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Northern lad creates app to help children with non-verbal autism communicate

Nine-year-old Sean Porter from Southport was originally asked to create a game for a school project.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 24th November 2021

A Northern boy has created a groundbreaking new app that helps children with non-verbal autism to communicate.

Nine-year-old Sean Porter from Southport was originally asked to create a game for a school project, but he decided to go one step further in a bid to help someone very close to him and build an app for non-verbal children and those with autism to help them communicate.

Sean’s six-year-old brother Adam Porter was diagnosed with autism when he was two.

Since his diagnosis, Adam had always struggled to speak and was unable to ask for some of the simplest requests -but now, using the app developed by his brother Sean, Adam can communicate by just tapping a picture.

Speaking enthusiastically to ITV News about the app, Sean said: “I knew that if I didn’t develop this app, then I don’t know anyone who would think of it.

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“It feels absolutely amazing – I feel wonderful.”

“People generally don’t think about other people. They think “if I make this amazing invention I am going to be epic and famous and have loads of money – but they don’t focus on anyone else and how it affects them.”

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A Northern boy has created a groundbreaking new app that helps children with non-verbal autism to communicate / Credit: ITV News

According to recent studies, it’s estimated that 40% of children with autism are non-verbal, which means that they may never learn to speak more than a few words – but Adam’s father Liam is hoping this app might help change that statistic.

“Him asking for food, telling us he was hurt, asking to go to the toilet, it was basically guess work,” Liam Porter said.

“This app has opened up more choice for Adam after we created the app he has asked for more things and is developing faster.”

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Sean also hopes to make his app more user specific for the needs of each child.

His mum Kirsty also told the Liverpool ECHO: “He wants to go more into it and if it does go anywhere he wants to make it user specific for each specific child.

“At the minute it’s just ‘I want a drink’, ‘I want some food’, ‘I need the toilet’ and in order to make it more specific.

“Children with autism have specific drinks they want, you can’t just say to them ‘what drink’ they want that drink they are used to having.”

Featured Image – ITV News

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Two Trafford towns are set to see dozens of new EV charging points installed imminently

Danny Jones Danny Jones New EV charging points being installed in Trafford Borough

Two big towns on the border of Greater Manchester and Cheshire are set to see a fresh batch of electric vehicle (EV) charging points installed throughout their streets by Trafford Council very soon.

Local authorities have teamed up with engineering and infrastructure company Amey to roll out a series of new EV charging stations across Trafford, starting with Altrincham and Hale.

Dating all the way back to 2020, the collaboration with Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), the brand was tasked with helping improve sustainable travel across the area as the government body’s electric vehicle charging suppliers.

Steady improvements have been made across the 10 boroughs, but this particular update marks one of the biggest network upgrades that the likes of Alty and Hale have seen for some time.

Issuing a statement on Wednesday, 17 September, the firm – which specialises in managing, designing and maintaining complex facilities and transport infrastructure across the country – announced that they will “start the installation of EV charging points in Trafford in the coming weeks.”

It is expected that “up to 100 new public charges” will be integrated throughout the respective town centres and residential streets as the suburbs continues to push towards its sustainability goals.

As per Altrincham Today, Amey account director Anna Gornall said: “We’re excited to launch our first EV charge points in Trafford, working in partnership with Trafford Council (TC) to make electric vehicle charging more accessible to local communities.

“As the UK’s leading provider of energy transition and decarbonisation solutions, we’re well placed to use our existing expertise and resources to support TC in delivering a holistic public EV charging network for local communities.

“We’re helping residents make the switch, so everyone can plug in and power a greener Trafford.”

The country at large has various carbon-free initiatives, including the aspiration of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050; the electoral ward of Trafford itself continues to thrive in this field, having recently won environmental accolades, including 12 ‘Green Flag Awards’ this past July.

Peter Anderson, Managing Director of Transport Infrastructure at Amey, commented: “This is a pivotal moment in Amey’s energy transition strategy. By leveraging our extensive experience in whole lifecycle asset management, strong partnerships, and innovative solutions, we can deliver value for both our clients and members of the public who will use Amey’s electric vehicle charge points.

“Working with Trafford Council, we are making electric vehicle charging more accessible to local communities and helping residents make the switch to EVs.

“Amey is well-positioned to support emerging opportunities within this landscape, and we are delighted to be working with Trafford and other local authorities to provide the public EV infrastructure needed to achieve the government’s transition to net zero.”

As for Trafford Council, Corporate Director of Place, Richard Roe, went on to add: “We are delighted to be working with Amey on this project to bring more and better charging options to the people of Trafford.

“This is an extension to the current EV charging options in the borough and is great news for committed EV owners and those who are thinking about going electric.”

The incredible plans to build floating walkways over Manchester’s waterways
The new slate of EV charging points will be funded by City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements – and that’s not all…

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Featured Images — Publicity pictures (via Amey Ltd)

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Further disruption expected as more bus strikes announced across Greater Manchester

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Further disruption is expected as even more bus strikes have been announced across Greater Manchester this autumn.

It comes after the strikes set to place this month from 19 to 22 September were announced a couple of weeks back, and now a second round will take place towards the end of this month and going into early October.

In case this is the first you’re hearing of the upcoming industrial action, 2,000 workers who are employed by Stagecoach, Metroline Manchester, and First Bus Rochdale – all of which are firms among those that make up the bus part of the Bee Network – are due to walk out in a co-ordinated strike amid an ongoing pay dispute.

Unite the Union says all the firms are ‘highly profitable’ and it’s therefore ‘disappointing’ that workers are being denied a fair wage.

More strikes have been announced on the Bee Network this month / Credit: TfGM

At Stagecoach, around 1,000 drivers based across the Oldham, Stockport, and Middleton depots have rejected a pay offer of 3.5%, and 1,000 Metroline Manchester members will also do the same after turning down an ‘unsatisfactory’ below-inflation pay offer.

Workers at both Metroline and Stagecoach believe the offer doesn’t address years of low pay they’ve recieved, especially given the ongoing cost of living crisis.

Then, over at First Bus Rochdale, 110 members have rejected this year’s pay offer of 6%, as they feel this does not go far enough to address the fact they’ve had years of being paid less than their counterparts at other companies, and are still the lowest paid in the region.

Stagecoach, Metroline, and First Bus Rochdale, part of First Group PLC, are all firms which have seen a rise in profits in recent years.

2,000 drivers are set to stage strike action over two different periods / Credit: TfGM

The second round of strikes will now take place from from 30 September to 2 October.

Speaking ahead of both sets of upcoming strikes, Unite General Secretary, Sharon Graham, said: “These companies are very profitable but are putting greed over their hardworking members of staff.

“Further strike action will be extremely disruptive, however this is a dispute entirely of the bus companies’ making and they could solve it easily by coming back with a better deal.

“Our members involved in the dispute have Unite’s complete support.”

Unite Regional Officer, Colin Hayden, added: “The strikes this week as well as the further action we have called will cause travel chaos in Greater Manchester. However, it is entirely the fault of the employers involved, who have failed to address the issue of low pay and reward their staff accordingly.

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“Unite is not afraid to escalate to more strikes, which will only intensify going forward.

“It is time for the employers to make an offer that is acceptable to our members to resolve this disruption.”

Featured Image – TfGM

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