John Ladle
About John Ladle (Director, Acting Up)
I started out in 1971 as nursing assistant at in a hospital 'for the mentally subnormal'.
In the mid-seventies I trained as a drama therapist and then worked for fifteen years in East London with people with learning difficulties in hospitals, residential and day centres and in adult education. Also trained in 'physical theatre' and freelanced as a performer and director.
In 1978, joined Matchbox Theatre, then one of the few theatre companies working in the field of disability, and became director in 1982. Over fifteen years, Matchbox toured shows and ran workshops in a wide range of arts, education and community venues in London and around the UK.
About Acting Up
In 1986, Matchbox was invited by Hackney to form a local theatre group of people with learning difficulties. The resulting 'Integrated' group comprised young people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, careworkers and professional performers. The following year, Matchbox and Cultural Partnerships, a community arts group, formed a partnership to launch 'Acting Up' ' with the intention of changing negative attitudes towards people with mental handicaps '.
Over the next eight years the group performed publicly in London. In addition to performance, the group ran 'Creative Communications' workshops for day and residential staff, and with performing arts students at Middlesex University. This training focused on different forms of communication within 'care' relationships and the development of 'person-centred' practice.
In 1992, the Arts Council funded Acting Up to develop the arts /community care interface of our work. This project became known as the Soft Room - an innovative package of exhibitions, interactive multi-media installation and performance that explored how people communicate within an institutional care environment. The Soft Room was produced in London and Nottingham in 1994.
About Multimedia Profiling
Building on its performance and workshops experience, Acting Up started in 1989 to develop 'file/scripts' or 'personal profiles', for use by people with communication difficulties in their day and residential settings. The aim was for people with learning difficulties to be seen and heard positively. The work was reported in 'Mediawise', the Mental Health Council's magazine, in 1991.
'A person with learning difficulties may have moderate or severe communication problems. They may be unable to represent themselves, their experiences and interests, leaving relatives and care staff unaware of their needs and strengths. 'Profiling' aims to act as a key to more effective communication. Combinations of audio visual material are created out of devised sessions, personal interactions and general observations. The biographical material is then shaped and organised into an accessible personal digest of text, images and sounds.'
We then started to use computers to make audio-visual profiling more easily accessible and developed training for services called Multimedia Profiling. Training aims to achieve more user-led services through improved communication and involvement of service users.
Over the past fifteen years, the development and dissemination of Multimedia Profiling has been the focus of Acting Up's work. Acting Up has introduced Multimedia Profiling into many London boroughs, particularly in North and East London.
Acting Up has also worked around the country with commissions from the Kings Fund / NDT 'Changing Days' project, Lottery-funded work such as the 'Handover' Project (1998/99) in sites around the country, and with care providers including MacIntyre Care and Mencap.
Acting Up is currently running the iContact project supported by the Big Lottery Fund to apply Multimedia Profiling within a range of community services supporting older people.
John Ladle, Director, January 2007
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John Ladle
Seminar: 'Commnication - Inclusion - Change'
Drawing on Acting Up's work over twenty years using Multimedia Profiling within support services for people with learning disabilities, John Ladle will present examples of a range of applications of multimedia, the process involved and the values that underpin the practice.
We will look at multimedia primarily as a communication tool and a 'language' that promotes inclusion for people with communication difficulties. We will also look at how services have implemented multimedia, the challenges of extending its use within organisations and of maintaining quality practice. The presentation will be followed by a group discussion.
