As most of you reading this know, Fionnathan Productions is an innovative, son-and-father led, community driven project exploring how far we can go toward creating for and with Fionn a ‘great life’ (as he defines it). And now, another year of remarkable accomplishments for this young man (and a few big failures, as usual) is complete. This year saw our 10th anniversary. A great year, a dismal year, in so many moments (mostly great, by our calculation). Fionn turned 29. He will be half Jonathan’s age in 2027. (Do the math, if you must.) We divided this report into the following categories. Education & Research, Advocacy & People, The Arts & Travel, Abundance & What’s Ahead. We hope you enjoy reading it, and feel free to give us feedback about any of it.
We had the honor of delivering lectures to students from eight universities this year. Half online; and half in Irish, US and Austrian classrooms. In 11 years, we have given 98 lectures at 40 universities in 10 countries.The highlight was our participation in an online conference designed for Ukrainian teachers, exploring ways that children with additional educational needs can be included in classes with their peers. It was hosted virtually by Örebro University in Sweden over six weeks, and we shared our stories as one of the twelve lectures.
We provided workshops with community groups who support and work alongside people with disability on themes such as Assisted Decision Making, Adapted Physical Activities, Lobbying Governments, Courage in Safeguarding, and recognising the giants’ shoulders on which we stand. We did these in five countries.
Our own learning continues. We attended an Anthroposophical Youth Conference at Easter in Corrymeela, a retreat centre where some of Northern Ireland’s peace process took place.
A learning exchange to develop youth work projects brought us to Hammamet in Tunisia, meeting representatives from four North African countries and Palestine, and discussing options for future collaborations.
We participated in eight short courses, and started our involvement on one long one. Fionn was selected as one of twelve disabled activists (the only one with intellectual disability) to engage in a first-of-its-kind nine month European training of trainers course for youth work. Week One of three intensives took place in Weimar, and the next two will be in Hondarribia and Ljubljana.
We're raising money to spread love all around the world through our work. Help us continue on this journey.
