Ability Magazine - Autumn 2014

abilityMagazine of Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Ireland

Annual Conference 2014 Edition

Autumn 2014

my say

my way

positive life choicespresents

Chairmans Address & ContentsChairmans Address & Contents

2 www.sbhi.ie

Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Ireland (SBHI)National Resource Centre: Old Nangor Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22.Tel: (0I) 457 2329 Fax: (01) 457 2328 Lo-call: 1890 20 22 60Email: info@sbhi.ie Website: www.sbhi.ie

Ability magazine:Editor: Thelma Cloake Tel: 087-2883279 Email: thelmacloake1@gmail.com

A WORD FROM THE EDITOR:I would like to take this opportunity

to thank all those people whocontributed to the Abilitymagazine.

I hope you will enjoy readingthis issue.

Thelma Cloake Tel: 087-2883279 Email: thelmacloake1@gmail.com

Chairmans AddressAs this is the first magazine since Iwas elected chairman I would liketo thank you the members and thebranches for giving me thehonour of being your chairmanand for supporting me in thisrole. I hope that I can fulfil yourexpectations of me while I am inthis position.

I would like to take this oppor-tunity to acknowledge the workthat was done by George Kennedyand to take this opportunity to

wish him well in the future. The work of the organisation iscontinuing and we have just come off the back of a very successfulSHINE project which we got great feedback from. The PeerSupport Group continues to go from strength to strength and theFamily Support Workers and all our staff continue to be an integralpart of the work of SBHI.

The Saturday Club is also continuing to be a great success andthanks to Andrea for her tireless work in that regard.

The International Federation continues to provide support to us asa national organisation and we continue to be represented byThelma on that. The International Federation will be well repre-sented at our conference and there will be plenty of opportunitiesfor you our members to find out more about what they do.

I believe the conference has a great line-up this year and I have nodoubt that many will be inspired and motivated by the speakerswe have lined up.

I look forward to seeing you all at the conference and hope thatyou all enjoy this edition of the magazine and indeed theconference.

Frank Larkin, Chairman, Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Ireland,

www.sbhi.ie, info@sbhi.ie

In this issue:l Chairmans Address l SBHIStaff List and

Contact Detailsl Packie Bonner Golf Classic

l Influenza (Flu)l 12 Marathons 12 Days

l Catherines Storyl SAP Volunteers

l Wheelchair Rugby 7sl World Spina Bifida & Hydrocephalus Day

l Double Celebrations for Seanl Positive Life Choices

My Say, My Way:Agenda & Biographies

l Educational Officer Updatel Special Needs Bank Account

l Me and My Backbonel SBHI Peer Support

l Eurordisl SHINE 2014

l Around the Countryl Orthopaedic Footwear Centre

www.sbhi.ie 3

SBHI Staff & ContactsSBHI Staff & Contacts

Name Post Phone & Email

Andrea Fox Reception 014572329 afox@sbhi.ie

Linda Morrison Accounts 014572329 lmorrison@sbhi.ie

Katy McManus Administration 014572329 kmcmanus@sbhi.ie

Sarah Jacobsen Family Support Worker:

Laois/Offaly; Longford/ Westmeath

0857119062

sjacobsen@sbhi.ie

Hazel McGeough Family Support Worker:

Cavan/Monaghan; Louth/Meath; North Co. Dublin

0868194790

hmcgeough@sbhi.ie

Katie Dunphy Educational Officer 014572329 0873792051

kdunphy@sbhi.ie

Clare Riordan Family Support Worker:

South Dublin/ Wicklow

014572329 0872209625

criordan@sbhi.ie

Jane Mullane Family Support Worker: South East including

Waterford/Sth Tipperary, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford

0876527175

jmullane@sbhi.ie

Aine Harrington Family Support Worker:

Mayo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Sligo, Galway

0879395371

aharrington@sbhi.ie

Edel Browne Curran Family Support Worker:

North Dublin and Co. Kildare

014572329 0868520616

ebrowne@sbhi.ie

Deirdre Gallagher Family Support Worker:

Cork/Kerry

0868194791

dgallagher@sbhi.ie

Louise Healy Manager Youth & Respite Services 014572329 0857119087 lhealy@sbhi.ie

Helen Riney Youth & Respite Coordinator 014572329 hriney@sbhi.ie

Peter Landy Fundraiser 0877376351 plandy@sbhi.ie

SBHI STAFF LIST AND CONTACT DETAILSNational Resource Centre, Old Nangor Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22

Phone: 014572329 Fax: 014572328 info@sbhi.ie

SBHI Orthopaedic Footwear CentreNational Resource Centre, Old Nangor Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22

Phone: 014572326 Fax: 014056056 info@sbhi.ie Footwear Mobile 0868517518Contact: Karen Malone 014572326 kmalone@sbhi.ie

Dublin Branch: Vickie Green, Block 5, Unit 2, Port Tunnel Business Park, Clonshaugh, Dublin 17

Phone: 018485227 Fax: 018485228 Email: sbhidublin@gmail.com

SBHI Resource Centre:Alice Rajaratnam & Aisling Nic Eochaidh

Block 5, Unit 1, Port Tunnel Business Park, Clonshaugh, Dublin 17.Phone: 018487311 Email: sbhiresourcecentre@gmail.com

Golf ClassicGolf Classic

4 www.sbhi.ie

A total of 32 teams took to the beautifulSmurfit course at the K Club on the 22nd ofAugust for our annual Packie Bonner GolfClassic.

The delightful weather matched the mood ofthe participants as they took to the course forthe 12.30pm shotgun start. The golferscommented on the fantastic condition of thecourse and enjoyed playing their 18 holesimmensely. There were two competitionsrunning side by side, the Packie BonnerPerpetual Trophy for qualifying teams and ourmain corporate competition.

After golf everybody returned to theclubhouse for our customary after golf mealand presentations. Our patron Packie Bonneracted as the master of ceremonies and spokevery highly of his involvement with Spina BifidaHydrocephalus Ireland and his reasons forsupporting the organisation. The lovely mealwas followed by an auction of donated itemsfor which there was great interest from thosepresent. We also had our customary blind rafflewhich was a great success on the night.

The Packie Bonner Perpetual Trophy was wonby the team: Donal Corbett, Brendan Casey,Liam Fitzgerald and Declan Keegan with ascore of 99 points. Donal also won the longestdrive competition with Joe Pardy picking upthe prize for nearest to pin.

The prize-winners for the corporate classicincluded:

l 1st Prize (105 points): Alan Murphy, JimODonoghue, Brendan Murphy & JohnBermingham

l 2nd Prize (104 points): Paul Boyle, TommyGrindle, Darren Delaney & Liam Delaney

l 3rd Prize (101 points): Eamonn Porter, DaveNolan, Paul OReilly & Tom Watters

l 4th Prize (99 points): John Kavanagh,Tommy Gaskin, Freddie Snow & EugeneWard

l 5th Prize (97 points): Fergal Britton, AidanGordon, Mark Doherty & Kieran Coffey

l 6th Prize (97 points): Paul Landy, KieranMescal, David Minogue & ConorODonovan.

SBHI wishes to congratulate the winners andthank all our participants and sponsors fortheir continued support of this event. n

PACKIE BONNER GOLF CLASSICK CLUB AUGUST 2014

Some of the groups who enjoyed the day

www.sbhi.ie

HealthHealth

Influenza (Flu)Source: H.S. E.

Who is most at risk from flu?Anyone can get the flu but it is more severe inpeople aged 65 years and over and anyonewith a chronic medical condition. Chronicmedical conditions include chronic heartconditions, chronic respiratory disease,diabetes mellitus and immunosupression dueto disease or treatment. Pregnant womenhave also been found to be at increased riskof the complications of flu. These groups ofpeople are targeted for influenza vaccination.

Flu Vaccine Who should be vaccinated?Vaccination is strongly recommended for:

n Persons aged 65 and overn Those aged 6 months and older with a

long-term health condition such as Chronic heart disease Chronic liver disease Chronic renal failure Chronic respiratory disease, including

cystic fibrosis, moderate or severeasthma or bronchopulmonarydysplasia

Chronic neurological diseaseincluding multiple sclerosis, hered-itary and degenerative disorders ofthe central nervous system

Diabetes mellitus Down syndrome Haemoglobinopathies Morbid obesity i.e. body mass index

over 40 Immunosuppression due to disease

or treatment, including asplenia orsplenic dysfunction

n Children aged 6 months and older with any condition (e.g. cognitive

dysfunction, spinal cord injury, seizuredisorder, or other neuromusculardisorder) that can compromise respi-ratory function especially thoseattending special schools/day centreswith moderate to severe neurodevel-

opmental disorders such as cerebralpalsy and intellectual disability

on long-term aspirin therapy(because of the risk of Reyessyndrome)

n Pregnant women(vaccine can begiven at anystage ofpregnancy)

n Healthcareworkers

n Residentsof nursinghomes andother longstay institu-tions

n Carersn People with

regular contactwith pigs, poultryor water fowl. n

What is influenza (flu)?Influenza is a highly infectious, acute, respi-ratory illness caused by the influenza virus.Influenza affects people of all ages. Outbreaksof influenza occur almost every year, usually inwinter. This is why it is also known as seasonalflu.

How serious is flu?Flu is often self limiting with most peoplerecovering in 2-7 days. However, flu can besevere and can cause serious illness anddeath, especially in the very young and in theelderly. Serious respiratory complications candevelop, including pneumonia and bronchitis,to which older people and those with certainchr