Learning Disability Awareness Week is held on the 3rd week in June every year to raise awareness of the challenging barriers people with a learning disability face in their everyday lives, to raise awareness and educate others on what it’s like to have a learning disability and to celebrate the wonderful things that people with a learning disability bring to society.
There are 1.5 million people with a learning disability in the UK.
There are 870,000 working age adults in the UK with a learning disability.
Do You See Me?
This year’s theme, ‘Do you see me’ focuses on being seen, heard and valued within society. With various topics emerging through the week, it challenges people to consider the following questions when considering our workplaces, communities and homes;
- Do you see me?
- Do you understand me?
- Will you work with me?
- Do you hear me?
- Do you include me?
- Do you support me?
What is a Learning Disability?
A learning disability, according to Mencap, is a reduced intellectual ability and difficulty with everyday activities – for example household tasks, socialising or managing money – which affects someone for their whole life.
People with a learning disability tend to take longer to learn and may need support to develop new skills, understand complicated information and interact with other people.
The Challenge
People with a learning disability face stigma and discrimination which has a significant negative impact on their day to day lives. They face challenges getting equal opportunities for healthcare, housing, education and employment.
Research shows us that people with a learning disability tend to experience worse physical and mental health compared to those without a learning disability in the general population, and are also more likely to experience a number of different health conditions such as mental health problems, epilepsy or being under or overweight.
Severe mental health problems are 8.4x more common amongst those with a learning disability compared to those without.
Epilepsy is more common in adults with a learning disability, and more common amongst men and those with a higher level of impairment.
37% of people with a learning disability were classified as obese, compared to 29.9% of those without in the general population.
People with a learning disability continue to face health inequalities and significant barriers to care, lowering the average life expectancy for individuals with a learning disability.
On average males with a learning disability die 20 years younger than males from the general population without a learning disability.
On average females with a learning disability die 23 years younger than females from the general population without a learning disability.
Poor quality healthcare causes health inequalities and leads to avoidable deaths. These figures are appalling, and more needs to be done to understand why there is such a disparity between the experiences of those with a learning disability and those without.
There remain significant barriers stopping people with a learning disability from getting good quality healthcare.
These barriers include:
- A lack of accessible transport links
- Patients not being identified as having a learning disability
- Staff having little understanding about learning disabilities
- Failure to recognise when a person with a learning disability is unwell
- Failure to make a correct diagnosis
- Anxiety or a lack of confidence for people with a learning disability
- A lack of joint working from different care providers
- Not enough involvement allowed from carers
- Inadequate aftercare or follow-up care
- Failure to be on the GP’s Learning Disability Register
Healthcare professionals have a legal duty to provide reasonable adjustments for disabled people. Reasonable adjustments may include providing ‘easy read’ information, avoiding medical jargon or providing longer appointment times.
Here at the RealBirth Company, we’ve ensured our RealBirth Digital Workshop includes accessibility features to support those with additional learning needs. Each person accessing our Digital Workshop can adjust and save personal settings including the size and colour of the text, as well as the colour of the background to make it easier to read. There are also audio guides for all written text so that information can be listened to rather than read if preferred. We avoid medical jargon and terminology, and include inclusive, culturally sensitive illustrations, animations, videos and interactive points throughout the Workshop to support learning. These features are available across all languages our programme has been translated into.
How to get Involved?
Mencap is a UK based charity supporting the lives of those with learning disabilities. Their vision is to ensure that the UK is the best place in the world for people with a learning disability to live happy and healthy lives.
They work towards improving the lives of people with a learning disability by recognising inequalities within society, identifying barriers and problems and working towards finding solutions which bring them closer to achieving their vision.
Mencap have suggested the following ways you can get involved in this year’s Learning Disability Awareness Week:
- Campaign with Mencap to challenge the barriers that people with a learning disability face
- Talk about and celebrate the amazing things that people with a learning disability are doing in your community
- Spread awareness of Learning Disability Awareness Week on social media
- Take part in one of their Mencap events
- Donate to Mencap to help them continue to campaign and advocate for people with a learning disability to live happy and healthy lives
For more information, contact the Mencap’s free Learning Disability Helpline – a free helpline service offering advice and support for people with a learning disability, and their families and carers.
