This page aims to give you a flavour of the type of consultations In The Picture has been involved in.

A big "thank you" to members of the steering group and the various disabled people and families who have supported this process. A special thank you to Kathy Saunders, Alex Strick and her virtual group and to all the organisations who have given specialist advice from which to build more detailed guidance:

Book Related

Building the Image Bank

The process of building the image bank has involved some detailed support to the artists. This has included sending additional photographs and information. Part of the process of building the image bank involved the project consulting other organisations both about the image itself and the wording behind it. Disabled people have been involved in commenting on the images in the bank. The photo bank has developed in the response to the need for life like images.

The Stories

In the first year the stories were mostly illustrated alongside the writers and the group they were in, with supporting input from the project as necessary, while the core information was being built up on the website. The second year stories had the benefit of the website with additional support. For example the "Rory and Stella" images were tried out on real communication aid users.

The Posters

The story book poster went through several  consultation stages via the steering group with pencil roughs and the project supported the artist with ideas around wheelchairs etc. where they were not already evident on the website.

The alphabet poster was part of a student brief and we attempted to support the student visiting a real inclusive nursery and providing the images she needed [though many she found in the photo bank and adapted to her ideas].

Franklin Watts

This publisher wanted to find some disabled children to photograph for a series of science books. In The Picture helped locate suitable children and supported the photo shoots. The results are now published in the form of 10 books  - and more in the pipeline!

Franklin Watts also consulted the project about including an accessible swimming pool scene in a story book they were publishing.

Kidpremiership

This publisher has consulted In The Picture on two story books and a calendar. "The Sleepover" has a storyline around a disabled child staying overnight with friends - In The Picture consulted with wheelchair users for advice.

"The Birthday Party" [soon to be published] will include a casual scene of a child with a gastronomy tube. The consultation included sending the roughs to suitable families to look at and comment on with their children.

Moira Munro

Author and illustrator Moira Munro has consulted the project on artwork roughs for various books including an illustration of a child with a birth mark and one of a child using a standing frame. To support the development of some story lines small sections of written work have also been included in this process.

Child's Play [International] Ltd.

This publisher has always sought to include disabled children in its books. Some of the areas the project has been consulted on include depicting a child with a naso-gastric tube, a child with a club foot, a child with Down's syndrome, an arm splint and using an asthma inhaler. Discussions in the steering group, and especially ideas from Kathy Saunders, influenced the way their new "Beauty and The Beast" story line developed.

Jane Ray

In The Picture's guidance on Down's syndrome partly came about as a result of illustrator Jane's request for support on illustrating "Big Ben" making this a two way process. Also involved in this process was the Down's Syndrome Association.

Pippa Goodhart

Author Pippa Goodhart has consulted with the project on several books including a future busy store based story book that will now include disabled children due for publication in 2009.

General Analyses

Two publishers have sent the project packs of books for comment about their disability content to aid their future planning. One of these publishers received a detailed analysis from several groups of families and disabled people who spent a lot of time going through the books.

Writing

Several pieces of writing have been run past the project. This has included a final draft of a Barrington Stoke book ["Funny Business"] being read and commented on by several disabled young people, a story about a tree, a fantasy series and a fairy story. Latterly In The Picture has linked up with Alex Strick's virtual group who have supported this process.

Non Book Related

Stockport Careers Service

An un-looked for bonus was a consultation around the inclusion of a young wheelchair user for a careers information website and comic strip.

Eureka Discovery Museum

One of In The Picture's first consultations wasn't for a book but for a museum. This museum wanted to include a disabled youngster in a group of cartoon characters used to promote the museum. The end result was the inclusion of "Jet", a wheelchair using character. Specific guidance was sought for the artist about the type of wheelchair depicted.

Websites

In The Picture is a good role model for an accessible website. The project has also been consulted about other ways websites can demonstrate their inclusion aim.

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