June 2010

AND NOW WE ARE FIVE!

 “When I was One,
I had just begun.
When I was Two,
I was nearly new.
When I was Three
I was hardly me.
When I was Four,
I was not much more.
When I was Five,
I was just alive…”

Now We are Six by A.A. Milne  (1927)

This is a different update to my normal ones. It is more personal. Please indulge me and read it through to the end if you can. All will become clear.

OUR 5TH ANNIVERSARY

For some people it may seem hard to believe but for others it may not; Douglas Silas Solicitors recently celebrated its 5th Anniversary of its opening on 3 May 2005 by holding a Reception at Scope on 5 May 2010 (on the 5th of the 5th!) 

Scope is the leading UK disability charity for children and adults with Cerebral Palsy (CP).  Their website states:

‘Our vision is a world where disabled people have the same opportunities to fulfil their life ambitions as non-disabled people’…’together we can create a better society’. 

I am sure that you will appreciate why I felt that Scope was an appropriate place for us to celebrate as we share like-minded goals.

We were very fortunate to have three great speakers on the night:

• Andy Lusk, the Executive Director of Services at Scope;
• Jane McConnell, the Chief Executive of IPSEA (the Independent Panel for Special Education Advice), and:
• David Wolfe, a top Barrister specialising in Education law from Matrix. 

I have created a special webpage entitled 'Our 5th Anniversary' where you can see videos of the speeches (they are about 7 minutes long each) or read transcripts of them. There is also a slideshow of photos from the night with links to the indiviual photos (please feel free to download copies of any photos if you are in them!)

5 YEARS IN 5/15 MINUTES

The best part for me was that I used the evening to premiere a video, the working title of which was ‘5 years in 5 minutes’. It contained clips from previous clients but as they ended up saying lots of nice things about us the video is now entitled ‘5 years in 15 minutes!’ 

You can also see the video on the page entitled 'Our 5th Anniversary'. Watch out for the little surprise that I have for you at the end! 

IT'S ABOUT TIME FOR ME TO TELL YOU THIS...

Remember that I said at the start of this update that it is a more personal one. I think that it's about time for me to tell you this, if you don't already know.

On 10 May 2004, I was diagnosed with a condition known as Cerebellar Ataxia. Cerebellar Ataxia is a rare, progressive, neurological condition which affects a person’s nervous system and causes a number of difficulties, including with a person's balance, coordination, speech and eyesight. I am affected in all of the above ways but, as I always like to say, it does not affect my cognitive abilities, life expectancy or, most importantly, my sense of humour!

As a result of me realising early on that things could become very difficult for me, within a year, I had left the solicitors' firm that I was working for and had immediately set up in sole practice in an office close to my home. With a number of adaptations and technological advancements (which everyone knows that I love anyway) I am still keeping as independent as possible. Whilst my body is physically much slower these days I think my brain is mentally twice as fast! Life is funny like that.

It is a distinct irony that, having always championed the rights of people and children with disabilities, I have now become a disabled person myself! However, what I have learnt from doing this though is to focus on a person’s ‘ability’ not their ‘disability’. I live by the philosophies that everything in life happens for a reason and that it is not what happens to you but how you deal with it that is important.

As I said at the start, this is not my normal type of twice yearly updates or my ‘ad hoc’ updates which I send out during other times of the year when there is important news to share that may help people.  This time I just want to share my good news with you. Celebrating 'Our 5th Anniversary' is an important achievement and milestone for me personally.

A lot of people reading these updates have been with me on my journey for many years supporting me personally or professionally or doing so by just sharing my 'vision' of fairness and my fighting for equality of treatment for children with SEN and/or disabilities. I am trying to do things ‘differently’ from other solicitors by helping as many children and parents as possible, if not directly as clients, then indirectly through the free information which is available on our website. 

This update is my way of saying ‘thank-you’ to everyone who has helped me to continue doing what I do. I also want to publicly acknowledge the fantastic support that I have received and continue to receive from my team, other professionals with whom we work and our previous and current clients (as well as my family and friends). I always say that, although my name is on the letterhead, my success is as a result of good teamwork. 

Finally, I want to tell you that we have a quote on a wall in our office which says:

“if you want to touch the past,
touch a rock,
if you want to touch the present,
touch a flower,
if you want to touch the future,
touch the life of a child”

That says it all really. 

I look forward to writing for you my 10th anniversary update in 2015!!

With best wishes.

Douglas

PS. And just in case you have read this through without stopping, here's the link again to the 'Our 5th Anniversary' webpage!