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.

HAVING A LEARNING DISABILITY.

This world is confusing and unexplained.
I used to think a lot of negative, now I'm learning to think positive.
Most people look at people with learning disabilities in a strange way
If you look disabled, some people discriminate you more.
If you don't look disabled, they will not be able to understand why you don't understand they, I don't realise that you have communicate needs but they have too if they don't understand you.
Lack of communicate can be a cause why friendships and relationships are so hard to have or even keep.
Their needs to be a lot of education from people with learning disabilities to main stream people understand them or including myself us.
A learning disability could have happened to you.
We're human too, are you?

Many of us have wondered why we are here if life is like this.
Why do you make us feel like the odd ones out when we have one another who understand each other?

What does it feel like to have a learning disability?

I used to bang my head against a brick wall but not anymore.

Now I put my head up high up to the sky.

I still feel angry, weak and useless to society but as I achieve more skills it gets less each and every day.

There comes a point you get fed up of being in your own world, you want to help others like yourself.

Now I feel strong enough to help others like me.

I hope you receive more support than what I did, I hope life isn't too hard for you.