The theme for Learning Disability Awareness Week 2024 asks 'Do you see me?'
The third week of June is #LearningDisabilityAwarenessWeek. There is no formal definition of a learning disabilty, but Mencap defines them as involving reduced intellectual ability and difficulty with everyday activities. In the United Kingdom 1.5million people have a learning disability; including over 350,000 children aged between 5 and 17. Learning disabilities happen before, during or soon after birth, when the brain is developing. They can have a variety of causes, including genes, lack of oxygen at birth and childhood accidents or seizures.
Learning disabilities are different from Specific Learning Difficulties ("SpLD") such as Dyslexia and Dyscalculia, because they affect someone’s intellect generally across all areas of their life for life whereas SpLD do not impact a person's intellect*. Learning disabilties are not all the same; they can be mild, moderate, severe or profound and the degree to which they impact people's lives also varies. For example, a person who has a mild learning disability may only require support with certain things, such as education or finding employment. On the other hand, a person who has a severe or profound learning disability is likely to require fulltime care and support with every aspect of their life. In addition people with all types of learning disabilites may also have physical disabilities.
The theme for 2024 is increased understanding of the barriers learning disabled people face by asking the simple question: 'Do you see me?'. One way to increase visibility for children and young people with learning disabilites is to normalise the existence of people with learning disabilities of all ages in every day life. Thankfully, gone are the days when people with learning disabilities were confined to institutions, but their presence in wider society remains largely hidden and this needs to change. Having a learning disability does not have to stop people from living full, meaningful and happy lives. Properly supported, people with learning disabilites, just like people without learning disabilites, have much to offer the world and Learning Disability Awareness Week aims to showcase this.
If you feel your child or young person has or may have a learning disability, whether diagnosed or not, and is not getting the support they require, SEND Advocacy is here to help. We offer a complete service from preparing a request for an EHCNA to appearing at a contested tribunal hearing, and everything in between. If you need someone in your corner to help you secure the education your child deserves, contact us today.
*Confusingly, however, in America, SpLD are known as learning disabilities.
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