Very often employers worry about
these people been a danger to themselves and others but if people are doing
what they are good and what they enjoy, this bring a good and
safe relationship with the people they work with and less support they
will need if the job is right for them.
When you look at it like that they are safer
at work than at home. When they don't have anything to keep the mind busy they
are more likely to be danger to themselves.
Advocacy is a way of making sure that services
are doing their job how they should, which these days are rarely the case.
Action tends to speak louder than words.
Most of the time promises
are made then broken. Yes empowerment is needed one can't depend on other
people and services all the time but need to most of the time. different
peoples' needs and abilities are different this is why the government is
cutting back on to the most important thing even though it's important to save money as well.
It’s very important to look at things from both sides of the coin. Different
people need support on different things. It is also important to give people
confidence too.
Personal care tends to get
neglected too for the people who don't have family support. Attitudes need to
change because no one knows what others are going through unless a lot of these
problems happen to them. I think there's a lot of planning to make in services.
It's hard to say that we are getting better when all these cuts have come in.
The cuts are making us move backwards not forwards which shouldn't be the case.
A lot have of people have been let
down by a lot of services for a lot of years, which can make it hard to have
trust in services where they give up asking for help even though they need it.
More often than not these people have no family support so they are used to
nothing getting or and making do. The rest of the world thinks these people are
getting on with their lives fine but in case in many people
Long to notice, it just
something you learn to accept if you have been
living with it all your life.
It's just hard getting people to accept the
way you are as a person as well as a person with learning disabilities.
The causes are unknown; it can either
be on its own or linked to other disabilities
like mine is. There's no limit of
time of long we feel worried and stress for. It
can be even harder if it is linked
on to other disabilities because you feel angry
not been equal to the rest of society. When you have been living with it all
your life you learn to live with it
and you calmer than you used to be and accept
bad things better. We get dryness in our mouths, we feel shaky, tense, fast
heart beat and we find it hard to sleep. Just because a person may not face all
these things, it doesn't mean they don't suffer from Anxiety Panic attacks are
the main causes of Anxiety.
Anxiety and panic attack.
It can be very strange bad and strange thoughts go
into your head whether there's a reason to feel like this or not.
You can feel whatever way you feel whether your thoughts in
your head are true or not.
These thoughts can happen any time, any place and anywhere
even in your sleep.
During
childhood, which had they can be night terrors but as adults they can be
nightmares.
You
can hear and see things whether they are there or not.
Many
times you chat to yourself and answer yourself in your head.
Everything
seems and feels so real at the time whether it is all not.
Even
though you go through these things yourself it doesn't mean that everyone who
suffers from Anxiety and panic attacks does.
Lying
in bed in my sleep this morning I was on top of a bridge moving in rushing
water of a storm.
Strangely
on this bridge there were a box of eggs, the lid kept on going up and down as
the bridge was rocking in the storm.
Although
I was in bed covered up I felt cold drafts going down my spine.
The
water was rushing forward like waves as if it was the sea but it was a river.
From
the bridge the bottom of the river seemed further and further down, i was
trying not to look down but the bridge took me down, the further I thought down
seemed and felt very scary.
With
very strong wind of the storm the eggs were rushing of the bridge with the
waves of the storm as the bridge broke to bits.
I
felt myself going further and further more as the cold daft went through my
spine then I couldn't bring myself to go further more.
Now
I feel mad with myself because these thoughts came into my head for no reason
at all yet I don't know why.
In
the past not that often I have had thoughts not that much different to this but
they seem so long to remember now. 28.5.2013
WHAT MAY NOT HELP YOUR
AWARENESS?
People
autism that is on certain tablets for example, very strong tablets can cause
very dangerous side -affects. These side
effects can happen to anyone even if they don’t have Autism and Epilepsy.
Doctors should put you on the tablets that are right for you.
You
could find that these tablets affect your ability, which could be a scary and
dangerous experience for you like it was for me. From walking the street around
hours on end, you lose your sense of direction and surroundings. I have been
close to have been getting run over by a car because of the tablets making me
unaware. Sometimes we don't realise what a big wide world it is, it can be
dangerous if that. It's as if you are always in a black out all the while. To
society you as if you are going round the bend, which are when walking round
for hours not understanding where you going, what you are doing, not knowing
whether you are going the right or wrong way. These things can happen to you
unintentionally, a
lot of people don't understand that. It's as if you plan your life to be this
way but you don't. People, who don't know and understand people with
disabilities, tend to give us a hard time.
Once
someone tells you about something you have been doing or not doing that your
not aware of when you come round and someone tells you what's happened, it's
very upsetting because that isn't the real you. May be it affects you when you
don't have your tablets. Everyone is difference, good job we are otherwise it
would be a boring world.
I found the tablets I was taking in those day
made me feel sleepily in the day and hyperactive at night, I guess these were a
few of the side -affects from the old tablets. It's as if you have had an
operation and the hospital has let you out right away to find your own way in
the world.
The tablets in those days were very powerful and strong, I
think I was on the wrong tablets because they were too; my fits have always
only been very mild. For eg, Strong tablets are too strong for people who have
mild fits, which causes people dangers to themselves and others through no
fault of my own, I was totally unaware of what was going on around me. I
couldn't sleep at night and I couldn't learn easily in school. The names of the tablets were called
Phenobarbitone. I guess I was taking them three times a day, I think they were
about 300mg to 500mg, I may well be wrong.
The
tablets I used to be Lamotrigine; they were only 100mg which I was taking one
twice a day. These tablets were very mild, I didn’t get the same problems as I
used to get. I learned a lot better and I was more aware of the world around
me.
Things are not the same as what they were, the
world is more educated and trained than what it was years ago but we still have
a long way to go. If you come across people experiencing what I have
experienced, don't give them a hard time, support them. If they look lost,
confused, upset or and they look as if they are in danger, see that they get
where they need to get to safety.
Many
people with Epilepsy have said that they have had tests, scans and etc that
have been coming back normal but mostly when that happens these people have
been having a lot of fits.
If you are supporting anyone with these
problems, it can be worrying for them and for you. If at all possible may be
you could keep a diary on how the tablets are affecting the person's every day
life, may be you can support them to see their doctor or and drop me an email
if you need someone to talk to. May be I can try to support you on finding some
information, websites, emails, advice and etc. May be it might be a case of
changing their tablets or like in my case it was talking me off the tablets
altogether. Which ever way it is, you may be able to see a difference in the
person's awareness and ability. sarajgorman@gmail.com.
POSSIBLE SUPPORT.
What doesn't help our behaviour
problems is lack of sleep, diet and we feel tense.
We need to cut down on may be salt and sugar for sure because most of us with
autism suffer from been hyperactive. If only my family knew in my childhood
what they know now, may be everyone would have had some sleep. Going back when
I was a child there were many things unknown like many generations before hand.
What
people didn't know during in my childhood over twenty year ago, I needed
exercise and I needed something to relax me? If you are like how I used to be
or you may know someone who is, may be that's the support what's needed for you
or and whoever. May be I can look for websites that try to support Autistic
children, teenagers, adults, their families and carers if you want me to. If
you are supporting and caring for someone with autism in one way or another,
you are welcome to contact myself or and Mencap, we could get you on to other
places if you want, if our support isn't good enough. You could be a family
member, a carer, even a support worker or a friend to them. Please email sarajgorman@gmail.com. Perhaps I can get you some
websites, email addresses and etc if you want my support.
I have heard that there are
disability nurses in school but I am glad to say that they were there that in
my day, sorry I sound really old. It is true how things have changed so much in
last twenty to thirty yrs or so. There are also things that never have changed
or and even never will.
My weight and height was always checked. I was
always too fat or too thin but never Anorexia or obese, or if you know what I
mean. I don't think they never knew what eating disorders
were. Perhaps they had heard of Anorexia but
not obese. Nine times out ten we are either underweight or over weight, that's
all they knew. I think we knew about Anorexia which is under weight but not
Obese which is overweight. I believe now that we do know, everyone should have
check ups, mainly people with disabilities. Nine times out of ten people with
disabilities have health problems so their weight isn't the only thing to think
about.
For eg I was hyperactive as a child, I must admit I was to
blame there. I did enjoy my sweets, cakes and etc too much. In those days there
were very little education given to adults about what's good and bad for people.
My family were very good but society didn't really tell them about children who
had disabilities at that time. Mind we didn't know a lot about anything in
those days.
I'd also be interested to know how adults and
teenagers coped with their disabilities years ago. Did they have carers because
if they did, there weren't a great of support for the carers either? If you
find anything out about the lives of people with disabilities in the past,
please drop an email on sarajgorman@gmail.com.
Thank you very much if you would like to share stories with me. We can share a
lot of our own experiences if you are happy to do so. Something you have read,
seen or saw may have caught your eye, which could be something to do with what
I write about on this website. If you would like to email me, you can write to
me about what you want.
I have told you what happened in my childhood what has
changed. What about the things that happened to people with learning disabilities
before people like me now were even born? It can be about children, teenagers
and adults in those times over any subject. For eg People with disabilities
weren't allowed to live alone, I don't think there were support workers to
support them. Sadly a lot of them live in homes, hospitals and etc not a lot of
their families may not be able to cope with them.
With me it could also have been the heavy
tablets I was taking at that time. I couldn't pay attention to anyone or
anything in the day but as high as a kite keeping everyone awake at night. I
was also suffering bad behaviour problems, which could have been another thing
my tablets could be to blame for. Someone else whose suffering the same thing
as me as what I did, their affects could be caused by certain foods for eg. May
be some people suffer their affects with out their certain medicines and food.
Like I have said it would have been a boring world if we would have suffered
all the same things. Having said there are other affects as well as behaviour
problems, hyperactive, lack of communication and understanding. There other
causes of these affects I guess as well as tablets and food. I would be so
grateful if someone could send me an email if they found anything, thank you so
much. sarajgorman@gmail.com.
What do we learn from experiences from the past for
the future?
Find out how medicines and foods can affect difference people's health problems
and disabilities? Find out why some people have these affects without their
certain medicines and foods? A lot of the healthy foods are not payable to
peoples’ benefits.
What should we have known and what do we need know about helping people to look
after their health problems and disabilities?
All I can think of now is having learning disability nurses should be not only
in school but also in colleges and work placements as well. Mind you I think I
have seen disabilities nurses in the colleges though. Please drop me an email
if you know any information about that, thank you.
More regular check ups, gentle exercise and diet programs to match with the
health problems and disabilities.
We need things that help people learning disabilities to relax to be able to
cope with the good and bad times in their lives.
BE
AWARE OF Possible SIDE - EFFECTS FROM SOME MEDICATIONS THAT COULD AFFECT YOUR
WORK AND EDUCATION.
A lot of people with disabilities like me 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 don’t have 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 was for exams when I was at Access 2 Business for the Social Enter Prise
Business, which didn’t kick off very long due to Mencap’s funding to support us
back in December 2009 to January 2011 is how long it lasted.
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!
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!
November 2010 update.
All people over Britain are suffering 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 are affected 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 be 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
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@gmail.com. For
people who don't suffer from Anxiety, depression and epilepsy when there’s
isn’t any work or anything going these health conditions came come on when
people haven't got anything or anyone in their live. For people who have got
these health conditions it can make them even worse.
My
Story.
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 suffer
with health problems. Having said that 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 is
another day or whenever another day is. 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.
This is something that doctors should look into because this
does not just accept the whose taking the medication but others around mainly
if the medication causes the person to have behaviour problems for example if
someone is Moody a lot. Like I say I have written in many reports advising
people to except the unaccepted in all people. That means except anything. Some
people seem don't in themselves with medication others without. It's all swings
and roundabouts.
Even most good things can be stressful for
example; taking exams and waiting for exam results is another example even
though on the other hand it could get me through life. I am very keen person if
I fail I just keep going but despite of the panic it causes me, which is part
of disability, I cope somehow. This can happen in any ones' case not just mine.
Back in May 2011, I lost my work with Mencap because the
funding was cutting back on the Our Shout Self Advocacy group. From May to
December there didn't seem to be anything not even the right courses for me. I
got very down in myself having to spend my days at home. I tried to ring
different services to get some counselling.
I just needed someone
to talk to before I started having thoughts of wanting to take on my own life.
I found very hard to think positive and I found it hard to believe that things
would get better again.
I rang up Healthy
Minds then they referred me on to the Crisis team, they were asking me if I
was going to take my own life, when and how I was going to do it. I said no I
just want some counselling before I felt at that stage then they referred me
back to Healthy minds. I even stopped taking my tablets to stop myself from
taking an over dose.
For example; Panic attacks can also bring on Epilepsy but
then with my disabilities whatever they are for sure. I was born with lack of
oxygen to the brain, which caused me to have fits from birth. When I have stress
or I think I have things to worry about I panic but sometimes it brings a fit
on other times it doesn't.
This can mainly be
when I have been misunderstood or and even confused with something like
information for eg; some things can make me panic then get me angry and if I
get too upset it may bring on my fits, depending what the situation is and how
stressful it is to me. I went 20 yrs without having a fit bit during that time
I was working at Camnant a living in riding stable in Newtown Powys Wales. My
Boss Miss Coyne thought I was having Petie Mal fits, which I couldn't
understand, I wasn't feeling unwell. She had got the doctor to put me on
Tregratol tablets without my families say so because she thought I was having
Petie mal fits. When were 20 I was so depressed with taking them for no reason
I over dosed on the lot but lucky enough as you know I pulled through? My
family went mad and got the doctor to take me off them. Most medications can
make people depressed which are caused by the side-affects.
Keeping me busy is
very important to me because I can take a long time to get into a new route
when things change and I can think bad thoughts during the time there’s nothing
is going on in my life. As time went on and I was starting pick I up I went
back to doing my poetry. In time I started to go back on courses to building
myself back to some kind of work, which is the same field as Mencap near
enough, which called 1 Voice and Rethink.
How these health conditions can
affect people and their lives.
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.
Things can change whether it's good or
bad can make people nervous. When some people get nervous 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 nervous about
something or someone.
Asperser Syndrome is foam of Autism in people who have high
intelligence but it's also a hidden disability, which means people don't see
the problems people have. If
you spend a lot of time with us you will learn
that we need more help than you thought. Yet we don't have difficulties in
languages. Like expect the unexpected
because these disabilities, illnesses,
conditions and disorders can affect different
people in different ways. I have found that I
have got better than I used to be since
I have got older but it has been a very slow
journey but I don't stop believing in myself and others like me.
Some of us like to spend more time alone,
others like people round and some of us can feel like I do a bit of both.
We find it hard to understand people's thoughts
and feeling, which may seem selfish but then I am better than I used to be.
We behave in a strange manner without been
aware but I have found since I have got older I become more worried and more
aware of it knowing off people I've known all
my life have told me.
This can be why we can find hard to make
friends but that get better from my experience the more I have been aware of my
Autism.
Be also aware of poor eye contract.
Communication Little language, speaking in the same tone,
unable to understand meanings of gesture and facial expression, hard to
understand jokes, mixing up words like you and I, repeating what they say or
and what other people say.
Flapping hands, twirling toes, fixed on the
same route round our lives, getting upset by change, sensitive to sound, smell,
touch and etc, misunderstanding peoples' thoughts, feelings, actions and etc.
Not everyone faces the same all problems so it doesn't make them not Autism
depending how many of these problems they do face.
Cause of Autism is unknown yet although in my
case it's unknown whether I do
have Autism or not. I guess I'm more than
likely Asperser if I am.
I guess just before the 21st century there was
a case on the news about the MMR injection to protect Measles/ rubella, what I
don't understand how can any learning disability a side - affect in any table,
injection or any medicines and ect? If I do have Autism it is caused by what I
was born lack of oxygen to the brain so I guess it's possible that MMR causes
Autism Spectrum if that's the case.
