Mindroom
Encyclopedia
Mindroom is a Scottish charity
that supports people with learning difficulties. They provide one-to-one support for families, offer help and advice for individuals and organisations who work with people with learning difficulties, and strive to increase knowledge and understanding among policymakers.
In 2005 Mindroom launched a Direct Help and Support service, supporting families and professionals.
Mindroom has held a number of conferences and master classes with over 2,500 delegates and expert international speakers from the field of learning difficulties. Conferences bring together any new research into the brain
with the practicalities of living with learning difficulties.
Past conferences include:
Other Mindroom activities include:
, Asperger syndrome
, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), Tourette syndrome
, dyslexia
, Deficits in Attention, Motor control and Perception
(DAMP) and any other neuropsychiatric conditions that may cause learning difficulties. This came about primarily as a result of Sophie's experiences with her daughter, Annie, who has severe learning difficulties as a consequence of a unique chromosomal deletion, and the challenges she came across in accessing information on learning difficulties. Mindroom was set up to address that problem.
s, with the remainder coming from fundraising
activities and donation
s.
and education and training.
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
that supports people with learning difficulties. They provide one-to-one support for families, offer help and advice for individuals and organisations who work with people with learning difficulties, and strive to increase knowledge and understanding among policymakers.
In 2005 Mindroom launched a Direct Help and Support service, supporting families and professionals.
- Outreach help is offered free of charge to families and carers. The charity deals with requests on issues about diagnosisDiagnosisDiagnosis is the identification of the nature and cause of anything. Diagnosis is used in many different disciplines with variations in the use of logics, analytics, and experience to determine the cause and effect relationships...
, getting support at school, placing requests and home tuition. - Mindroom is working with NHS LothianNHS LothianNHS Lothian is one of the fourteen regions of NHS Scotland. It provides healthcare services in the City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Mid Lothian and West Lothian areas. Its headquarters are at Waverley Gate, Edinburgh-Headquarters:...
to set up a new space at the Royal Hospital for Sick ChildrenRoyal Hospital for Sick Children, EdinburghThe Royal Hospital for Sick Children is a hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland, specialising in paediatric healthcare. It is commonly referred to simply as the Sick Kids. The hospital provides care for children from birth to around 13 years of age, including a specialist Accident and Emergency facility...
in EdinburghEdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
where families will be able to access up to date information and advice. - Mindroom's Direct Help and Support Manager is Mig Coupe, a speech and language therapist with 30 years experience of and speciality in Learning Difficulties.
- The charity has produced "An Information Guide to your Essential Rights” for parents, containing information on rights and services such as mediationMediationMediation, as used in law, is a form of alternative dispute resolution , a way of resolving disputes between two or more parties. A third party, the mediator, assists the parties to negotiate their own settlement...
. - Mindroom conducted a surveyStatistical surveySurvey methodology is the field that studies surveys, that is, the sample of individuals from a population with a view towards making statistical inferences about the population using the sample. Polls about public opinion, such as political beliefs, are reported in the news media in democracies....
of Scottish schools in 2008 which found that the incidence of learning difficulties in classrooms is one in every five pupils, higher than previous Scottish Government figures suggested. - The charity provides training workshops for professionals, (teacherTeacherA teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
s, educational support workers and health care professionals). It is an approved training resource and all training/events contributes towards Continuing Professional DevelopmentContinuing Professional DevelopmentContinuing professional development or Continuing professional education is the means by which people maintain their knowledge and skills related to their professional lives.-CPD research:...
. Over 550 professionals have accessed training in the last year. - The charity has distributed over 80,000 support packs to teaching professionals titled “It Takes all Kinds of Minds".
Mindroom has held a number of conferences and master classes with over 2,500 delegates and expert international speakers from the field of learning difficulties. Conferences bring together any new research into the brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
with the practicalities of living with learning difficulties.
Past conferences include:
- Social Brain 3 – See The Bigger Picture http://www.mindroom.org/no-mind-left-behind-2011 at Glasgow Royal Concert HallGlasgow Royal Concert HallGlasgow Royal Concert Hall is an arts venue, in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is operated by Glasgow Life, an agency of Glasgow City Council, which also runs Glasgow’s City Halls and Old Fruitmarket venue...
2011 - The Social Brain 2 – See The Bigger Picture at Glasgow Royal Concert HallGlasgow Royal Concert HallGlasgow Royal Concert Hall is an arts venue, in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is operated by Glasgow Life, an agency of Glasgow City Council, which also runs Glasgow’s City Halls and Old Fruitmarket venue...
2006 - Mindroom Master Class – London College of FashionLondon College of FashionLondon College of Fashion is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, offering undergraduate, postgraduate, short courses and business-training in fashion, make-up, beauty-therapy and lifestyle industries...
2004 - See The Bigger Picture – Edinburgh International Conference CentreEdinburgh International Conference CentreThe Edinburgh International Conference Centre, or EICC for short, is the principal convention and conference centre in Edinburgh, Scotland.-Location:...
2003
Other Mindroom activities include:
- Facilitated summer campSummer campSummer camp is a supervised program for children or teenagers conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as campers....
s for children and young adults with learning difficulties at Camp Kasper, rated by the Care Commission as excellent. - Collaborations with employers including Royal MailRoyal MailRoyal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...
to improve inclusion policies.
Background
Mindroom was founded in 2001 by Sophie Dow to promote awareness of conditions such as autismAutism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
, Asperger syndrome
Asperger syndrome
Asperger's syndrome that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development...
, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), Tourette syndrome
Tourette syndrome
Tourette syndrome is an inherited neuropsychiatric disorder with onset in childhood, characterized by multiple physical tics and at least one vocal tic; these tics characteristically wax and wane...
, dyslexia
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
, Deficits in Attention, Motor control and Perception
Deficits in Attention, Motor control and Perception
DAMP—deficits in attention, motor control and perception—is a controversial psychiatric concept conceived by Christopher Gillberg.DAMP is similar to Minimal Brain Dysfunction , a concept that was formulated in the 1960s. Both concepts are related to certain psychiatric conditions, such as...
(DAMP) and any other neuropsychiatric conditions that may cause learning difficulties. This came about primarily as a result of Sophie's experiences with her daughter, Annie, who has severe learning difficulties as a consequence of a unique chromosomal deletion, and the challenges she came across in accessing information on learning difficulties. Mindroom was set up to address that problem.
Funding
Mindroom currently receives no statutory funding. The majority of funding comes from charitable trustCharitable trust
A charitable trust is an irrevocable trust established for charitable purposes, and is a more specific term than "charitable organization".-United States:...
s, with the remainder coming from fundraising
Fundraising
Fundraising or fund raising is the process of soliciting and gathering voluntary contributions as money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies...
activities and donation
Donation
A donation is a gift given by physical or legal persons, typically for charitable purposes and/or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including cash, services, new or used goods including clothing, toys, food, and vehicles...
s.
The future
Mindroom’s long term goal is to set up Mindroom Centres for diagnosis and assessment, research and developmentResearch and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
and education and training.