Everyone has to
cope with the down part of life losing a job, relationship breakdown and etc.
If something meant a lot to you, when you lose it you can become so unhappy it
makes you ill. More often than not when one thing goes wrong the other does.
This can because everyone anxiety, stress and depression as it is but what if
it's already there inside you without anything and everything to make sad all
at once? You can be more ill than someone without Health problems and
disabilities. If anything or and everything is hard for you please email me on
sarajgorman@gmail if you need someone to talk to.
I would like to raise awareness of Anxiety, Stress and Depression within people
with all Disabilities and all Health problems. There are many things in
people's minds that have happened to them but they are frightened to say in
fear of not been able to explain ourselves, been misunderstood and disbelieved.
I would also like to raise awareness of Learning Disability Hate Crime mainly
rape and sexual abuse, which can be a very hard topic for people to talk about,
mainly people with disabilities and Health problems. This can damage our minds
mainly when there are bad things that happened to us years ago than we have
tried to tell or frightened of not been able to explain ourselves. People need
to listen to people like us more but not force information out of us because
the more bad things stop in our minds the more damaged our minds becomes.
This can happen to children whether they have disabilities and Health problems
or not but if you have these problems already with everyday problems on top
your misunderstood for life then. This is where people with disabilities and
Health problems need to educate the world to understand us otherwise our minds
will never be believed, listened to or understood. Society should have more
time for us. This can be due to a lack of communication and understanding.
Please Google Accessible information Easy read. sarajgorman@gmail.com for your
views on this topic.
Listen to people's
voices and minds more.
When I was a
little girl I never knew about child abuse and rape but it still happened to
me. It's very scaly and hard to talk about but it can damage your mind. No
matter how hard to you try nothing seems to make you feel better. I understand
there are plenty of people all ages that have been through the same as me and I
know it's not easy or nice to talk about but big it can have big affects on
your lives that the world doesn't see. When I was little today's support wasn't
heard of so you had to be strong whether anyone knew not, in many cases not
because these things were very rarely heard of or even seen. These things do
happen, you can use your voice if you want but listen someone more if they use
their voice. I know there's plenty of you like me, if you want to be listened
to please email me on sarajgorman@gmail.com
there’s all kinds of abuse but sexual abuse and rape is the worst.
Take more time to listen to children, people with disabilities and Mental
Health problems sadly it does happen it should be listened, even better it
should stop.
Please let's be heard not just seen.
These things can have an affect on your life. You can go through the same
things as someone else but it may not have the same affects on you as it does
on them for example.
Sleepiness nights because it's hard to get off your mind, nightmares and
flashbacks, not wanting to face the next day because you’re scared of it
happening tomorrow, relationships and friendships towards people, poor self - stream,
eating disorders, scared to tell anyone and many more. If anything has damaged
your life like those examples I have given you are welcome to email me if you
want. sarajgorman@gmail.com never think of yourself as a victim, you are a
brave survivor. If you’re like me you lived in a time without any support, you
had to counsel your own mind in order to get through every day, which is hard
to do. I remember wanting to run away from school but scared of it happening while
I was outside the school. Many times in boarding school I have wanted to ring
my Mum to tell her why I was so unhappy there but I didn't know how to.
Remember not wanting to live anymore but somehow got over that. That’s another
way it can make you feel is empty but I am glad I have coped because I have
achieved so many good things in life passing my exams in college, helping
others like myself and etc. Never the less a childhood history like that
through young adulthood is a lot to put behind but you just think about good
things you have in life. I am very glad I haven't got children because I
wouldn't be relaxed but a very worried Mother. It could have happened to
you.
You need to think
about how about if you needed extra support in everything you want, need and
do. For example cooking, washing, dressing, reading, writing, cleaning,
shopping and so the list goes on forever. (How would you cope and feel?)
Everyone has different kinds of disabilities. Each disability can make peoples'
lives hard in different ways. People can get more than one disability not
everyone has the same ones.
Theses disabilities can happen before, during or after birth.
People with LD hate asking for help all the while as much as it much is very
hard work for you to help us. Sadly one way or another we need your support
whether we like it or not. Neither you nor we are to blame for our disability,
that’s just how curl life can be. Let's not let life knock us back, let's get
on with it.
We want you to stop to think about if you were us and we were you. (How would
you feel and cope?) The bottom text before answering the question I have just
asked.
These are the things people with LD have to face.
Not been able to learn as quickly as you.
Not been able to face too many things going on at once.
Easily get confused with too much jargon and information.
There's a limit of what we can do with, without support or and not at all.
On the good side we achieve things slowly.
Some of us can't read but the ones that can have problems with talking
information and reading long words that we can jargon words.
Some people can't write but the ones who can have problems with spelling,
grammar and etc.
We could have bad co-coronation problems like Dyspraxia.
Numbers for example solving problems.
Not been able to write essays and assignments on time for college or and
school.
We may also need help in starting a topic, making sense of it and proof reading
it.
On the bright side.
Most
people with LD are creative. For example I didn't realize that I could write my
life story and short stories until I was 23, even though I have had very
limited dyslexia support. When I was 27 I started writing poetry, yet when I
was in school I couldn't learn anything. 11 of my poems have been published one
each in a book. This amazed me. I have written a Newsletters with support and
plus report the Compton Hospice Newsletter where used do work experience.
There people with LD who are famous, here some
of them. You could Google Famous people with learning disabilities and see what
comes up. If you see the names of the people I write down, try to find out what
kind of disabilities they have got.
Cher actor/singer, Agatha Christie writer,
Winston Churchill Prime Mister. Tom Cruise actor, Thomas Edison inventor,
Albert Einstein Physicist/inventor, Whoopi Goldberg actress. Mike Gravel Former
Senator, Brue Jenner O Olympic athlete, Magic Johnson basket ball player, Grey Louganis
Olympic driver, Lindsey Wagner actress, Henry Winkler, actor.
The big wide
world.
It's hard enough
going into adulthood as it is when you have to cope with the big wide world on
your own. When you have learning disabilities it's even harder. One of the main
things are, everyone wants to learn about what it's like to have friendships
and relationships but we also want to be understood, which is a very hard thing
for people with LD. This is where we want people without disabilities to learn
how to understand us. Many people understand that most relationships and
marriages fail but many people with LD aren't given a chance to try that. Many
people with LD may lose their relationship because their partner has
misunderstood them, it doesn't have to make a difference whether their partner
has LD or not. Some aren't honest with people with LD, for example telling them
that they can take their LD on board, love us, support us and look after us but
give us courage to live our lives with a balance of been caring but not too
over protective. I believe that everyone should have that in their partner
whether they have LD or not.
Through the hard barriers we have had to face, this generation of people with
LD want to make life easier for the next generation of people with LD by
training and educating people without LD about LD.
Bad things can happen to anyone in friendships and relationships but life very
can be very lonely if you have no one at all. People with LD are the people who
are most likely to be lonely because we get misunderstood the most.
Communication is a big thing for everyone not just people with LD but there are
easy special aids people LD can used but due to lack of money not everyone can
have access to them. No one is saying that people with LD are only ones who are
left out. In other words classed as the odd one out. Everyone deserves someone
whether it's your friends, a lover or both.
Take more time to learn how know and understand people with LD. Just think it
could have been you, in other words put yourself in someone Else's shoes.
Try the easiest way of getting to know someone, which is well at least for
anyway. Yes, ask people with LD, what is the easiest way of getting to know
them.
For example ask them what their interests and hobbies are then support them to
ask you the same question. In other words ask them to ask you the same question.
This may help them because they may not know what to ask you.
LD AND HEALTHCARE
FOR HEALTH STAFF AND HEALTH STUDENTS
INTRODUCTION `Access All Areas!
Hope we are giving something about in the
Health care of people with LD. Only because LD week is over, we still you are
going to try and take as many we have raised awareness you about the Health
care People with LD have faced in our past. We hope you can do your best to
better Health care. It isn't just treatment it's neglect and lives that shouldn't
have been lost.
I am yet to talk to my business partner Jess about us looking Health services
to see what has and hasn't got better. Myself having not been seriously ill
since 1993, although it's a good thing. I don't know what has changed in the
hospitals since then. This something I want see for myself without been ill.
I would like to remind you about the things we have spoke about in our training
session and what I have put on my website. I may also put things on my website
that we haven't spoken about.
What I have said is that people LD are more likely to die you than people with.
It's up to Health to do their job how they should and putting a stop to this.
Without over protecting keeping a close eye on people with LD for the sake of
Health and Safety.
What we didn't make you aware of is it can be hard for people with LD to put
trust into Health staff when they have had bad experiences of Health in the
past. It well is hard for adult with LD to put trust in the future but if we
can creative a good future for today's children we will have better future for
tomorrow's adults. It's up to you to prove that you can help people LD and the
people support them to put trust in you. This can scare people away from Health
care once they don't feel as if they are not been looked after and cared for.
Put yourself in our shoes. Health care is better than it used to be but not
good enough. Make a start of stopping bad Health care to tell past Health staff
how they should have been taught even though it's not their fault that society
was so in the dark in those days.
I spoke to a Gps at my doctors about Health and LD awareness. He told me that
they called out most people with LD for appointments but they don't seem to
make them or even turn up. I think because of Health care in the past, which I
have faced myself people are scared of Health staff. Today's health staff will
have a hard job to get most people with LD who has lived 20 to 40 years or more
to access the Health services. For eg; I myself have changed my GPS because I
wasn't happy at my last one. I stopped going for roughly 12 months or more,
then I felt brave enough to change my GPS with a bit of help from a support
worker.
How can you make Health care
better for people with LD?
I, Andy and Jess are also part of a Self
Advocacy group called Our Shout supported by Mencap as well as Access All Areas
NOW! Even Andy isn't self employed yet. We go to lots of different meetings
talking about different things, one subject is the Health care of people with Ld.
We all that Health care needs to get better for people with LD. at LOT OF
health care staff find it hard to communicate with people with Ld. They need to
learn about Health care we want and need. Most of us have problems with.
Talking, listening, reading, writing talking
information in and explaining us to people understanding. Even a lot of people
who support people with LD have problems understanding professions. It's very
important for people with LD to educate all professions. Without communicating and
understand one another is useless. If you look around my website I hope I hope
I have explained enough for you to understand how with LD communicate but as
different people have different disabilities we all communicate in different.
The law says that Health services need to make
changes to how people LD want our Health services. People with LD believe that
there are not enough changes made.
People who support people with LD find it hard
to make them heard as well as people with LD ourselves. Things are better to
what they were but we still have a long way to go. Health staffs don’t know
enough about LD. They need to learn about you all need to learn about our needs
and wants. Most people with LD find it hard to say how feel. This is why we get
poor Health care; it's up to you to better it.
Sometimes Health staff can't communicate with
one another.
The way you give medication out is important.
Type out medication information on the computer
in size 14 to 20 font.
Easy words and pictures of people talking
medication, the type of medication it is and how much.
Make as clear as possible so we understand.
Use
bullet point and even numbers step by step to show us what order we take our
medication. Mostly there's a lot of information many of us will find it hard to
take. As many short words and sentences as possible. No jargon!
Think of the side effects most medications cause
mainly when they can affect people in a big bad way. This can have dangerous
affects on people's lives. Keep trying until you find the right medication for
people.
If you came to our training session on Monday
21st June 2010 for LD week, you may have heard say that you must study the mental
capacity Act its law!!!!!! I am now reminding that I have also typed it
somewhere on this website if look very carefully, I think it's on the next page
Learning Disability Health 2010.
What asked advised you to do in the LD week
report is study the Health Action plan. There's good information but I believe
there may be missing information. For eg; if someone passes out alone out and
about they need records of their medication, gp, people with are supporting
them, caring for them and etc.
I will also remind you, which was in our
Training session and on this website on LD week report that you need to be
studying Disability Discrimination Act, which law to study it if you are
working in any field of LD.
PCP Person Centre Plan is also is also important
to study to give people with LD our own choice and control in life.
All these things you can find websites for, put
in your search engine or if you haven't got a lot of access to the internet you
could search the book shops or even the libraries to see if there are books on
the Health care of people with LD.
The NHS have very little training in the Health
care of LD. I have put a lot of important information on this website for you
to study. I hope to put new information on for you in the future.
Try to better attitudes.
Respect people with LD.
Be more patient with us.
Treat us with dignity.
Stronger
action should be taken to give better Health care. Department of Health should
tell all local services to do their work to the ability of LD. There are
Directed Enhanced services for people with LD.
Health checkups once or twice a year.
Support for people if and when we need and want
it.
Help us to communicate.
Better and clearer information for us to read
and understand.
More pictures for those of us who can't read and
write.
Most of us can't take information in so we may
need support to do so.
Health study cases
for LD week.
Study case 1. Mr
Jones is eighteen years old.
He was send to a mental impairment service from the Children team nine months
prior to his eighteenth birthday.
At the time he was living in a supported flat with 24 hour 1 to 1 support from
a private run domiciliary care service, where he had resided for about one
year.
He was diagnosed Autism and depression, for which he was prescribed medication
by the children's psychiatrist.
At the time he was told that he had severely behavior problems, he had attacked
staff several times a week.
This caused a high level of staff sickness to injury or stress.
He has had threaded members of the public.
He often went out to meet young women, which he had relationships with.
He was well known to the police service, which had been called out many times
because of his violence behavior towards staff.
He was in court many times for assault and threatening behavior and been
detained in young offenders institution twice.
Shortly after his referral, he was again detained in a prison which was 150
miles away from the service.
The mental impairment service attended two reviews at the prison and travelled
to see him during his period of detention.
The remain prior to his eighteenth birthday was to gather information and
liaise with children's' services.
It was clear that due to his level of learning disability he was not coping
well in prison.
The service advised him that psychiatric assessment was done during his time of
detention, with a view to finding him a hospital near his home area, and
planned for a local psychiatrist to travel to the prison and carry out the
assessment.
However, before he could be moved, his time of detention ended and he was
released back to his old address.
He
was placed on a higher level of 24 hour care with two or three staff at all
times.
He has been detained on a low secure unit many
times in order to treat episode of psychosis.
A few months later, the housing and support
provider felt after many attacks, they couldn't give support any longer to Mr
Jones due to his behavior.
He was evicted from the property. An emergency
referral was then made to an alternative care provider which was based about 60
miles away from his home.
He was moved to another supported flat with 24
hour support from two staff.
A mouth of residing in this placement he again
turned up in court following previous assaults and was remanded in prison. At
this point he turned eighteen.
He was officially moved to the mental impairment
service on the day of his 18th birthday.
Shortly after this, a move to this a move to a
low private secure therapeutic facility was planned under section 37 of Mental
Health Act. The unit is 156 miles away from Mr Jone's home.
People with LD and Mental Health problems can be
misunderstood but it doesn't that everything is down to LD and Mental Health.
Some people may be unaware of what they could be
saying or and doing.
There are all different kinds’ behavior
problems.
For eg; I understand that crime can be a serious
thing, I feel for people when they lose the people they love.
No is saying that people with Ld should be
treated any different because of their LD but there needs to be awareness of
balance if it comes to a case of a person with LD who hasn't been aware of what
they may have done until they have told in a prison but at the same time we
must understand the feeling of the victims loved ones.
The person with LD may be very angry with
themselves to a point they could take they own life because they wouldn't be
able to stand a life time in prison.
I am not saying all people with LD don't know
what they are doing but for the ones don't wouldn't do such crimes if it hadn't
of been for their problems.
Some causes could be done to LD, Mental problems
or and the side effects of most medications. Health staffs need to look into
these things so these people don't put themselves through these things.
Case
2 com pair Mr Jones's case with mine as a child.
I was on heavy medication as a child, which
caused my behavior problems which didn't give me any excuse. On the other hand,
I can gladly my behavior problems weren't bad enough to commit a crime.
I found it hard to pay attention in the day time
at school and I was hyperactive at night.
I think I was over tried, the medication made
very dreamily and sleepily in the day time yet strangely I wouldn't rest if I
had the chance of a nap.
Since I have come off those tablets I haven't
those problems have stopped.
Back then I would just lose my temper any time,
any place and anywhere, kick and scream the place down.
In shops I would pull the items off the shelves.
For eg; if I couldn't tie my shoes laces, I
would get very angry.
I used to think that the world was cleverer
than.
I thought I was the only person couldn't cope
with everyday life skills. The world seemed very big to me when I was little.
It's a wonder I did not commit crimes, with the
strength of the tablets I was on, it made so unaware of the world around me.
When I came off the tablets at the age of 12
because I was having less fits slowly I became aware of the world around me and
my behavior problems calmed down.
My questions are to you, there's no right or
wrong answers, and I am just interested what you think.
How do you think my life would have ended up now
if I was still on those dangerous tablets? Do you think I would have ended up
like Mr Jones or not?
Lucky for me I didn't to take these tablets for
the rest of my life, even they thought Health staff at that time though I was
going to have to always depend on those tablets for life.
Please send me an email on sarajgorman@gmail.com.
Phenobarbital
(phenobarbitone) I think I took 3 to 500mgs one tablet three times a day,
that’s how dangerous the medication was for a child or any human being any age,.
I read a bit of history about the tablets, the
purpose was to help the soldiers sleep in the 1st or and 2nd world war.
My childhood was in the 1970s.
If you would like to research it on the Internet
Health staff and Health students.
If you research this please send an email me to
let me know what you have found out.
Case three. Mr Smith is twenty - six years old
West Indian man with mild LD and psychotic disorder for which he receives
prescribed medication.
He has a long history of petty offence rest for
which he has been arrested and in court many times.
These include burglary, theft and minor drug
offences.
He is very well known to the local police.
He had spent five years on offender register due
to previous sex offenders against a girl under age sixteen.
Mr Smith resides in the area he has moved to
different rented places over the years.
He often fails to keep appointments and very
guarded about his whereabouts, making it hard to engage effectively with him.
He finds it hard to help himself and many of his
placements have failed. His currently saying with family and is soon to be
evicted.
It is known that Mr Smith does not adhere
voluntary to his medication regime.
Mr Smith is very hard to house due to his
history of unstable tenancies, and his offending behavior.
He had just been arrested for burglary and his
court case has been put on hold for two mouths.
There has been an ongoing issue with the police
as he and his family feel that his LD is not taken into account by police or
professions with the criminal justice system.
He has taken custody many times with no request
for an appropriate adult, or any support from health or social services.
Why do you think Mr Smith committed the crimes
he had done?
Do you think by the sounds of cases he meant to
commit these crimes or not?
Make
notes on the balance of the feelings of the victims and Mr Smiths feelings in
case of if he didn't know what he was doing. How do you think he felt when he became
aware?
In the case that he may have meant to commit
these crimes what do you think should happen to him because of his LD?
What should to happen to him if he didn't know
what he was doing?
What do you think caused it he didn't mean to
do? LD, Mental Health problems or even the medication he's taking.
Do you think he may be misunderstood? Without
excuses there may be all kinds of possibilities but we need to understand the
feelings of the victims, families, lovers and friends.
Health students and Health staff, if you want to
answer these questions, you may be able to research Mr Smith's LD on the
internet. Please email if you want if you answer to try to answer these
questions.
Learning disabilities' experience with the NHS.
NHS FAILS TO
ACCOMMODATE PATIENTS WITH A LEARNING DISABILITY IN SINGLE SEX WARDS.
On the 12th December 2007, I read a Mencap report on the NHS not having people
with learning disabilities sleeping single sex wards in the hospital. At the
time there was a debate between safety and privately, which a balance between
the two. We all need to be safe but also need to be private, mainly when it
comes down to washing, dressing and going to the toilet for eg;. I had a
meeting with Debra Edwards who was the Patient Experience leader at that time.
I told her that there needs to be a balance between the two.
Back in 1993, I had an operation on my throat because I had a mild cancer lump.
At the time I had been in hospital twice at the Eye, Ear, Norse and throat
hospital in Shrews bury.
The first time I was in hospital, I was in a mixed men and women’s' ward, which
wasn't private and I hated it.
My Mother complained about it.
When I had to go in to hospital the second time I had a private room with a
alarm so I could when I wanted to go to the toilet because I had a fall the
first time I was in that hospital.
Like everyone I hate hospitals but the second time I was in that hospital was
better than the first. That's balanced between been private and safe.
I never got to know what has got worse or better over this report written in
2007 because it got the stage that the hospital meetings were clashing with the
Accessible information meetings.
6th December 2007
a major report published today has revealed that
learning disability services are failing to accommodate in patients with a
learning disability in single sex wards.
'Count me in 2007: The 2007 national census of
inpatients in mental health and learning disability services in England and
Wales' found that 60% of inpatients in NHS and independent learning disability
hospitals and facilities were not in a single ward.
The census is a joint initiative between the
Health Care Act Commission, the Care Services Improvement Partner and the
National Institute for Mental Health in England.
David Congon, Mencap's Head of campaigns policy
at said "It's disgraceful that the majority of patients in learning
disability services were not in single sex wards.
"By treating patients with a learning
disability in mixed sex wards the NHS and independent health care providers are
failing to provide a service that maintains their privacy and dignity at a time
when they are most vulnerable. WWW.healthcommission.org.uk
Mencap's death
Indifference report.
INTRODUCTION TO MENCAP'S DEATH
INDIFFERENCE REPORT.
Mencap wrote a report called 'TREAT ME RIGHT.' IN 2004.
It said that people with learning disabilities have worse health than other
people.
Mencap think it's because people with learning disabilities don't get the
treatment and Health care that we need.
Sometimes this can mean people with learning disabilities can die at a younger
than other people. Mencap thinks it's very bad and it shouldn't happen.
'TREAT ME RIGHT.' Report said important changes need to be made to better
Health care and treatment. Not enough has changed.
Since Mencap wrote ' TREAT ME RIGHT' Mencap heard that six people with learning
disabilities have died because they didn't receive the right Health care and
treatment.
Not only do I agree with Mencap and 'TREAT ME RIGHT' I also believe from my own
experience of Health care that they were neglected.
As shocking as it is, it doesn't surprising to me when I have had learning
disabilities myself for just over 40 years since the day I was born.
It tells me that not a lot has changed for people with learning disabilities.
‘Come on let's get better Health care for the future of learning disability'.
EMMA. Emma has a great sense of humor.
Emma loved pulling funny faces for a laugh.
Emma had wonderful smiles that lit up the room up.
Emma died of cancer in 2004 at the age of 26.
Emma had a severe learning disability that made it hard to let people know how
she felt.
Doctors thought Emma didn't agree to have the treatment for her cancer, so they
didn't do anything to save her.
Mencap wants to know.
If
doctors would have treated Emma, would she still be alive?
Why didn't Emma receive the right treatment and
Health care?
May be Emma tried to tell the doctors but she
may have found it hard to make her understood, which has happened to me and
many other people learning disabilities at many times.
Why wasn't Emma given anything for the pain?
Please read the Death Indifference report on
WWW.mencap.org.uk or tap Mencap's Death Indifference report in the search
engine.
MARTIN. Martin loved smiling, going out and
listening to music.
Martin loved to get behind the wheel of a car.
Martin died in hospital; he hadn't had any food
for 26 days.
He died on the 21st December 2005.
Martin had a severe learning disability without
any speech.
Martin had a Stroke and Pheumia, which was an
infection in his lungs.
Martin was put on a drip, living on water and
sugar.
MARK. Mark was 30 yrs of age when he died.
8 and half weeks beforehand he was admitted to
hospital with a broken leg (femur).
He was clearly distressed and in pain. , but he
had to wait 3 days for the pain team to see him. Mark died on 29th August 2003.
I believe that the Pain team must have been to
blame leaving Mark in pain for 3 days. How many people in the world died of a
broken leg not very many if any?
TED, Ted was 61 yrs of age when he died; he was discharged3
after being admitted to hospital despite his condition having been assessed as
'concerning.'
He collapsed and died on 27th May 2004.
He had a severe learning disability and
virtually no speech.
How can we explain Ted's unexplained death?
No
one can explain how.
A hospice consultant recommended that 20 yr old
Tom's pain was investigated by gastroenterologist over a year before he died.
No action was taken until it was far too late.
Tom's expression of pain wasn't listened to, he
died 25th May 2004. He had profound and multiple learning disabilities.
WARREN, Warren was 30 when he died following
perforation of the appendix. His Mother and Father repeatedly asked whether
Warren had appendicitis or a blocked bowl when they saw the doctor.
They told them that he had a virus. Warren died
on the 25th September 2004.
He had a severe learning disability and very little
speech but couldn't make himself understood to his family.
Read more of this on Mencap's Death Indifference
report website or search engine.
Mencap want to know.
Why didn't Martin have any food for 26 days?
Why didn't the hospital give Martin better
Health care?
About this report.
Mencap wrote this report to educate and train
people on learning disability and Health.
Mencap believe that people get treated unfairly
in Health care services.
There's still a lot of discrimination against
all races, which is wrong. Why should people stop living their lives to how
they want whether they have a race or not?
People's needs aren't understood whether they
have disabilities or not. People's need to be met whether they have
disabilities or not. These things can happen for a long time before people know
it's wrong.
People need to understand learning disability.
Mencap
believes that!
People who make the decisions about Health care
don't think people with learning disabilities' lives are important as theirs.
In 2006, the government said that people with
learning disabilities don't always get treated equally to other people. Not
many changes have been made since.
Health care professionals do not understand
learning disability.
Staffs aren’t given enough educating or training
to understand learning disability. If staffs have wrong ideas about learning
disability, no one tells them it's wrong.
The Disability Rights commission has found
Health care professionals sometimes confuse the signs that show someone is ill
when they have learning disabilities. This is diagnostic over shadowing.
Health care professions don't listen to
families/ carers and they don't listen to people with learning disabilities.
People with learning disabilities don't always
get our say or choices to our Health situations.
Our chooses should be supported.
It's seems that what Health staff and
family/carers have control over people with learning disabilities live when
they talk about our health, we need to learn how to speak for ourselves.
Even people who can't speak have another form of
communication that people need to learn to understand, go along and learn to
communicate in the way.
(How would you like not being understood?) Each
and every one of us has a voice, thoughts and feelings just like you do.
Families/ carers notice if the people they care
for are acting differently and can see if the person is upset or and in pain.
Only because we may find hard to make ourselves
clear enough for you to understand us doesn't mean we don't feel anything.
If it's really hard to understand at least find
out whether we are happy or sad, even if you can't do anything about it.
May
be most us may be able to tell you the reasons why we feel like we feel. At
least bare our reasons in mind if you can't help us.
In all cases Mencap looked at this report, to
find out that most families/carers are ignored by Health professions knowing
very well about the worries they have for the people they care for.
Families/carers should always be listened to so
should people with learning disabilities main when we are in pain or whatever
the situation could be.
Service providers need to learn how to balance
the sway of families/carer and the people with disabilities whatever the
situation is.
Try to encourage the person who is supporting
the person with learning disabilities to be more supportive than over
protective.
Everyone who gives treatment should understand
laws and consent. If they understood the laws better, people with a learning
disability would get what we need and want.
Health professionals don't always see the lives
of people with disabilities are just as important as everyone's.
Mencap thinks that Health staff don't think
people with disabilities' lives are important to save and worth living.
The lives of people with learning disabilities
should be important as much as everyone's. Health care professionals shouldn't
really decide that a person's life isn't worth living just because they have
learning disabilities.
What Mencap wants to happen?
Mencap wants the case reports to be looked at in
an independent inquiry.
There are 6 stories about people with learning
disabilities in the main report. These are called cases.
Mencap want all the 6 cases in the independent
inquiry.
This means people who have not been involved in
the cases will look at the cases altogether. They will try to find out the
reasons behind the 6 deaths, what needs to change and what lessons need to be
learned to stop these things from happening again.
At the moment it takes too long for a complaint
to be heard.
Families/carer is upset over the people who
loved, looked and cared for who died.
Mencap's question why do families/carers have to
wait for a complaint to be heard?
Why
do people have to wait so long for a response? (Services need to find out what
happened, why and how. Family/carers need clear information to their rights.
Mencap wants the Health care commission to have
more money to do this job better.
We want it done easy, quick and accessible for
people with learning disabilities to make complaints and to get the answers to
the reason for these bad things happening.
Nothing can bring back the 6 people who died.
Their families want to know why the people who
they loved died so early, when there might
have been better Heath care, they needed to be
taken care of and better treatment for them.
Mencap has written this report because we want
to stop people with a learning disability from dying so early in life.
We need to train and educate Health care staff
to give them the right Health care, look after them and give them the right
treatment when being in hospital or anywhere they are but also for them to have
equal lives with the right support.
Mencap's website is also linked to mine.
You could send me an email if you want to on sarajgorman@gmail.com
UNDERSTANDING ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION.
Anxiety and
depression can be linked to learning disabilities.
Some people have anxiety, depression and epilepsy, which can link together.
If people get stressed very easily suffer Panic attacks it can bring epilepsy
but it doesn't affect everyone the same.
Change can be a big thing for a lot of people with Autism.
People can have these conditions whether they have disabilities or not. Health
problems can link to disabilities or be without disabilities.
Anxiety and depression is bad for enough anyone.
New things which are changes whether it's good or bad can make people nerves. When
some people get nerves they can have Panic attacks but Panic attacks can be
brought by other things like for example; stress other reasons or no reason at
all like depression.
Change can be a big thing for of people whether they are nerves about
something or someone.
Whatever is going on in peoples' lives and minds some people can sleep for
thinking all the while others sleep to all the while to avoid the situations
whether it's a good bad change in their lives.
Some people can find it hard to contrite on other things they only cope with
one thing at a time.
Some people may worry more than they should, which is part of their condition
what seems a mole hill to you feels like a mountain to them. You just need to
be patient until the person realizes that things may not be as bad to what it
seems to them.
Everyone suffers from Anxiety and depression one way or another.
Sadly there's not enough said about stress I think we need to raise Stress
awareness for everyone, that includes people with LD and Health problems.
Some people don't know that some people suffer LD and Health problems together,
that's what I have otherwise I wouldn't have known that.
Anxiety and depression are forms of stress in every ones' lives.
Many things can get on top of people, paying bills, not enough work, too much
work, marriage, relationships, children and even loneliness.
It's very hard to make a balance to keep healthily and happy.
This can be why a lot of people can turn to smoking, drugs and etc.
When you have learning disabilities there can be a lack of support off society
because we are slow and find it harder to cope with our lives than other people
yet we are easier ill than other people.
Stress,
Depression and Anxiety can last short term or for life.
If you think about it we can all suffer stress
one way or another?
It's so easy to worry about things that you
didn't need to but with something’s you were right doing so.
If you would like to have more understanding
with the Mind.
You may learn what’s, whys and how the Mind is
or can be affected.
Tap Mind in the Google engine or whatever you
have got.
WWW.mind.org.uk
Save it in your favorites or Bookmarks.
Whatever Health problems and disabilities are we
have enough stress with that on its own.
We understand for eg; that we have to pay our
bills like everyone else but with the problems we have already, we have double
stress.
You feel tense.
You panic and worry about things that aren't as
bad as they seem.
For eg; when I leave home to go anywhere I check
my bag and my front door to make sure I have locked the door, remember my keys,
bus passed and etc.
Touch wood I only forgot my money and phone once
and had to travel from town back home to get, lucky I wasn't working at the
time.
It seems like the end of the world when someone
in your life dies or when your relationship breaks down.
You feel as if the world is controlling you.
I panic when I walk into services, load of
people give me different answers to one question.
For eg; is this benefit right for me?
I can't cope with too much jargon and too much
information.
To
be truthful the answer is either yes or no not both.
Managers need to inform all staff on what the
rules are otherwise it confuses people.
Sometimes crowds can panic me where there are
too many people around me.
I am a bit better than I used to be.
It can depend where I am and how many people
there are.
When I really worry about things, it causes me
to have Peta Mal fits.
I am easy misunderstood mainly when I am
accessing services, when information doesn't seem straight forward to me.
I always have to have things going on in my life;
otherwise I get very angry, depressed and bored.
My Gran died in 2007 and my last relationship
broke down for the last time.
If it hadn't of been for Employment Pathways
getting me on to Mencap, I don't know how I would have coped with my life now.
The first longest my relationship broke up at
the end of 1996, which was two and a half years.
Now when I think about it wasn't that long yet
after been apart 4 years, I gave him a second chance that lasted seven years.
Now there's no going back.
I couldn't stand sitting in the house alone but
I wasn't in the mood to talk to people either.
I just used watch the world go by.
At that point I used to drink very heavy, which
lasted six to twelve mouths.
I then worked it that couldn't go on like this
forever yet I was still having a break down and even feeling as if I wanted to
end my life.
Never
the less I cut the drinking down and I started writing poetry to get things off
my chest.
Accessible
information.
This is how most
of us may understand information.
Ask people how they want their information written.
Don't talk too fast.
Slow down if you do talk too fast.
Explain things slowly.
Use Lateral language.
Meaning tone and body language.
Sign language for the death.
Brail for the blind.
Using gestures expression give visual clues about what you are saying.
Lean Makaton signing.
Not everything is accessible to people's needs and wants.
Accessible information takes time but it is really important.
One size does not fit all.
The most important thing about making information accessible is the people that
use it.
Does the person need LARGER PRINT?
Would photos, pictures or and symbols help the person understand information better?
Before taking pictures of building ask staff, managers or and etc first.
Would the person find it easier to access information by watching DVDs or CDs
with may be a book to follow the information with the right support if needed?
Never
think that every person understands information the same. The best person to
ask is the people themselves.
There seems to be a lack of communication and
understanding between people with learning disabilities and Service providers.
Service providers don't always understand people with learning disabilities.
Too much information is hard; people can use too much jargon and language that
confuses us.
In the terms of everyday life we are seen as a
Health and Safety Hazard to employers and even to the rest of society, with the
right support; we should be able to work like other people. Most of us may well
be a Health and Safety Hazard but we are also creative people. Most of us can't
work fast enough for an employer; if we get the right support this could be
balanced. Not all of us can use computers but we have different skills and
abilities like all people. These are some of the mistakes most employers make.
We need better face to face contact with people
around us.
Better communication.
We need to be more valued by people.
People should be better mannered towards us, for
eg; the tone of people's voices.
How people speak and what they say make them
misunderstood like all people.
Individualize service.
Think of how you can make information more clear
for people with learning disabilities
most people can't read but even most people who
can read can find it hard to take information in.
Keep sentences, words short and as less words as
you can.
Headings, titles and important things are better
off written in bold size 22, which is bigger than the rest of the text. (14 to
20 the rest of the text.)
Some computers don't have as many tools to make
information accessible so your writing may have to be written in capital
letters and large print to suit most people's needs.
Making information accessible is about making it
easier to read and understand.
There different ways to do accessible
information for different people.
Making
information easy to find.
Using photograph's
using a "bud dying system," where
people have someone to help them go through information with them or ask
questions.
Comic San, Ariel or FS Mencap can be bought.
Don't use words that only specialist would
understand or acronyms. This means shortening words to a few letters.
Some people want clear coloured with different
ink on different coloured paper.
Font 14 - 20 text, headings centred, underlined,
bold and size 18 -24.
Most pictures are hard to get hold of so bullet
points or numbers may help most of us.
Useful websites that could help you make
information accessible to people's needs and wants
WWW.plainenglish.co.uk www.mencap.org.uk
www.officefordisability.gov.uk thesaurus.com dictionary.com. (I know it's not
always easy or possible but please try to make words as short as you can thank
you.)
Most people in Wolverhampton have told us that
they find photographs easier to understand than pictures and symbols, which
should be your nouns people, places and objects.
Sent information out in at least four weeks
before appointments and meeting so people can be ready in plenty of time. This
will give people time to understand information and ask for help if they need
to.
Think about using a symbol or statement at the
end of your information so people can get help to understand the information,
if they need it.
You can't always suit people's needs when you
are typing information for them but you can support them to read or and
understand the information you write but please do your best to make it as
accessible as possible, thank you.
BEHALF
OF OUR SELF-ADVOCACY GROUPS OUR SHOUT AND OUR TALK.
People with learning disabilities need more time
to speak and to be listened to. People without disabilities won't learn their
job if they don't listen to people with disabilities. If people with disabilities
aren't listened to, then people without disabilities are in the wrong job. Most
of us take longer to be understood than other people. People with disabilities
are the experts.
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ARE ALL DIFFERENT TOO.
Except anything off people with disabilities
like we except anything of you.
Just like all of you are, every person with a
learning disability is a different person.
Every person with a disability has different
disabilities.
Don't except people with the same disability or
and same Mental Health problems to find the same things hard. We are all
different as human beings whether we have disabilities or not. 3rd May 2010