Emperor

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/23611563

Autistic comic book fans are being invited to participate in a Cambridge University study looking at how best to support neurodivergent people to enjoy cartoons.

The project, led by academics at Cambridge’s Faculty of Education, aims to develop guidance to help make comic communities as inclusive and accessible as possible for autistic people.

Autistic people who enjoy comics, who are aged 18 and over and in the UK, are being invited to complete an online survey as the first part of the study.

Research by the Comics Cultural Impact Collective (CCIC) indicates that hundreds of young people self-identifying as neurodivergent are involved in Britain’s comics community, either as fans or creators.

It suggests that neurodivergent comic enthusiasts often find spaces like fan conventions, comic book stores, online communities and the comics industry less than welcoming, and frequently feel “siloed”.

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“Comics seem to have massive appeal for a surprising number of autistic people, and many of them are not just fans but enormously talented cartoonists, artists and illustrators,” she said.

“This is something the comics community is increasingly aware of, and there is a lot of enthusiasm for becoming better allies for autistic people.

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The project, called The Collaboration For Comics And Autism, will work with partners including the CCIC and the Lakes International Comic Art Festival.

It will also work with specialist publisher Dekko Comics which supports neurodivergent learners, the Association of Illustrators, the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration and autistic cartoonists Bex Ollerton and Eliza Fricker.

To complete the survey, see: https://cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6F5yYUIr3AQzBky

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/21539736

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/20975220

A brown bear that underwent brain surgery in the first operation of its kind in the UK is doing well but is “not out of the woods” yet, a charity has said.

Boki went under the knife on Wednesday after an MRI scan revealed he had hydrocephalus, a buildup of fluid in the brain.

The two-year-old mammal, who had been suffering from seizures and related health issues, is awake and said to be doing well after the surgery.

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It was the first time a procedure of this kind has been carried out in the UK. Pizzi previously became the first surgeon to perform a similar operation on a black bear in Asia.

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The conservation charity is fundraising for Boki’s surgery and immediate aftercare costs, which is expected to be about £20,000.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17730191

A nurse who created a wellbeing programme involving singing to sick children has won an award for her work.

Sally Spencer, a leukaemia advanced nurse practitioner, has won the Sky Arts Hero Award.

Alongside Birmingham-based choir Ex Cathedra, Ms Spencer performs songs to distract and soothe the patients at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

Ms Spencer, who has worked at the hospital for 25 years, said singing had "enormous benefits" for the children.

Ms Spencer told BBC Radio WM she came up with the idea of Singing Medicine in 2002.

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The Sky Arts Hero Award recognises unsung heroes who use the arts to help their local communities and has only one winner.

Context

Chester Zoo has celebrated the birth of what it said was one of the rarest animals on earth.

The Cheshire attraction said the Persian onager was born to mum Azita after a year-long pregnancy.

Onagers hail from the semi-desert regions of Iran, and are related to domestic donkeys.

The foal was named Jasper, whose Persian meaning relates to treasure.

A dog has been rescued after seven hours trapped underground.

Adventurous Bryn found himself in a precarious situation after falling into a narrow, seven-metre deep natural rift in the hillside during a walk on the Darren Mountain in Cwmdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf.

The South and Mid Wales Cave Rescue Team was called to assist their colleagues at the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service in rescuing him.

A rescue operation, which took place on Sunday, involved a seven-hour effort using ropes and a harness before the combined efforts of both rescue teams brought him safely and uninjured back to the surface.

Harold Terens - a 100-year-old US Army Air Force veteran - called it "the best day of my life" as he married 96-year-old Jeanne Swerlin on Saturday.

On her way to the ceremony, the bride-to-be said: "It's not just for young people, love, you know? We get butterflies. And we get a little action, also."

She also said her sweetheart was the "greatest kisser ever".

The pair married in the town hall of Carentan, a key initial D-Day objective that witnessed fierce fighting after the Allied landings on 6 June 1944.

A Shetland woman has been telling how a search for a gene variant alerted her to her breast cancer diagnosis.

Christine Glaser, from Whalsay, had been a participant in Viking Genes, a research project that looked at the genetic make up of people from the Orkney and Shetland Islands.

Since those tests were taken, the understanding of the significance of certain genes has improved and last year geneticists sought special permissions to go back to those who took part in the study to ask if they wanted to know their results.

Although she had lost a sister to ovarian cancer, the family was unaware many of them carried a BRCA 2 gene variant that increased their risk of breast, ovarian and prostate cancer.

Christine’s cancer was caught early and successfully treated.