in health based campaigns. When I was 16 in school I volunteered for a short while at a local special school:

http://www.ridgewood.lancs.sch.uk

"Ridgewood Community High School is a special school catering for boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 19 years with generic learning difficulties. 

Ridgewood is within Area East, Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale, of Lancashire Authority. All pupils attending Ridgewood Community High School have a statement under the 1981 Education Act. The pupils all have Special Educational Needs including: Moderate, Severe, Profound and Multiple Learning difficulties, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Physical Disabilities, Language, Communication and Interaction Difficulties and Sensory Impairment. 

A specialist staff of teachers, teaching assistants and bi-lingual assistants meet the needs of our pupils. The school has a wide range of support from across the service providers, including Speech and Language Therapy, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, School Nurse, Lancashire Education Inclusion Service, (LEIS) Childrens’ Social Care and the Educational Psychology Service."

http://www.ridgewood.lancs.sch.uk/download/file/Prospectus%2014%2015.pdf

This is something I want to further research into as a topic of interest for my own issues led campaign. During the crit it was mentioned that I should look at why some of the special schools have been closed down in the UK although other than that I didn't gain much feedback but I believe that is perhaps because it is personal to me and my own interests.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6196098.stm

From reading the report link posted above from David Cameron I found that the main points were that children should be supported within their own comfortable learning environment. As it is now more common for special schools to close, those with less severe learning difficulties are now places in 'mainstream' schools which can have disastrous affects. The cuts within the government should not affect a child or adults needs based on their disability, they should be supposed by all means necessary. 

To further research into disability awareness as a topic I will need to further look into the different types of disabilities especially within children as well as how health campaigns are put together in different mediums. 

Types of disability within children:

http://www.ciccparenting.org/childhooddisabilities.aspx

There are so many different types of disabilities each of which are equally as important as each other but to complete a design based project I will need to narrow down my search criteria to one particular disability. Autism was the one which initially caught my attention because it has been in the news recently about vaccines. 

"A growing measles outbreak in the U.S. that has spurred more than 100 cases -- of which many can be linked to a flare-up in Anaheim, California's Disneyland theme park, according to Reuters -- is causing concern among experts and health care providers claiming the anti-vaccination movement is at least in part to blame.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. saw arecord number of measles cases last year -- 644 in 27 states."

"Over the last two decades, extensive research has asked whether there is any link between childhood vaccinations and autism," Rob Ring said. "The results of this research are clear: Vaccines do not cause autism. We urge that all children be fully vaccinated."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/08/vaccines-do-not-cause-autism-speaks_n_6632000.html

'Vaccines don't cause autism, but rubella killed my unvaccinated 6-year-old cousin

Jeneba Jalloh

If your fear is autism, you know that condition isn’t a death sentence; not immunizing your children from deadly disease possibly is. I have memories to prove it.'

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/06/vaccines-do-n0t-cause-autism-but-measles-killed-my-unvaccinated-cousin

NHS about the MMR vaccine:

MMR is a safe and effective combined vaccine that protects against three separate illnesses – measles, mumps and rubella (german measles) – in a single injection. The full course of MMR vaccination requires two doses.

Measles, mumps and rubella are common, highly infectious conditions that can have serious, potentially fatal, complications, including meningitis, swelling of the brain (encephalitis), and deafness.

They can also lead to complications in pregnancy that affect the unborn baby and can lead to miscarriage. 

Since the MMR vaccine was introduced in 1988, it's rare for children in the UK to develop these serious conditions. However, outbreaks happen and cases of measles in particular have been rising in recent years, so it's important to make sure your children and yourself are up-to-date with MMR vaccination.

There has been some controversy about whether the MMR vaccine might cause autism, following a study published in 1998 by Dr Andrew Wakefield. In his paper published in The Lancet, Dr Wakefield claimed a link between the MMR vaccine and autism or bowel disease.

However, Andrew Wakefield's work has since been completely discredited and he has been struck off as a doctor in the UK. Subsequent studies during the last eight years have found no link between the MMR vaccine and autism or bowel disease.

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/pages/mmr-vaccine.aspx

This links to the depression campaign I was researching previously, the opinion that MMR causes autism is a complete myth and isn't correct at all. In fact it is pure coincidence that the jab is given at a similar time to when autism is detected in children.