Access All: Disability News and Mental Health

Fewer than 6% of people with a learning disability have a job. Government figures show that disability employment rates are going up but Mencap says that employment in this group is going down. Mencap's CEO Jan Tregelles and employee Vijay Patel, who has a learning disability, came in to tell us how things could be different.Patel loves his work and says it’s unfair that more people with learning disabilities aren’t given the chance to be employed. Some great insight and depth in this programme, it's well worth a listen. With the Ouch team: Damon Rose, Beth Rose and Emma Tracey.Write and say hello - Email ouch@bbc.co.uk tweet @bbcouch or find us on Facebook. Subscribe to Ouch as a weekly podcast and please review us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts from - it helps other people to find us.

The podcast this week dives into some of the stats and happenings around disability at the 2017 general election with two interesting guests. [For a transcript, scroll down to the Related Links section on this page] "Deaf people were more engaged than during any other election," says Charlie Swinbourne, editor of popular deaf news blog Limping Chicken. Facebook and other social networks allowed British sign language users to easily post videos, and deaf politics groups were over-run with comments on community matters. Eleanor Lisney is one of the founders of hashtag #CripTheVoteUK, a campaign to get lots more disabled people voting. Find out how many users they reached and how it got into the UK's trending top 5. As this was a snap election, there was less time than usual to produce party manifestos in alternative formats like BSL and easy read ... so they were published very close to polling day, rather late in the day says Daniel Gordon who worked on Ouch's election coverage. We discuss how this impacted on those who need extra time and support to make a decision.Presented by Emma Tracey with Dan Gordon. Email ouch@bbc.co.uk tweet @bbcouch or find us on Facebook. Tell us what you think, and tell us your story. Subscribe to Ouch as a weekly podcast. Please review us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. If you do this then more people who'd like the show will get to hear about it. And you can help too by sharing it, and liking it on Twitter or Facebook. We're back next week.

Tom Skelton adds his bizarre sense of humour to the Ouch podcast and talks about his forthcoming Edinburgh Fringe show Blind Man's Bluff. (Scroll down to the Related Links section to find a transcript)In the show he brings historical blind figures to life to help him tell the tale of his sight loss eight years ago. But they’re not the usual blind role models you might think of - gone is David Blunkett, in is Samson of Old Testament fame who went blind after having his strength-giving hair chopped off. And have you ever heard of Bella the Blind? - a Hungarian king of old. Skelton's sight difficulties come courtesy of a disorder which has been passed down through his family, known as Leber hereditary optic neuropathy. He talks to Simon Minty and Kate Monaghan about this and admits he hasn’t spoken seriously about it before. And then he and Kate flirt. A lot. Produced by Damon Rose. Email ouch@bbc.co.uk tweet @bbcouch or find us on Facebook. Tell us what you think, and tell us your story. You can subscribe to Ouch as a weekly podcast. It's about disability, but it's also not. Please review Ouch on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts - people who'd like the show will get to hear about it if you help us with this small request. Please also like and share it on Twitter or Facebook. See you next Friday

This podcast contains discussions about suicide. If you are struggling at the moment, you may choose to leave this episode for another day. Why are so many students dropping out of university due to mental health problems? And what's so great about disability-focused private Facebook groups? Comedian and mental health campaigner Juliette Burton, and TV personality Mik Scarlet, take us through the stories grabbing their attention on social media this month with good humour and the benefit of their personal experience. "I can't face another winter with multiple sclerosis," said Colin, in a TV interview about plans to end his life at a Swiss clinic. Fellow MSer Rona was watching, and realising he lived locally, tracked Colin down and convinced him to halt the process. They have since become friends. In an emotional conversation for everyone around the table, Colin and Rhona discuss how a person comes to contemplate assisted suicide, the support that is and should be available for people with MS, and stem cell treatment. Presented by Kate Monaghan and Simon Minty. The producer was Damon Rose.Email ouch@bbc.co.uk tweet @bbcouch or find us on Facebook. Tell us what you think, and tell us your story. Subscribe to Ouch as a weekly podcast. It's not about disability, it's just disability-ish. Please review us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. If you do this then more people who'd like the show will get to hear about it. And you can help too by sharing it, and liking it on Twitter or Facebook. We're back next week.

London poet Raymond Antrobus was thought to be dyslexic with severe learning disabilities, until his deafness was discovered at the age of six. (for a transcript, scroll down this page and find it in Related Links)At school, the hearing kids taunted him because he had to sit at the front to hear the teacher, and deaf kids called him a "baby signer" because he came to British Sign Language late and wasn't as proficient as the rest of them. Later, Raymond became a teacher himself and now also writes poetry about speech therapy and other experiences deaf people have. Here, he talks eloquently about his life and reads two new poems for us.With Emma Tracey, Beth Rose and Damon Rose. Please share this programme on social media, plus rate it and leave comments on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts from. If you want to get in touch, email ouch@bbc.co.uk, tweet @bbcouch or find us on Facebook.WHAT IS OUCH ALL ABOUT?We think it's an intelligent and funny insight into being disabled, made by people who know. The Radio Festival think it's an "authentic" disability voice. Social workers call it a "resource". And The Telegraph said it's the best thing about the BBC's website and it's "not too patronising" - which was nice of them really. At the beginning of each month you'll find a new hour-long roundtable talk show from Ouch. And every Friday for the rest of the month we do shorter 15 minute interviews or team chats usually about topical stuff, but sometimes we do random chats if something has caught our attention or made us laugh.

Why office treats and commenting on people’s lunch choices can be unhelpful(Scroll down to the Related links section to find a transcript of this podcast)Eleanor Bowes struggled with bulimia at university but now works in an office and, perhaps due to her food related difficulties, has noticed a rise in “cake culture” – where people bring treats in to share. Because she has found this difficult, and knows others do too, she has put together some tips for supporting people with eating problems at work. Suggestions include not pressurising colleagues to take part in food, alcohol or sports related activities, keeping treats in the kitchen, and not commenting on the lunch choices of co-workers.With Emma Tracey, Beth Rose and Damon Rose. Please share this programme on social media, plus rate it and leave comments on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts from. If you want to get in touch, email ouch@bbc.co.uk, tweet @bbcouch or find us on Facebook.

Dave Mercer had been married for three years when he had encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, which changed his personality and relationship forever. He says the illness turned him into a "moody teenager" with behavioural problems. His wife says if she met him now, she would never marry him.(scroll down to the Related links section to find a transcript of this podcast)During rehabilitation Dave started going to Headway East London, a brain injury charity, and discovered a passion for art that hadn't existed before his illness. BBC Ouch's Beth Rose and Helen Weaver met Dave at the pop-up Submit To Love Gallery in Hoxton where brain injury survivors have been selling their art. Please share this programme on social media, plus rate it and leave comments on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts from. If you want to get in touch, email ouch@bbc.co.uk, tweet @bbcouch or find us on Facebook.

The snap general election is on the horizon so it would be remiss of a disability podcast if we didn't look at the accessibility of voting. It may be 2017, many might assume we've solved these issues by now, but it is still a work in progress. Meet Jordan Smith who has mild learning difficulties and Tracey Garcia from charity Dimensions who tell us more (A transcript can be found in the related links section of this page)In our look at social media this month, the creator of hashtag #disabledandcute, Keah Brown, goes for Netflix's teen suicide drama 13 Reasons Why, and she explains #cripthevoteuk. Then we meet Claire Connon and vlogger Carrie Beckwith-Fellows - both of whom don't eat food. Instead they have nutrients intravenously fed to them, in one case, directly into the heart. How does it all work? Presenters Simon Minty and Kate Monaghan ask Claire and Carrie the top questions:Does it mean you no longer poo? And if you invite a date back to your bedroom... how do you casually introduce the fact you've got tubes hanging out of you? Email ouch@bbc.co.uk tweet @bbcouch or find us on Facebook. Tell us what you think, and tell us your story. Subscribe to Ouch as a weekly podcast. It's not about disability, it's just disability-ish. Please review us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. If you do this then more people who'd like the show will get to hear about it. And you can help too by sharing it, and liking it on Twitter or Facebook. We're back next week.

Actor Mat Fraser speaks with Ouch's Emma Tracey about his role in Richard III at the Hull Truck theatre starting in May. (A transcript can be found in the related links section of this page) The outspoken and hilarious Fraser discusses everything from queuing for a plane through to kickboxing and acting in this wide-ranging conversation. A must listen. Please like, share and review this podcast on iTunes and wherever you are enjoying it or downloading your podcasts from. Contact us by emailing ouch@bbc.co.uk tweet @bbcouch or find us on Facebook. We want to hear from you. Email us and say hi, tell us what you'd like to hear on the podcast, and let us know how you think we're doing. Back next week with an hour-long monthly talk show with Simon Minty and Kate Monaghan.

In a bit of a first for us, interlopers Seaneen Molloy-Vaughan and Mark Brown takeover the Ouch podcast to discuss a matter they fully know the ins and outs of - mental health. And they bring a fascinating personal angle to it. Launched by the younger royals, the Heads Together campaign has been all over the newsmedia this week with great responses to their calls to smash the stigma and 'talk' about mental health. Amongst other things, our two podcast hijackers discuss how some mental health difficulties are less easily understood by the public and so harder to bring out into the open. And they wonder what the next step is after sharing the fact you are having difficulties. Please share this programme and rate and review it on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. If you want to get in touch with us, email ouch@bbc.co.uk, tweet @bbcouch or find us on Facebook. Next week, on this very page, we'll be putting up some more info about this week's hosts Seaneen and Mark so you know where they're coming from and can share a tweet with them.