DEVELOPING ABILITY. pound;1 from Y Care International, 3-9 Southampton Row, London WC1B 5HY. Tel: 020 7421 3022. www.ycare.ymca.org.uk

This attractively produced A4 booklet provides a 22-page basic guide to disability, the ways in which disability is viewed and how to help people with physical or other impairments to participate. It is for use with groups of young people and provides activities which will stimulate thought and discussion about disability, poverty and development.

It contains, for example, a “thought shower” activity in which youngsters are asked to brainstorm images and words associated with the word “disability” and their positive or negative connotations. There is another activity on looking at the link between disability and poverty.

There are some shocking disability statistics - for example, that globally 250,000 children go blind every year because of vitamin A deficiency which a handful of green vegetables daily would prevent. There is an accessibility checklist which youngsters could easily test in their local environments.

Managing both to interest and inform, this booklet would form an excellent basis for PSHE and citizenship programmes. At pound;1 it must be subsidised by Y Care (the development agency of the YMCA), who should be congratulated on it.

Gary Thomas Gary Thomas is professor of education at Oxford Brookes University