NO ONE KNOWS NO ONE.

You made me to be in this world.
The first twenty-one years of my life you weren't there.
I was no one to you, at least it felt that way anyway.
You were no one to me, it seemed as if as I wasn't anyone to you because I never saw you.
when I first met you at the age of twenty - one, I thought we put the piece of the jigsaw together but I was wrong.
Now I feel as if a piece of jizsaw is missing in me again.
I think I have lost myself again.
Perhaps part of me was always been missing and always will be.
Why do I have a feeling that two human beings are missing out of my life too?
why do I have feeling that they are asking themselves unanswered questions like I did as a child?
I want to help them because I know how it feels, it's as if you are in the dark.
It's feels as I am feeling the same way again as I did as a child knowing that my half brother and sister are going through the same as I did.
I'm their half big sister, of course I want to be there for them and help them.
You aren't going to help them are you?
Don't you realise what you have done and how it has affected our minds?
The past doesn't matter, I've been there all my life.
I never knew why this had to be but it doesn't matter now, it's not about me, it's about my younger half brother and sister.
I am the past they are the present and future.
It's the present and the future, how do you think it's going to affect their lives?
why do I feel like the useless big half sister?
no one knows no one, it's all a mystery.

WHY CAN'T WE?

I'm speaking for the rights of people with disabilities.
If we haven't got those those rights we should have them.
we should should be treated equally to non - disabled people.
Some people have these rights others don't.
We know it can never be a perfect world but it can be an equal work.
How many of us live a lone?
How many of us still live with our families?
How many of us have families of our own?
How many of us work?
How many of us don't work?
How many of us are on benefit trap?
How many of us are in education?
How many of us live like non - disabled people but with the right support?
We all understand funding can be a problem but the government should spend the money on the right things for people's rights.
I've been asking these questions all my life but never really got any real answers.

WHAT CAUSES AUTISM?

It's hard to say what causes Autism, there are so many different forms of Autism from mild to major. It affect people in different ways. In my case it was lack of oxygen to the brain, Mum was neglected at birth. I've heard other causes are the MMR vaccines for Measles, food allergies, Chronic yeast infections, infections from meningitis and Mercury poisoning.

WHAT IS AUTISM?
In my research off the Internet, apart form Autism been a disability, it affects one in hundred people in Britain alone. Autism is mostly a hidden disability. People with Autism have Autism for life. People with Autism can learn skills in life but for life, we are mostly very slow learners. The kind of skills most people Autism find very hard to learn is motor skills because of grip with our hands and reflexes, we find it hard to cope with too many things at once. People with Autism can find it hard to say what we need and how we feel. People with Autism find it hard to meet people, make friends and relationships, social skills are hard for us. People with Autism can find it hard to understand people, people can find it hard to understand people with Autism.

When it comes to behavior problems, people tend to blame bad parenting, which is not true. Like I said in many reports on this website, in my experience anyway, it's more we feel anger when we can't cope with every day living skills, we don't feel equal to non - disabled people. When this happens we feel useless, the odd ones out and we feel left out of society.
Not that I can have children anyway but just out of interest, my family thought Autism isn't genetic but I have learned off the Internet that it is but it's hard to say. Without been nasty, if what I am reading is true, it's just as well I can't have children, I'd hated to see my children going through the same me, even though I'd understand them through my own experience.
The things I have just explained is what you need to except of people with Autism.

As I have written in past reports on this site, most people with Autism are creative but I don't want to bore you with what I have already said, if I remember but sometimes I get carried away studying things. Sorry about that.
Some people with Autism manage to learn by watching others. Most people with Autism can only work on one thing at a time very slowly like me. This is why a lot of us need support in schools, colleges, work placements and etc.
Many disabilities are link in to Autism for eg; dyslexia. Never think Autism affects all people the same, we are all difference like yourselves, like I've said before it would be boring otherwise.

PEOPLE WITH AUTISM CAN BE AFFECT BY FIVE SENSES IN OUR LIVES.

Sight, sound, touch, taste, smell yet again I guess we aren't all the same. Some Of us may be affected by all five senses, other could be affect by only so many, well there's only five them. Strange because I've learned five senses in Creative writing, which is common sense because we have to explain feelings of our characters. Perhaps that's why most people with Autism can write, joking that's not always necessary so. When it comes to sight, people with Autism could be affected colour or and lights. For eg; even bright colour lights affect me, mainly when I'm having fits. I am jumpily when dogs jump, run fast towards and bark at me. I'm also affected by flapping birds, I don't like them standing my shoulder, I get very nervous. I don't dislike any animals, in fact I love them. If I live with them I get used to them but I don't have the time on hands to have animals. Sometimes touch affects me others times it doesn't, it depends how I'm touched, I guess that's the same for anyone really. Taste I like all food really. Smell is no difference to anyone really. That's enough about me but If you have Autism or you know anyone who does really as long they know your telling me, I'd be interested what 5 senses affect the people you know with Autism . If You have Autism which five senses affect you? one or a few or all. Sarajgorman@googlemail.com or and Sarajgorman@gmail.com on Facebook if you want to and can email me. A bit of extra support for people with Autism, families and carers. The National Autistic Society http://www.autism.org.uk/ autismhelplinenas.org.uk

As I was researching, I have found out that Asperger Syndrome and I think ADHD Defict Hyperactive Disorder, which is two common types of Autism.

FAMOUS PEOPLE WITH AUTISM.

A lot people don't realise that there are a lot of people who disabilities who are famous. Like I have said in one of my reports on my website, that there were a lot of people with disabilities who didn't become famous until they died. People like Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Vincent Van Gogh, Andy Warhol, Beethoven, Bela Bartok, Wolfgan Amadeus Mozart, Richard Strauss, W.B Yeats, George Orwell, Charles Dickens Lewis Carroll, Thomas Jefferson and many more who had Autism according to the Internet. There are and were famous people with many other disabilities too. These people were writers, artists, composers, worked in science and or and in many more things. How people have known this I don't know, perhaps they have been researching their lives to create these sites on the Internet. I'd be very interested to know what you do and don't believe. It's hard to say with the people who aren't with us anymore because in those day people weren't educated to know what disabilities are. We must be careful because it's too easy think if people didn't cope with school education, they must have had some forms of disabilities. Some people may have been bullied or problems at home, which could be another reason for not doing well at school. It's isn't just about that can be how they were at the beginning of life, for eg; slow at speaking. sarajgorman@googlemail.com or and sarajgorman@gmail.com.

MORE ABOUT AUTISM.

Most of us are very sensitive to sound, light, dark and touch.
Most of us find change hard to related to, mainly change to route. We could stay in the same route for years or always be the same. It can take us ages to get used to something new. We understand it must seem boring, we don't disagree but we can't help the way we are. If we are going to change, it's best leave it to us in our speed.
Like I said in my poem, we people with Autism can do and or say things that can affect people, without us understanding what we may have done wrong, that doesn't mean we have excuses all the time. Autism is a learning not a reason to be wrong all the while. We are still human like everyone, we make mistakes like everyone else and if we don't understand we're not aware. This why Autism Mind Blindness like dyslexia is word blindness. Most people with Autism can have dyslexia linked into Autism like I think I have said in at least one of these reports on this site. We have faults, good and bad points just like you at end of day and we all do things regret, just people without disabilities, that how we learn but we may be slower than you. I agree many of us don't learn whether we have disability because we don't want or ever mistake it could just easy to do.
Autism isn't just a disability on it's own, it links with other disabilities such as dyspraxia, (ADHD)deficit hyperactive disorder,dyslexia and perhaps many other things too. Not every person with Autism has to cope with the same disabilities. Some people may have all disabilities link in others may have just a few. One thing what I think isn't the same is that we haven't all got the same disabilities, in fact there may be more I don't know about. I have dyspraxia, dyslexia and oh what I haven't said is epilepsy. I was hyperactive as a child, I think it was due to those heavy tablets I was on but I think (ADHD) is for life because I'm not hyperactive anymore. Perhaps I have changed my diet a bit since I was a child without realising. I think I'm right because I used to eat a lot of sweet things as a child but I think (ADHD) is there with a people whatever they do.

MIND BLINDNESS.

In our minds, we can spend our lives feeling angry with ourselves.
Some people think we want to hurt their feelings because of what we say, what we may not say, what we do and what we may not do but we don't.
It's hard for people to understand us unless they have Autism themselves.
Don't get us wrong not everything is done by accident, we all have faults like everyone.
We make mistakes and regret things like everyone else.
Autism isn't an excuse for anything, Autism is our disability, Mind Blindness and Unawareness is how it affects our lives.
Autism can affect friendships, relationships, even family relationships and perhaps the whole world around us.

FEELING GUILTY.

Autism can make us feel guilty.
It's too easy to be unaware of what we do and don't say.
It's too easy to be unaware of what we do and don't do.
What's planned in your mind comes out wrong or and even the wrong way round.
The things come across to people as not good but isn't planned in your mind.
It's not that you don't know right from wrong, what's planned to be one thing is seen as another from most people's point a view. In a sense it's like writing an essay.
Nobody can be blamed for misunderstanding us but we can't be blamed for having Autism.
That doesn't mean we want to be the centre of attention, we just want to be accepted in society the same as everyone.
We just want to be equal to everyone at the end of the day.

A NEW WORLD FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITES.

Think about the amount of books we have tried to read but the print is too hazy, small or and the stories are hard to understand.
Words jump off the page and your eyes start to stain.
We don't mean to make life hard but we have missed out on a lot of stories that we didn't understand.
We would like to make these stories more clear to understand like easy words and easy pictures for the next generation of people with disabilities.
Let's support people with disabilities to have equal lives to everyone!
Let's opens new doors!

EASY WORLD FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITES.

I love poetry like music, some poems I like others I don't.
It's like everything in life really.
One thing though, not a lot of poetry is written about people with disabilities, why is that?
Can't we communicate in your way of thinking?
Let's have a bit of fun!
Easy pictures.
Easy words.
Let's play around with coloured paper!

BE AWARE OF POSSiBLE SIDE - EFFECTS FROM SOME MEDICATIONS THAT COULD AFFECT YOUR WORK AND EDUCATION.

A lot of people with disabilities, like myself I'm one of those people who didn't learn anything in school because society wasn't educated to teach people with disabilities. There was a lack of communication and understanding between children and teachers. For eg; I was on this medication called Phenobarbitone for Epilepsy; this affected my ability to learn and I was very disappointed that I left school without any qualifications. A lot of special schools didn't have any access for children with disabilities to take exams when I was in school. I hope things have changed a lot for children with disabilities since I was in school but please keep an eye on side - effects of medication in case they are too dangerous for them! Later on in this site you will read a report on how dangerous Phenobarbitone was.

When I left school, I caught up with my education in college. OK, I achieved my exams but I every September I would enrol on roughly the courses every year without a job at end of it, which went on for years. It became very boring in the end. Still better late than never but if more support is given the quicker a person with a disability is in the job they want. Well should I even say that having support helps them along their way quicker so they aren't having to cope with years of discrimination like people of my age group did, before that. We were also very limited to what courses, I was at college well over ten years. I enjoyed college but sometimes there was support but other times there wasn't. I thought I was never going to get any support with work. I was signing on for 13 years, I though I was going to be there forever, I hated it. My life has changed a lot for the better since I have been with Our Shout supported by Mencap. All these years of college have been worth it after all. I am still study now but I am working towards my exams at Access For Business for the Social Enter Prise Business we will be doing next year. Courses need to be more interesting for people with disabilities. I have read in the report Valuing People Now, since I have left college that a lot of courses have cut back for people with disabilities. People like myself were either on training schemes, voluntary work or and the dole. Please give support for people with disabilities to be given better chances than that!

Over the years I have discovered that I can write stories, poetry, plays, drama, draw and paint. Like non - disabled people, people with disabilities are creative in difference ways. We are just a bit slower that than others. I have read on the Internet that way back in history a lot of creative famous people with disabilities didn't become famous until they died. If you type in the search engine Famous people with disabilities, you will be amazed how they are and were through out the times. Please don't let this happen in future generations, let people see their work shown to the world! Isn't it worth giving people time to learn instead of giving up teaching and training them into what they want to do instead of what society wants them to do. If you would like to see your views, please send them on sarajgorman@googlemail.com or Facebook sarajgorman@gmail.com Perhaps you would like to send your creative work to me. This is why I think we should create creative jobs people with disabilities, in fact all creative people whether we all have a disability or not.

LET VOICES BE HEARD!

People with disabilities are treated more fairly than what we used to be, but society still has a long way to go. People's attitudes need to get towards people with disabilities.
Back in the day children were seen and not heard. We all keep hoping that those days are gone but we can never build a perfect, if that was the case it would be boring. We shouldn't make children scared to used their voices. The most hardest is when something happens to you is not knowing whether it's right to tell anyone or not by your choose. Is it your free choice or not, it should be. You should be able to choose what you talk about and what you don't. It should be the same for people with disabilities, people just need to learn to understand. I think on the whole we get misbehaved because we're misunderstood. Please support us to be understood by giving us easy support aids to support us! If you read my report about communication support, that's the support a lot of us need. If it's not good you have the right to know, which should give you the rights to use your voice if you want. Does it still stand in society's eyes that children are seen not heard? Do all hidden voices still stand in all ages of people with disabilities in the eyes of society? If we are still living in dark ages, it's about time we moved on..

• What if they try to tell you something, you don't believe or and understand them!
• What if whatever it is in their minds is still there in adulthood, if they tell you are sure to believe and understand them don't you!

Whether they have a disability or not, please take more time to listen to them. Whether you are a family member or friend to them.

PEOPLE WTH DISABILITES SHOULD HAVE SUPPORT TO HAVE THEIR OWN CHOCIES IN THEIR LIVES.

Since I have been working with Our Shout support by Mencap, I have learned about Person Centre plan, which we have a meeting about every couple of months or so, we call it the PCP meeting.
Main stream people should support people with disabilities to have the rights of the choices they want in their lives. For; eg

• Where they live.
• Where they receive Health care.
• Where they receive education.
• What kind of job they would like and where they would like to work.
• Where they would like to socialise, who their friends, boyfriends and girlfriends are.

We all agree that people with disabilities need more protection and support from people without disabilities. Life isn't just full of risks for people with disabilities. Society mustn't lock people with disabilities away from the world. There should be people around in case they need any support with any problems but not to hold their hands twenty four hours a day.

Please email me if you or and can support this issue Sarajgorman@googlemail.com or on Face book sarajgorman@gmail.com

THE HOMELESS YOUNGEST MINDS.

Nobody in my family loves me.
I know I could have been very naughty, but there is no need for my family to kick me out on the streets.
I am very frightened to go back home, but I know my family don't want me.
I know I made a big mistake in thinking I could cope to find my own home, I just wanted to be an adult far too quickly.
I realise now I was wrong thinking I could cope.
I can't find any food to eat, but bits and piece of bread.
I am sleeping on the hard street floors, but some nights I sleep in cardboard boxes.


It's alright this poem isn't about me but how many of us stop to think what goes through homeless people's minds, mainly at christmas time?

THERE ARE SO MANY LONELY PEOPLE.

In this world we do not realise that there are so many lonely people.
These lonely get out of bed every single morning.
Living a life that seems so dull and boring.
These lonely people do not have family or friends to talk to and see.
When you see the lonely people, they seem more happy than lucky us.
They have such lovely smiles on their faces.
Where these lonely lonely people come from?
What on earth can anyone or "The Happy Society" do for them?

"The Happy Society" used be a social club for people learning disabilities. Roy Holdcoft
used to take us out to pubs, Day trips and holidays but it got too cost too much for him to keep running and us too. We used to raise money. I used to write news letters, my ex boyfriend Anthony used to sell them for 20p. We also had a Jumble sale, which was organised by me but we didn't get a lot out of it.

THIS IS THE REAL WORLD, NOT A DREAM WORLD.

In fairlytale stories they say you have to kiss a good many ugly frogs to find your handsome Prince.
In my case I believe I have kissed handsome princes who have turned into ugly frogs.
Believe me, believe me not, I think my days of kissing handsome princes have gone.
Because I fear every handsome prince I kiss will turn into an ugly frog.

All the lovely things I used to dream, I thought would come true.
Now I am unhappy that everything I ever wanted hasn't happened to me and no chance will it be.
I blame myself, I fell in love far too young.
Little did I know everything was going to turn out wrong.
Now I can't love at all, because I am frightened of getting hurt again.
A male and female friendship forever more.
I must keep away from those ugly frogs.

GOOD FRIENDSHIP.

This may be only friendly love, but to me it is good enough.
I don't think you need a boyfriend and girlfriend to love.
Male and female can still share a friendship to love.
My friendship will be here with you for however long you want me to be close to you.
I will never go away from you, unless you want me to.
I know we have been through the same thing, I know what you are going through.
Trying to move on from the people you love or loved is very hard to do, but somehow we must get on with our lives and get through.
We must try and see a future for ourselves the best way we can, but believe me I do understand that is very hard to do but all the same we must get through.

GUILTY AND HIDING FROM THE TRUTH.

Going quiet on people when they talk.
Never caring about people's feelings.
Lying to hide away from the truth, because the truth hurts one.
One is shamed, one is in the wrong.
For one to tell one, but to get someone else to tell one.

I LOVE YOU, DO YOU LOVE ME TOO?

Your hair is blonde, so soft and thick.
Many times I have reached out for your love to tell you.
" Darling I love you so true."
The problem is that you are not with me a lot to say.
" I love you so true too.
Now I have to wait until I see you again.

I love you so true.
I hope and pray to god that you love me to so true too, but I think or know you do.
Three little words saying I love you can make you feel so special.
So can those three little letters.
Poetry is not where I can spell those three little or big words.

LOST LOVE.

There's nothing you can do when you lose the person you love.
All you can do is learn to move on and meet a new love.
When long love is lost it's hard to move on.
No matter how hard it is you must move on.
When short love can come before you look.
It is so important to be loved.
Love can't be made, unless you make it.
When love goes down the drain, it can't always be saved.
For goodness sake you must be brave enough to love again.
Love can cause you so much anger, hurt and pain.
Sometimes it's hard to love again.
Sometimes it's hard to live without love and be lonely.
Without love in many ways, life isn't the same.

I LOVE MY MAN AND HE LOVES ME.

I love my man he loves me.
I care such a lot about him and he cares such a lot about me.
Ups and downs are to come that is part of life to be.
If it's to be it will be, if it's not to be it won't be.
I hope and pray it will be.

Upsets are sure to happen, but I hope between us we will do our very best to put whatever problem we have right.
He isn't just my lover, he is also my best friend out of all males.
I'm sure and hope that he feels the same way as I do about him.
I hope and pray that we, what future we have to be, brings us love, reationship and friendship.

ABOUT MY POEMS.

You may wonder why I write about love a lot in my poetry.I started writing poetry in 1997 at the age of 27 nearly 28. My relationship had broken up with Anthony very badly at that time.
Not every poem is only about Anthony, there are poems about many other friendships and relationships too. ( The good and the bad times.)

One day I was walking along Bilston college library, looking at poetry books without planning to. Suddenly I found myself reading John Keat's poems, his work was connected with what I was going through at the time. I studied his worked and wrote my own poems, which helped me learn how to come to terms with my break down over my relationship at that time. When I think about it now I shouldn't have taken it as hard as I did but If I didn't, I question would I have written poetry? To be truthful, I don't know.

I do write about other things but I sent a lot of work off to publishers, they chose my love poems. The publishers I used was Poetry Now. They wanted me to write about people homeless at Christmas, so i wrote The Youngest Mind, which isn't not about me, it's about what could be going through the minds of homeless people not just at Christmas but all year round.


These poems haven't just been written. my last poem was published in 2002 and first was published 1998. I haven't given up poetry, I just haven't had luck with publishing since my first publishers charged too much.

CRYING OUT FOR LOVE.

I must move on again.
Please give me any reason why I shouldn't love someone and someone should love me?
Why do I feel as if my days of love and romance has gone for me?
Is there something wrong with me?
How can I share love when no one is there to share love with?
I can't give love to someone when he isn't there to have love from me.
Whoever you may be, if you're faithful, kind and good looking please come to me?
I don't mind having seriour or play full love, as long as someone can give me some kind of love, I will be happy to play or stay in whatever way.
Just any kind of passion that comes my way.
I don't mind playing the field or having forever love.

MY LONGEST TRUE LOVE.

My true love once had a heart that gave me so much love.

I had this heart and I really truly enjoyed his love.

Now he doesn't have a heart anymore, because he isn't now my love.

He's now with someone forever and for good.

He's not my true love anymore, but he was my first serious love.

That I will never, ever forget.

I don't think he will find another love like me again.

I don't think I will find another love like him again.

DRAGON

Watch your ps and qs when you are talking to the dragon.
She may well blow smoke at you and burn you if you get on the wrong side of her, she can have the Irish dragon inside her.
Don't be put off by her, she has a nice side too.

PEOPLE.

We are all human beings.
We all have different nationalities.
Most people have white skin.
Some people have black skin.
Other people have brown skin.
Some people believe in god others don't.
Some people go to church others don't.
Why don't we just accept each other for the way we all are?
Life is hard enough without making it worse.
Some people have choose to be who they are and what they, others don't have any choose at all.
Just because one person is black and the other person is white, it doesn't mean they are not alright.
I understand that not everyone gets on but you can't take away the way they are or their equal rights.

You have the right to know what people say and think about you but
keep your thoughts to yourself, just walk away!
Why risk been locked away from the world, it's not worth it for anyone.
No need to hurt or kill.
Why take your anger out on people who are harmless to you, be strong.
Stick to your own thoughts in life: let others stick to theirs.

PEACE AND LOVE..

We all have to go by the rules of the law.
We are all prisoners of war in our own counties wherever we are from.
We are always dreaming of a peaceful and lovable world.
Not a greedy or hateful world.

Why do we hurt and kill one another?
Why can't we respect one another for being human beings?
Why can't we keep away from one another if don't like one another?
Why waist our lives behind bars when there are so many good things to see and look forward to?
No world needs to be perfect but why not give peaces and love rather than war?

OUR DULL GREY WEATHER !

Although today the weather changes very quickly from hot to cold all over the UK, the sky in the Black Country changing from black to white but very rarely blue these days. You always miss the black, white, dull or grey sky turning to blue, I wonder why? Today you never see the sky without a cloud. Most of the time the weather doesn't tell you the truth. Never believe it if the sky is blue in the Black Country, that it's warm enough or hot enough outside. Never believe it when the sky is grey, black, white or and dull that the weather is cold. Carry your coat or put it in a bag just in case because you can go hot and cold in seconds, in fact less time than that at times. The Black Country started off with smoke and coal, now it's turn to thunder and rain that has washed out the old coal fires, may be a little sun if we're lucky.

My RELATIONSHIP EXPERIENCE

Things can change people, since my Nan has died, my ex boyfriend Anthony doesn't seem to know whether he still wants me or not, he just completely confuses me. May be I have changed since my Nan has died without noticing. On the other hand he could have changed. When I asked him if I have changed, he wouldn't tell me . The way my Nam's death has affected me, may have affected me and us as a couple. I have tried very hard to get on with my life by with with Mencap. I have always wanted to help others like myself anyway. Where would I have been without Mencap? I still would have helped Mencap out no matter what. Without Mencap. I would have felt very down and depressed. I can not bare it without keeping myself busy. I still have my ups and downs like we all do, just like we all do when we lose people close to us. I do understand that life goes thought. My Nan wouldn't want me looking at the four walls all day long. She would have wanted me to keep busy. I know she's not going to come back but I know she'd be pleased with what I am doing at Mencap. Being busy is a great thing to do whatever you are going through. This is why I feel it's right people with disabilities should have the rights the education and career they want. I don't believe it's healthy not to have anything to look forward to.It's even better to feel you have achieved something for your future and life not to kill the hours in the day or night. It would be great for us to get paid work like non - disabled people.

May be a lot of people like myself have felt as if life isn't worth living because of a having learning disabilities. The more skills I have achieved the more I now think life is worth living. Please keep improving the support!

The least Anthony could have done was to be a bit supported rather letting my affects of Nan's death affect both of us, Nan wouldn't have wanted that. Still that's the way he wants it, there's plenty more fish in the sea. Even though, it's hard to come terms with over thirteen yrs on and off, we've know each other just over fourteen yrs now.

One thing I am trying to learn is not to fall in love too easily. When things go wrong the stress gets too much. Love isn't all it cuts out to be but that doesn't mean you have to be lonely. What we also have to remember is that we have to go through the same ups and downs in life as non - disabled people.

OK, we may well have our health problems but life is full of learning.
We just need to to keep ourselves busy and come to term with these disappointments in our own time. Being strong is the answer not weak. I know it's not easy because we have to learn to not let these things get to us, these things happen whether we like it or not.
It is hard at first but life changes, new things happen in it's own time and new people come into our lives. If you come across the same thing in life as I have, don't hold on to it too tight, you will find it's hard to let go.

There are all kinds of disabilities but if they have high support needs, for eg: such things likes needing to be bathed, taken to the toilet and etc can be hard work for people without disabilities, I'm not saying that you are all the same though.

• How can people need to change things to treat us equal to them?

• People should treat people with disabilities equal to them selves.

• We cannot help the way we are, we didn't create our disabilities, we didn't plan to be hard work for you.

A disability can be caused at birth or even in an accident after birth. A lot of people have been with disabilities before an accident. It could take a long time before you can get your life back how it used be or not at all. You could find that you may need more help with everything than what you need now. This how disabilities can affect you.My disability happened at the birth but I understand how a disability in accident change people's lives at lot if they haven't been disabled before.


Never turn someone down because they have a disability, you would be hurt if you were their shoes. Please treat people with disabilities the same as how you want to be treated if you had disabilities.

This is why we think it's only fair that you support us, give us as many equal rights as possible, which still isn't good enough, it needs to get better all areas of life. We need to move on with the times, put the old fashioned times behind us. Families and carers can be very over protected so we need to them to support their children to have equal lives, still keeping them save but not wrapping them up in cotton wool.

We agree that we aren't getting enough support yet but Mencap work hard everyday to see that people with disabilities get equal lives. People in the Mencaps' groups who have disabilities such as myself, are willing to work hard to see that other people with disabilities get a better support than we did.

• We hope that we can achieve an equal live for people with disabilities for future generations to come.

• Sadly we must accept that time is slow, it's taken us far too many years to get where we are now.

• I guess it will take even longer for us to make things better.
  

• I suppose better late than never but sometimes you fear a lot of things aren't going to happen but we can't get everything we want.

• We hope that other people, their carers and etc get better support than what our families, carers and ourselves did.
  

• I know I'm not that old but some things it's too late for but other things it's never too late for, that's life. As long as I can see others happy that's the main thing for me now.
  

• Things still have changed a lot since my birth, my childhood teenager yrs and even the beginning of my adulthood.

It's our job to train non - disabled people to accept people with disabilities as equal as possible and give us the right support we need and want.

THINGS NEED TO CHANGE FOR THE BETTER.

I think employers should build a understanding with people with learning disabilities and Mental Health problems.

People with learning disabilities ourselves understand it's important to keep safe, which is where Health and Safety comes into it but with the right support in the work placement this should be possible.


As at least nine out of ten people with disabilities don't drive have to replete on transport for eg buses. Due to how bad the traffic is these been on time for work can't always be promise same applies to anyone who has to reply on pubic transport. Transport not been reliable can make people lose their jobs. We are trying to help with disabilities and Health problems to be equal to all people, this isn't making our job easy.

A lot of people with disabilities and Health problems are on tablets that may slow them down, this is what Health staff should look into. It's important that people should be aware of what's going on around them. In the terms of people with disabilities work Health should be keeping record to people's and calling them out more often for check ups. Employers need to take peoples'health on board mainly people with disabilities or and Health problems.

With the right support for interviews and in the work place work it should be possible for people with disabilities to be employed or even Self - employed if they want.


Employers are missing out on the creative talents most people with disabilities and Mental Health problems have got. They may be good at other things too, it's just going for they are good at what they enjoy.

Training and exams too.

I am Sara Jane Gorman a member of Our - Self Advocacy group supported by Mencap. This is our Travel Buddy Social Enterprise Proposal.

People with learning disabilities are encouraged to access community faclilities but this will be hard and more expensive for those who don't travel independently.

Isolation is a feeling that many people with learning disabilities face in the evenings and weekends. There's very little support for most people to get out and about, they never get the chance to learn how to travel independently.

A' Travel Buddy' will support people to travel on pubic transport to get them where they want and need to go. This will build peoples'confidenece up and potentially lead them to becoming an independent traveller in the future.

Due to how bad the traffic these days there can be hold ups to get people to places for certain time limits, that's not just a problem for people with learning disabilities but for everyone. This is another cause of why unemployment is so high when pubic transport makes people late for work.

To promote the Health and Well being of people with learning disabilities by increasing involvement in community based work and activities.

Intensively trained adults with learning disabilities to set up a city wide team of paid ' Travel Buddies'.


The proposed service will help to encourage social inclusion, promote independence, and give paid work chances.

Many people with disabilities do not like travelling on ' special buses to day centres and often spend a long time on the transport while other people are picked up.

Often people are travelling to day centres before going to college in the mornings. This means two journeys instead of one! They are not learning to be in dependant if they are picked up and from their homes.

Background In March 2008 us members of Our Shout Self Advocacy group decided to set up our own business. In the past we haven't had any positive experiences in the workplace and we want to create jobs ourselves for people with disabilities with the right support. After a time the Travel Buddy service didn't kick off so Mencap passed us on to Employment Pathways then we Changed to Access All Areas Now! Learning Disability Awareness Training serive, which is even now due to funding, the cutbacks for our support very slow. October 2010 Lucy our supporter of Our Shout left in October but we were thinking about making changes anyway as we now have very few members in Our Shout and we want to make our career grow. Both me and Jessica run Access All Areas Now! but Jessica is finding she has too much work with Mencap to own Access All Areas Now! so hopefully I will be running it myself with the right support. There again when I had a meeting with Our Shout I told them I didn't want to leave them out so asked them how they would like the idea of Our Shout and Access All Areas Now! linking together so we can train new members to be where we are today and give services learning disability awareness training. We hope day to create a services for topics of life for people with disabilities, that's the idea of Access All Areas Now! Travel Buddy we hope to be one of those topics.

Aims

The travel service will give proper paid jobs for people with learning disabilities.

The travel service will give one to one support to people with learning disabilities to get around on pubic transport so they can get around.

To support social inclusion for people with disabilities and help them become more confident and independent.

To give a unique service to Wolverhampton that supports people with disabilities and give people by people with disabilities. There are many examples in other areas of the country where this is working well.


Mencap put a bid for European funding back in 2008 and still counting to look for other funding chances in chance this is not a success. Update 8th November 2010.



The problems that our disabilities cause can affect our lives, which can make it very hard for employers to understand and accept,this can cause us discrimination.

People with disabilities should be allowed to educate and train staff and managers on the training, education and support we need in all areas of including Health, Safety and Security. I feel that's all we need as people with disabilities but with equal rights to get by in life.

If people with disabilities enjoy their job, if we have good people around us who are nice to us,People with disabilities need to train non - disabled people around disability awareness and train them to improve support for people with disabilities. We will look forward to getting out of bed in the mornings if we like the people we work with and if we enjoy our job same goes for the rest of the society.

Employers should create jobs for people disabilities or and support, train and educate us to set up our own businesses, if that's what we want, we want to feel equal to others. As you read in the Travel Buddy report Mencap are support us to hopefully getting our own business. I think people with disabilities are getting so Feb up with waiting for people to support them into work, it's slowly getting common for them to be having support for them set their own business to support people like themselves.

Some people with disabilities are creative, what about making small changes? For :eg I can write poetry, stories, draw and paint. Attitudes need to change for the better. You don't know what you are missing by turning down people like us down. I feel as if it's only Mencap and Employment Pathways who have had faith in me.

How many of you employ and pay people with disabilities and or Health problems?
What kind of jobs are out there for people with disabilities and how many of you support us and employ us?
Most of this report is what I wrote to introduce to the Employment play.

Up date this report Saturday 12th September 2009
A year and a half after Mencap's Employment play in June 2008, the government has launched a plan called Valuing Employment Now.

It talks about how to help as many people with disabilities as possible into work. The jobs should be for at least 16 hours a week. We shouldn't be trapped in this benefit trap we have a job to earn enough money to live our lives, that includes paying for our Health care just like other people. Benefits should be given to families and carers who look after people with disabilities who need a lot more care than what we do.

Government leaders say " We need more people with disabilities in jobs".

" We know that people with disabilities want to work and can do a good job that employers value.

" Employment is a fundamental part of life and only when people with disabilities have the same chances as all people."
This values us people with disabilities the same as all human beings.

This is going to be planned so that people with disabilities can work like all people but with the right support they want and need.

I am pleased to say it looks like without building any hopes that the government hopefully won't let us down that things are starting to look up even though if it's took over a year to get feed back from the Employment play I wrote last year June 2008. Thank you those who supported us.

November 2010 update.

All people over Britain are stuffer cutbacks for everything. When it comes to people with disabilities needing support for everyday skills for eg running a home, then there isn't the money to pay Social Care staff to support them. Families and carers aren't getting any younger so what does the future bring? These cutbacks affect every topic to do with peoples' lives which affects you whether you have disabilities and Health problems or not.

It is more dangerous for people with disabilities to look at the four walls 24 hours a day we need to work and go to college, we will just depressed otherwise. We need more to life than just keeping our lives and minds busy, we want a career just like you.

If you would like to email me on anything at all, I would be very interested here from from you if it's anything to do with learning disability, meaning family member, carer, parent or a person with a learning disability yourself. You make want to talk about the cutbacks or and learning disability rights. sarajgorman@googlemail.com

WHAT I HAVE FOUND OUT ABOUT THE BLACK COUNTRY.

An American consul Elihi Burritt in Birmingham 1862, once said or wrote about the Black country, Black by day and red by night. When we think about Elilhi having said that Black country saying may be he gave the Black Country it's name. How Strange an British American could have so much truth of describing the Black Country. This was because the Black country area had a 30ft coal seam in the 19th century, this came from West Bromwich, Oldbury, Blackheath, Cradley Heath, Old Hill, Bilston, Dudley, Tipton, Wednesfield, parts of Halesowen and Wedensbury.

MY FAMILY

My Family.

This is my family, Aunty Vicci standing next to me, my Nan Letty, Mum Jane and my sister Holly.

TRAVEL BUDDY SCHEME FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITES.

ACCESS ALL AREAS NOW! are now supported by Employment Pathways, even though Mencap started off supporting is. We are now Sole Traders instead of a Social Enter Prize. We are employed by Wolverhampton City Council. We hope to create the Travel Buddy service along with other services. we hope to train people who work in services around learning disability awareness before we have services of our own. ACCESS ALL AREAS NOW! Sunday 11th April 2010 up date We are sorry that the business is a year late, it's slowly than we thought it was going to be. We should be having a new business plan, as soon as we do I will up date report as soon as I find out the new change of the business plan.

Andy Howard was with us for a while until he had a few home problems, he even found himself leaving our for about 3 to 6 mouth so he missed out on half of the training myself and Jess went through.He now need to catch up, he's now Self - Employed yet but he will slowly will be.
David Oakley was going to join us as Business partners but he had too many commitments at home.

There must be some people who haven't experienced traveling alone on the West Midlands Travel buses at all, they may have had no choice but to be picked from their own homes and back again. Parents, families and carers may worry about them traveling alone, we will be happy to support them to see that they will be learning independent travel training as well as hopefully putting mini buses on for safety. We will worry more about them traveling at night on the West Midlands Travel but if their choice is to do that, we will have to go a long with it. If we tell them to contact us and their families , carers and etc to see that they are safe. We will support people who are less independent. We Understand that Anti - social behavior is bad enough on it's own but if you don't know where you are going and you can't remember directions, it's even worse. We will do anything and everything we can to support their safety. We understand Anti - social behavior gives anyone grief but if someone can't take no for answer, some people with disabilities may be not be able to cope with it the same as main stream people. Having said that people with disabilities should have the same rights to life as non - disabled people, otherwise we feel useless. We are doing a training at the library this mouth, which will be on one of the reports on this website, we are hoping to do Health training session for Mencap's learning disability week in June and hopefully to doing a training session for people who work in Travel services due to not having a bus station for roughly two years.

We should also be encouraged them to make friendships, relationships through college, work, social events and etc. Give us rights to have what we want with right support! With your support we would like to support others like us to have most rights we have and you have. There are things that we haven't got in life because of the lack of past support. The things we have achieved have been just luck, which hasn't been easy because there was even less support when we were at school and when we left then there is now. We have either learned those things in our time or the very limited support what there there was just about out there. Like everyone we still have a lot to learn, some things it's too late for because the support wasn't out there when we were young enough to learn these things. It isn't all black and white because there are things it's never too late for. With the things we have learned, we would like to teach people with disabilities with better support than what we had. It would be lovely to see these people to be where we are today but going through less hard work than what we went though. Let us do the hard work, we're with you all the way guys!

In case anything happens to a person or people with learning disabilities you are caring for or may be a person with a disability yourself. West Midlands Police WPC Jan Johnson Vulnerable person's officer Wolverhampton , Crime Stoppers and Jan's EXT: IS 7871 6818. If you don't live in Wolverhampton you may be you will able to look for the same support else where. If you email me or and get in touch with Mencap we possibly may be able to help you find a contact in case anything happens to people with a disabilities. If you look at the Mencap website, may be you can find a report called DISABILITY HATE CRIME or type DISABILITY HATE CRIME in the search engine. Nine times out of ten if a crime is going happen, it happens when no one is around. When that happens to a lot of people can get disbelieved but even more so when things happen to people with disabilities . Please if you see anyone with a disability who is very upset over a crime, please support them if they ask you to, thank you or even help anyone who feels they need it. It's too much of a dangerous world but we all have to live our lives.

There wasn't a Travel Buddy Business schemes serves, when we were learning to travel independently. We had to learn the hard way with hardy any support at all but we got there in the end somehow. When I was learning to travel on buses, I was on my last school Penn fields Wolverhampton. I was living with my Nan. The school just sent me to travel out on the bus on a scheme helping out in an Old people's home. I never got there because I spent all day trying to find the place on my own, this happen every time the Deputy Headmaster sent me out there. My Gran was worried sick because there were most nights I didn't in until 7pm. From 9am I spent all day looking for where I was going but never got there. The staff from the Old people's home rang him up to say I didn't turn up. I told him I tried, he didn't believe me and he was very angry with me, so I was completely misunderstood. Lucky enough in those day Anti - Behaviour and Crime was very rare but today it's risky wondering around waisting time, even back then anything could have happened to me. I needed a Travel buddy but me, Jess and Andy will now see other people like I used to be will get their Travel buddies.

If you are really worried, we are hoping to provide either social workers, Key workers or even support workers to support their safety but also give them lead way to do their own thing. Some support may not be there to start off right way but hopefully it will one day. Not surprisingly so a lot of things come down to funding. We could have to do a lot of Fund racing, the government isn't always kind to us. We will keep trying until we get there, like we have had to with our own lives, to give them the best support people as possible, which no one knew about when we were learning. Everyone is learning everyday.

I used to get Ring and Ride when I was seeing my ex boyfriend almost every night of the week, even it got me home safe. it was a pain booking two days before hand. It took forever for them to find out whether they could get you a journey or not, it costs people a lot of money on their phones while they are waiting for their lifts to be booked.People with disabilities need a more accessible way of traveling. Ring and Ring doesn't work very well for a appointments or any events that start and finish certain times.


UP - DATING OF THE TRAVEL BUDDY REPORT. Sunday 11th April 2010. Last Sunday the bus station was closed for a new bus station to be done one, which will take about 18 mouths to 2 yrs. The only replacement of the bus station is Queen Street in Wolverhampton big it's not big enough to access all buses. May buses people have to catch on and off in the street. This is a bog change all people not just people with disabilities. Many people with with disabilities travel rather well on the buses but some don't. We all have different disabilities, we all learn at different speed. If you have always be guided by people it takes a lot to get ready for the big wide world alone. It's not just getting a bus but finding your way around.

There are plenty of school children and school leavers with disabilities that need to learn about the big wide world just like I did just over 20+ yrs ago. It's going be a long 2yrs until the bus station is done. In the mean time, as mostly people are getting out and off in the city and the streets, it needs to be more accessible for people who find more hard to get around. The next change will be in 2yrs time when the bus station is ready, I hope will be able to talk to someone from the Travel services about the changes to the bus station so it's as accessible as possible for people with disabilities to get about.

Now me and Jess have that we have set up Access All Area Now! we can get in touch with some Travel people to have some meetings with them to plan a training session. The Travel buddy service is one of the services we hope to have in the future but we are still finding our feet at the moment, it's still all very new to us. The aim is to support as many areas in the lives of people with learning disabilities as possible. This is why we are called ' ACCESS ALL AREAS NOW! We want to train other services about disabilities first. We are not building our hopes but we will never say never. We can only see how successful we can be. We are hoping to meet up with people from Travel services in the West Midlands to find out how accessible the new bus station is going to be.

If you have any views or and stories to share on the subject of transport, travel training and learning disability. I'd be very happy to read your email whether you are a person with a disability, family member, friend or and carer.sarajgorman@gmail or Facebook sarajgorman@gmail.com

HEALTH, SAFETY, EDUCATION, TRAINING AND SUPPORT.

Health & Safety should be educated in the work placements, colleges, schools and etc. I will be talking to Our Shout about people with disabilities having educaion and training support with Health & Safety education, I think it should be the same for non - disabled people too. Our Shout would like people with disabilities to be healthy, safe and happy but also having the rights they want and need. It would be great to have that balance with your support thank. If have any point a views or can give any support on anything. Sarajgorman@google.com or on Facebook sarajgorman@gmail.com

HOME SUPPORT

I hope to be asking Our Shout if they would like a social worker at pond lane Health where we have a lot of our health meetings, if so I will give Our Shout's answer in the pond Lane meeting.

I would be interested to know how many people with disabilities get support in their homes, such as cooking, shopping and etc. I don't think it should depend on what disabilities people have, it should depend on levels of support people with disabilities want and need by their choice because people with disabilities should have the rights to live their lives how they want.
I was very disappointed to read in the report Tell It As It Is. I think this was the Mencap report, I was reading. People with learning disabilities, families and carers have complained about the charges they have to pay for home support because their benefits don't enough. I myself have just copied with family support since people with learning disabilities and their families have had to pay. I don't think it's right because people with disabilities shouldn't have the blame for having disabilities, we don't ask to be the way we are. No one asks to be born but no one asks to have a disability either.

If you have any views on this subject, I'd be very happy to receive your email thank you. If you are a carer, family member, parents, friends, people with a disability or and etc, you are welcome to send me an email about anything you want whether it's worries or not. I can't promise I can help with everything but I can promise for sure that I will listen and respond back to you in the best way I can. I would be interested in any story you may want to tell if you want to for eg: may be if you have been charged too much money for Home Support. I am hoping we will be able to vote the government may be next year to put a stop to these charges, which as I have said had been in the Mencap report.
If you would like to email me about home support sarajgorman@google.com or sarajgorman@gmail.com. You can even email Mencap if you want, who may possibly know more than me on any subject. The email addresses could be the same but difference people deal with difference subjects.

COMMUNICATION TRAINING

I hope to talk to Our Shout about Communication training because I feel it's very important for non - disabled people who supports people with learning disabilities to be able to learn how to understand us in each and every way. Communication training needs to be given.

For example Mapa which is a form of communication learning to understand why most people with disabilities have behavior problems and how to calm these people down. Not even I haven't had any training in Mapa because it's very new. As I said in one of my stories, I used have very bad behavior problems myself as a child. My reasons were that I found my disability very hard to accept so I used get very angry when I couldn't do things and that I didn't feel equal to non - disabled people. Like I said again the very strong tablets I used to be on made me very bad tempered, moody and I felt left out of society. When I came off those tablets, I slowly started to calm. Those tablets also made me very hyperactive with no sleep at night so I was over tired. This is why we need to question, why do most people with disabilities have behavior problems? What goes through people's minds is any one's guess. Most people's behaviors problems may not be for the same reason as mine. What a boring world if we were all the same. Mind you some people have behavior problems without any tablets at all, others some or all tablets could be dangerous for them or some could be just on the wrong tablets. This is one of the reasons why people with disabilities need check ups at least once year. There's nothing worse than finding you don't get on with people through no fault of your own.

A lot of people call these problems challenging behavior, I don't like that word Challenging behavior because behavior problems isn't a challenging. Challenging means trying to do something new and good, which is a new experience. Leaning and doing something new can be very hard at first, that's why it can be challenging. As soon as you have learned whatever it is, you have a achieved it, which is a good thing. Having behavior problems is a bad thing. We mustn't confuse good and bad.

Mental capacity is also a new form of communication for people who find it hard to say what they want in life, whether they get their wishes or not. With those kind of people, we tend to think they haven't got a mind. How do we know that? When we come across those kind of people, how do we know what they do and don't know? How do we know and what they don't want? We must have a communication aid that helps us understand, whether there is one I don't know, do you? Even if that support is there I bet it cost loads of money. It's us who don't understand these people because they can't speak. I think we need to watch what we say because it's possible that they understand us better than we understand them. What we should know is that a lot of these people can communicate in other ways even if they put their hands up to say ( Stop)! Sign language for the deaf, Brail for the blind has been going on goodness knows how many years.

I feel with dyslexia we still have a long way to go to get full dyslexia support. I'm dyslexic myself. People have dyslexia tutors, which is better than it was but through my experience the government isn't allowing enough support. For eg: I couldn't get extra timing with my exams until I went to Dudley, Wolverhampton doesn't do that as far as I know. Old Hall street college doesn't anyway.

There are also a lot of support aids, is good but they costs a lot of money for eg speaking machines for people with speaking problems, coloured paper for people who are dyslexic, not a lot of us have enough money to pay for them. We could do with raising money for these things, otherwise how can we understand these people.

In fact funding seems to be the big problem for a lot of things that are stopping people with disabilities having rights to be equal others, most of the time government funding isn't enough.What makes me angry about the government they tend to spend it on the least important things. I am sure they have more money tucked away than they make out, they just don't want to spend it.

If you are interested in fund raising please have a look on the Mencap website. We are sure to have the right email address for you. If not please get in touch with our office at the Science Park in Wolverhampton Anne Humpherey - Jones 01902 - 824301, Lucy Dunstan 01902 -2824362 or email me to get in touch with them whatever is easier for you, thank you. I will get back to you if you want to tell you what they say.
If you can support us to support you in anyway please send me an email thank you. May be you will be interested in supporting people with disabilities as a career and job. Sarajgorman@googlemail.com or Facebook sarajgorman@gmail.com.

GET USED TO PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES!

Once you have a disability, it's there for life. Is it there for a reason, who knows? We don't chose to have a disability. We don't have a say in the mater, it just happens! If we could chose to have a disability, why would we? If you could chose your life from the beginning, would you chose to have a disability? No you wouldn't' why would you? It's not a nice feeling, when you feel as if others are pushing you out of society. You feel like the odd one out and alone in the world. Sometimes we are treated as if we have chosen to have a disability, it's as if we made to feel guilty about having a disability. The choices for people with disabilities can be very few and far in between. Living without not many or any choices doesn't make you feel as if you are an adult. It's as if some people don't want to know us. It has got better for me than it was but I haven't forgotten what it felt like to feel completely useless. If you encourage people with disabilities to think positive about themselves they will do. If you think completely negative about them, they will think bad of themselves, scared to try things, to do things and scared of people full stop. We do not except to be made to be perfect, who is? no one. Balance it, we don't want to be big headed but we don't want to think bad of ourselves either. Mencap want to to encourage people with disabilities think as positive as possible about themselves. All my friends in Our Shout have said including myself, it's took a lot of hard work to think positives about ourselves.

Even animals should have the rights to be treated equally to human beings. It's as if people with disabilities are hard work to society, may be we are but we don't mean to be, like I said we don't chose to be either. It's not nice to be discrimination against what you are and who you are. what choose to be, what don't chose to be, we are all human beings just like you. For : eg some people are alright, others are not but it shouldn't be because one person is black and the other person is white. Over the years I have learned that a lot people don't only turn their heads away from people with disabilities but other races, nationalities, religions and etc are the people who suffer discrimination as well.

During in 70s, when I used be those horrible tablets that didn't make me a nice person, at least in the eyes of society. I was classed as rude, stupid, thick and bad tempered because of my bad behavior problems and disabilities. I wanted to control how I was but I didn't know how to. When I couldn't accept my disability, I used to get angry because I couldn't do things, which was part of my behavior problems. I can't say how many years it has been since I have accepted my disability. I don't have a choice but to accept my disability, just like other people with disabilities. I should think I should accept it my age. I was disliked by people because of how the tablets were affected me. I thought I was going to be that person for the rest of my life. The old Sara has gone and I hope the old Sara doesn't come back, here is the new Sara. As soon as I came off these tablets, I had slowly started to have better control over my own actions. I started to be more aware of my own actions and surroundings. I feel a lot better in myself than I was. I still I wonder if the new Sara is improved 100% or is there a little old Sara still there. Only my family can answer that.

I still worry whether I do and say things that I'm unaware of but other days I feel strong enough not to care what people think. That's the way I have had to get used to my disability. There are people with disabilities who can't accept that they have disabilities, will be Our Shout's job to help people their disabilities. There's quite a good many people who can't accept people with disabilities, it's about time they did. Our Shout are also here to help people without disabilities accept people with disabilities. It should be easy for those who haven't got a disabilities because they don't have disabilities themselves. The hardest things for people without disabilities is understanding people with disabilities. How well can you understand yourselves and people in general? This should give you some ideas on how you understand people with disabilities.

The way you can learn about people with disabilities is by listening to us on how are our lives have been and we are today. Listen when we tell you, what we have to face in our lives! Would you like to live with what we have had to live with in the past? We will go through things that we have have improve and what we think still need improve for the lives of people with disabilities. If not in our life time but people with disabilities who come into the world after us. If only we can say that there are not going to be anymore people with disabilities, then we'd be more happy but then we wouldn't have a job. We have to accept that like we have accept our disability. I have had to get used to been misunderstood, it's part of my life whether I like it or not. For eg I may get misunderstood for the tone of my voice and what I may do, it may well sound rude when I don't intend to hurt any one's feeling.

I understand it's very hard for most non - disabled people to understand people with disabilities, that's why I want to team up with other people with disabilities to educate and train non - disabled people so they understand why we are what are and even who we are. They should look at us as people rather than our disabilities but also be aware of the support we need. It's only fare to treat people with disabilities so we are equal to non - disabled people. We need an equal balance between support and doing things on our own. We need you to support with things we can't do alone. Us as people with disabilities could help one another, what one can't do the other can. Try and think how you would like in your life be like if you were in our shoes! You would need support in the things you would find hard to do, you wouldn't want to be over crowded with people coming in between with what you can cope with. We don't always feel equal to others, we feel as if we are being discriminated by people but not as bad as we used to. Like I said, We are human beings who should have as many rights as possible with the right support to live our lives like everybody else.

For eg I am not saying that I have had to learn my own, that's not true but it has been hard to get the right support from the disability services I have had to go to. From the experience I have had myself, I would like to educate services to provide the best services for people with disabilities as many of their needs as possible. Having said that Our Shout can educate people to support people with the same disabilities ourselves, we understand people like ourselves. Who knows, we could come across difference people with all kinds of disabilities who could educate non - disabled people to support the same kind of disabilities as them, if you understand what I'm saying.

I'd like families and carers to be as happy as they can be with the services for people with disabilities. It's Our Shout's job to educate non - disabled people who work in these services. Mencap think it's very important for non - disabled people learn how to understand people with disabilities, Spend as much time as possible with us, get to know our needs, support us to lead our lives how we want to, which is equal to non - disabled people like you do, treat us like human beings, which we are. We're just a bit slower than you that's all. Give us the freedom when we want freedom. It's great to be cared for but we don't need or want to be wrapped up in cotton wool or another saying is far too over protected. An old fashion saying is let go of the pinafore strings!


Does it ever enter your heads that it could have been you? You could be thinking to yourselves. Why me, what have I done wrong to have a disability? You would have thought about these things, just like we do, Why did this have to happen to me?
How many people would know the answers to these questions, if you don't?
My family had told me about what happened at my birth but there was very little training, education and support for families and carers, let alone for people with disabilities themselves, if any which affected the lives of disabilities. I never knew how to cope with my disability as a child because in those days there wasn't the help for anyone. You just had to live the way it was so did everyone who were responsible for us. I don't think anyone knew what to except of people with disabilities. This is why people with disabilities and non - disabled people misunderstood understood one another. Even now, it's got better but we still have a long way to go to be equal to others. You will never know if you end up going into contact with people with disabilities as job, it could be a hard thing to cope with, if it's a new experience for you. Learn from the people who have and who feel disabilities ourselves, how we have to face life, the support we want and need to be equal to you.

I think I know all there is to know what happened at my birth and how it's affected my life. At least I should think I should, as I have lived with a learning disability for nearly thirty-nine years, which is all my life. There must be plenty of other people like me who may want to give the same message as me to non - disabled people.

HAVING COPED WITH DISCRIMANATION.

When I used to hear the word normal, it used to go right through me. As years had gone by, I have thought well, what's normal at the end of the day? It was almost as if everything should be right and perfect first time. I have only heard the word main stream, I guess for the last 5 to 10 yrs. Although the word main stream is two words than normal, it doesn't make everyone out to be perfect like the word normal does. I hate confusing things but it's hard to know what words to use, whether to use non - disabled people or people without disabilities without being discriminating. Yet I can understand why people find it hard what words us for disabilities without being discriminating.

We all make mistakes in our lives whether we have learning disabilities or not. Some people are just quicker than others, some don't learn at all. In the days that I felt stressed because I was under pressure to do things right the first time, everyone seemed bigger, more clever, better and quicker than me. I had always felt unsuccessful because I started life in a time people found it hard to think positive about themselves when I think back, let alone people with disabilities. I like many people suffer from Anxiety. It's got a bit better than it used to, I accept the things that I can't do and can't cope with in my life, it's just when someone make promises and breaks them, for eg: two difference people say difference things over the same thing I get confused easily. Anxiety's is more common that it used to be, I'm glad I'm not the only one. I never used to understand I was how I was, that's relieved me now. If you or anybody you know suffers for Anxiety with their say, your very welcome to email me if you want, I'd love hear from you.

I guess it's only been the last 15 -10 yrs, I have worked hard to think positive about myself, which hasn't been easy. Since I have started Mencap I have got a lot better in my self-steam quite quickly really for me but just the same for everyone in life, I still have long way to go, which never stops. I'm glad to say now that I have learned more skills over the years there's light at the end of the tunnel after all. I hope that I can help others like me to think more positive about themselves.

Over the years I have learned that I am just a bit of a slow learner, I'm not thick after all. It's as if society thought I was useless and too much hard work for them to teach me about life. We need to learn at our own speed otherwise we get stressed out and we feel left out to others. I understand every human being suffers with Anxiety but 9 times out of ten people with disabilities stuffer with health problems. Having said too much Anxiety can make anyone ill or and bring health problems on whether you have a disability or not. It would be very helpful if people would have more patience with people with disabilities, we understand, well at least I do that you haven't got all day but tomorrow another day or whenever is another day. If that's not possible, then I am sorry to say that word again, we need to get the right support and the amount of support that's right for each of us as possible.

I can truly say that I have learned more since I have left school than when I was there. I was glad to leave school, I hated it. That's not any difference for a lot of non - disabled people at the end of the day. With the skills I have learned I have proved myself and others wrong. When I was a child, I thought I'd stay a child forever needing twenty - four hour care for the rest of my life. I could never see adulthood, now I am starting to feel like an adult . Now I am living alone in a flat with a bit of family support. Difference people need difference levels of support.

This is why I have said to a lot of people, everyone with a disabilities needs their needs to be assessed, otherwise it's hard to know what support they need. For eg I have found that I have had my needs assessed at college, support I need in my home but not whenever I have been on work placement. We should be assessed in practical and theory, not just ticking things off on pieces of paper. All people with disabilities should be able to show people what we can and can't do. talk about what does and doesn't working on and write it down. Support people with disabilities in the area they need support in. We also need to find out what people with disabilities enjoy, which is like everyone the things that they are good at. This will help us and help you learn about people with disabilities. It would help us as service users who form Mencap who have disabilities ourselves. I'm a serve User with a disability from Mencap too. People with disabilities need more confidence building in difference skills, which really isn't any difference to non - disabled people too .

We must think and see positive in people with disabilities, then I believe they will think and see positive of themselves and in you as well. If you think and see negative, they will think negative of themselves and you. They won't be doing anything, if people look down on them, they will think it's a crime to make mistakes, which put them off. I believe everyone is worth more than looking and feeling like a spare part. All we need is support, we aren't useless. We just may not be as quick to learn than others. Each and everyone of us learn in all difference, levels, ways and speeds. If we were all the same, wouldn't it be a boring world? Some people need more support than others. Never look over people with disabilities but be there for them in case they need your support. Don't turn away from them in case they need you. Give some way they can contact you in case they need you, mainly if they don't have anyone else to turn to. I can go on a while until I see my family but they are always at the end of phone.
That's how I would like to support others like me. Like yourselves really, what one of us can't do the other can.

MENCAP

Mencap now have a new logo and new webpage http://www.mencap.org.uk/

THE FUTURE OF OUR SHOUT.

After we had done our NHS play on our experiences of NHS care, we are now planning two plays. 'OUR EXPERIENCES ON BEING VICTIMS OF CRIME AND BULLYING; 'OUR EXPERIENCES IN DISCRIMINATION WITH TRYING TO GET EMPLOYMENT'. Like the NHS play, we will be telling you our negatives stories in the play but hopeful bring them into positives. When the play is finished, us as a group Our Shout will be letting you all know the positives we want to make things better for us to be equal with you in this society, not only to improve the lives of people with disabilities but how non - disabled people are towards people with disabilities. Our Shout are hoping to perform our NHS play again in front of the student nurses at Walsall University, GPs and children at mainstream and special schools.

Hi everyone, I hope you will be glad to know that the Employment play was very successful. If any of you turned up, I hope you enjoyed it. I understand if all, some or even none of you couldn't make it. Those of you who may have not read about me telling you about the play, it was at the Lighthouse in Wolverhampton on Friday 20th June 2008, I wrote it myself. The time of the show was on at 10.00am - 3.00pm. We didn't do drama all day, other people who work with disabilities as well us Our Shout did some speeches and other things too to try and raise more awareness to help and encourage people to accept people with disabilities to be in employment. We were very disappointed that not many employers turned up and many people who work in disability employments services. We will have work harder to see that people with disabilities get equal rights to non - disabled workers and employers. If you or if you know someone who can be any support to us on the subject of employing people with disabilities, please contact Mencap or me. sarajgorman@googlemail.com you could even email me about subject on my email address on Face book sarajgorman@gmail.com http://www.mencap.org.uk/

The purpose of this play is to tell you the positives and negatives experiences that people with disabilities have to face with employment and the support we want to have positive futures for ourselves and others like us. I will be asking Our Shout if it will be alright for me to put on their stories on my website besides my own, as soon as I can get all the group together. Nine times out of ten we all seem to be doing difference jobs at times. Hopefully you should find out soon on this website whether I can put Our Shout's stories on this website or not. I hope to get someone to support me to put the DVD of the Employment play and my interview about the play.

The good news was that the people who saw the play were very impressed with us. We would like to find out how many work placements and employers accept people with disabilities and how many don't in Wolverhampton. What is the future going to do bring? How many non - disabled people do we need to educate to accept us to be equal to all human beings? Please email me or and get in touch with Mencap if you know the answers to those questions! Thank you.

Our Shout are hoping to do our own website as soon as when we get time to do so, we will try our best because we have so many other things to do. Please do accept the things that either take ages to do or some things we don't get around to doing at all. We will be doing the Employment play over B'ham on Tuesday 8th July 2008, I can't remember where they said but I will keep you posted on the response we get.

We are hoping to write a comedy play for us to do on the radio, if that's going to happen I will let you know what station. Like I said please be re with us, as we do so much work or many cases so much work we want to do. I will let you know about as soon as we find out myself,, we have only just started taking about it. We have so much research things to do first, if all works with fitting it in with the other things we. Well I say Our shout but there's also another group joins in with the drama called the Discovers or the Discovering group, I can't remember play which. I think two people in that group took part in the Employment play.

We have Drama classes every Tuesday 7pm - 9pm at the Wolverhampton Art Centre so if anyone with a disability wants to join us, your welcome. The only thing is that the Discovering is full, you have to put your name on a waiting list for that or may be you could join Our Shout if you want. I'm trying to get on the Discovers as but as I said we're full up at the moment, we'll be lucky get a place. I still go their to get a taste of drama though with Our Shout.
If your interested please ring Anne Humphrey - Jones 01902 - 824301 to see if we have a place for you or not.

We had told our directer Ricky that we want to do a Horror play, which isn't based around disabilities issues for a change. We have done plenty of research on ghosts, haunted places and etc. It will be at the Wolverhampton Art Centre. We are are very sorry we didn't let you know in plenty of time, tickets are sold out but If I can get someone to put the DVD of the play on this website after we have performed, I will do.

Tuesday 8th July 2008, Our Shout did their employment play in B'ham a place called Black Country District in Solihull. Our play kicked very successfully anyway. People enjoyed it and told us that we gave good reasons behind the play. They agreed that society needs to do more about employment for people with disabilities. I think there were some employers who employ people with disabilities, there was a guy who runs a scheme called Links For Work.

WHAT HAVE I DONE TO HELP OUR SHOUT?

The first thing I have done helped Our Shout is, I have taken part in a play with the other members of the Our Shout group, called 'Bad Experiences That People With Disabilities Have Faced With The NHS.' We enjoyed raising awareness of what people with disabilities go through, which is mostly neglect. I have read out Our Shout's stories and someone from Our Shout has read mine. It's hard to explain our stories but these things shouldn't have happen so we want to work hard to create a future so people disabilities will be taken care of. What made Our Shout do this play is, I was reading the news on Mencap website, there was a report called Death Indifference. Six people with disabilities had been neglected by the NHS. For eg this young woman named Emma, she was only twenty - six, she had cancer. When they tried to save her, she wasn't responding to the treatment so the doctor didn't carry on trying. Her families' views were, that they let her die unnecessary. At the time I had only just started with Mencap Our Shout, I rang up Lucy our group leader of Our Shout to tell her that I had a looked at the Mencap website and told her about the very upsetting report I had seen. Lucy said

" Thanks, I like the way you inform me, Sara,"

If you want to find out more about the Death Indifference report. WWW.mencap.co.uk/media files/death-by-indifference.mp3. You will get two women who work for Mencap telling the stories about the people with disabilities. Emma's story is the first story. We will understand people don't want to read these sad stories but it just shows that thing need to get better. We need to treat people with disabilities like human beings instead of just like nobody because they all somebody just we are all are. If the website address is wrong or slightly, just type Death by Indifference in the search engine.


From then on it gave us the idea to do the play, tell people about our experiences we've had from the NHS and raise awareness. We have Performed our play at Pond lane Clinic Park fields, The Partnership Board Meeting at the Civic Centre and New Cross hospital in Wolverhampton.
Several Health care staff watched our play, they found us very successful. We told the Health staff, how we and want to be treated by Health staff in the future. Debra Edwards who holds the hospital meetings had told us, we had been through a lot but not as much as the six people who died under the NHS care. She also told us that they will work very hard to improve things but it will be a very slow improvement. I told her, we agreed but our reasons for performing this play is to raise awareness in hopes that people with disabilities don't die unnecessary in the future, she agreed.

We are now going to perform the NHS play at The University of Walsall to educate the Student nurses.

On Thursday the 18th September 2008, we had been to the University of Walsall to educate the student nurses with our play. They were very successful, we have been ask to perform in front of GPs and people who sell medicine behind counter in the Chemical. We will also be performing our play Wolverhampton University in December this year.

I might ask Mencap if I can do a talk about the effects of my old medicine so other people don't have to go through with what I did. It affected me getting out and about without support, my educate, I was unaware if car, person or animal was about to bum into me and many other things too.

On Friday 17th October 2008, we had a meeting at The Bingly Centre, the Health and Welbeing group about people with disabilities having dental care. One things I spoke about at the meeting was most tablets people take can make people's gums soft, I think is very hard thing to look into.

I know funding from the government can be a big problem but they tend to spend the money on the least important things, health is important. For eg I guess Health staff are getting paid less wages, they are short of staff and people's health are neglected.

WHAT HAVE MENCAP OUR SHOUT DONE FOR ME?

Our Shout has made me realise without them themselves realising, that I'm not a lone in the world with having a learning disability. Our Shout has also helped me come to terms with my Nan's death in June 2007. I'm so thankful for that. I had joined because I wanted help others like myself. I know my Nan wouldn't have wanted me just looking at the four walls at home alone.
My Nan would have been pleased that I'm working with Our Shout.

Our Shout is supporting me with my writing career, thank you Our Shout.
Long before I joined Our Shout, I started writing my Autobiography in 1993, it's called Introducing Myself. I was twenty -three to twenty - four years old. I've written a lot towards my Autobiography on and off over the years. I'm still not sure whether my work is good enough for the public to read. Now That I'm helping out with Our Shout, may be I will be able to make my work more interesting by telling my readers about not only my learning disability but my experience of working with and supporting others like me. On the other hand I don't like saying anything without their say so.

OUR SHOUT, THE STORY OF MY LIFE.

Our Shout is a small self - Advocacy disability group funded and supported by Mencap in Wolverhampton. There are about seven of us with learning disabilities,who speak up for others like and besides ourselves, we do this off our own backs. We get involved in meetings for all difference things, we do Drama play and we don't give up until our voice is heard. We understand we can't win all the time but we do our best to improve the lives of others with disabilities in the best ways as possible. There are two more groups that I know of who are funded and supported by Mencap, Circle Of Friends that help to give people with disabilities social lives and One Voice who help people with housing, I think even independent living in the home and even shopping. Our Shout are hoping to be supported soon by Mencap to have our own Travel Buddy schemes as transport and independent travelling can be hard for people with disabilities. The Travel Buddy schemes should start to kick off January - April 2009, it will be a Social Enter Prise. If you have a disability or have contact with a person or people with disabilites who may need support in anyway, you are very welcome to contact us or if you want to support us in anyway. We can support you to support us, we are based at the Science park in Wolverhampton. Anne 01902-2824301 or Lucy 01902-2824362

May be you may you want to join us as a member of Our Shout, may be work as a volunteer or paid from Mencap. In case I'm wrong or slightly you are best to ask Mencap themselves how it works. You will have find out if they have any room to take on, vacancies in other words sorry.
We'd be very grateful for your help, if you want to and or can join us. I think you are accepted whether you have a disability or not but if you have a disability you could help and be apart of Our Shout if you want. Like I say you will have to find out from Mencap themselves to be sure. I'll be truly I can't sure that I'm right on everything that's why. It's possible, you chose to work with any or and as many issues you want. Only Mencap know the answer to that.

I have had a disability all my life, which is the same age as me nearly thirty - nine years old. My disability was born with me in the same place, at the same time. My disability has stopped with me all my life and it will go on the rest of my life. I like many others have seen so many changes for the better and worse, Some things we have improved to what they were, others aren't good enough yet and others we haven't even started to improve yet. We still have a long way to go and we always will do.

It's our job to see that non - disabled people who support people with disabilities in all services do their job to how people with disabilities want and need them to.
It's good that all things aren't good other wise it would be a boring perfect world. we wouldn't have any jobs to do.