FAQ

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What is a Learning Disability?
What is Advocacy?

What is a Learning Disability?

Every person with a learning disability is unique with different skills and abilities to offer.

Learning disability is a term that is used to describe the difficulties that some people experience in learning things that society expects them to learn at certain stages in their lives.

Some people are born with certain impairments that restrict or reduce their ability to learn as quickly and as readily as others. Learning disability can mean having difficulty in understanding; learning and remembering new things; communication; self-awareness; dealing with social tasks or transferring any skills learned, to new situations.

Not every person with a learning disability will experience all these things. Some people may experience other difficulties as well.

Here are some of them: for example:

      hearing or sight loss

      physical disabilities

      mental ill-health

      physical ill-health

      epilepsy

      autism

Why does learning disability occur?

There are many reasons why learning disability occurs. Impairments, which cause or contribute to learning disability can happen before, during or after birth. It is always present from childhood.

Before birth or pre-natal:
These are known as 'congenital' causes and include Down syndrome or Fragile X syndrome. In some cases, an unborn child may be affected by harmful substances in the womb

During birth or peri-natal causes:
For example oxygen deprivation resulting in cerebral palsy. Often the cause is not known.

After birth, or post natal causes:
illnesses, injury or environmental conditions, for example, meningitis, brain injury or children being deprived of attention to their basic needs such as being undernourished, neglected, physically abused or being denied the opportunity to learn.

Some different terms used

It may be useful to know the causes of someone's learning disability, as some types of learning disability are thought to be associated with particular learning characteristics. For example, some syndromes or impairments are associated with medical conditions.

Knowing this will enable us to help people avoid situations which may be dangerous or help us deal with emergencies but when referring to people with a learning disability we should remember this is just a label that is used to group people together to help plan services.

It sometimes helps others to understand people’s needs and enables appropriate individual support to be provided that allows people to live fulfilling lives.

          Profound and multiple learning disability:
          People with profound disability generally need assistance in most aspects of their daily lives. These people may also have physical difficulties and/or difficulty with communication.

          Severe Learning Disability:
          This usually means that people need significant help with their day to day lives. They may or may nor have physical and communication difficulties.

          Moderate learning disability:
          People with moderate learning disabilities are usually able to live with lower levels of support, but they may need assistance in dealing with social and/or emotional issues.

          Mild learning disability:
          People with mild learning disabilities may lead independent lives. They may need little or no support to do so.

    However, we need to remember that people with a learning disability are people first, and value their individuality. They, as with other people, dislike being labelled and always referred to in terms of their impairment.

Having a learning disability only describes one aspect of a person. They may also be short, tall, fair, dark, thin or stout. Each person is unique and experiences feelings, and is sensitive to situations the same as others who do not have a learning disability. They also carry many other labels, for example, brother, sister, friend, son, daughter; the same as we all do.

People with a learning disability should be granted the same human value as anyone else and the same human rights. They should be recognised for the individual they are, with unique likes and dislikes that need to be identified.

Living like others within the community is both a right and a need. People with a learning disability are not “ill” unless they have additional health problems like others do. Their learning disability is a part of their identity and who they are.

What is Advocacy?

Advocacy means “to speak up for someone or to support them to speak up for themselves”. The concept of Advocacy is outlined in the diagram below.

Diagram Explaining Advocacy

Advocacy is helping a person to be heard. Most people can act as advocates and use advocacy daily, for example parents listen to the needs and wishes of their children; managers respond to the views of their staff; friends stand by each other and offer support. This is often referred to as “informal” advocacy and is a part of everyday life.

Sometimes more formal methods of advocacy are required and this is often referred to as Independent advocacy. Advocacy of this type is a tool that can be used in a variety of ways when an advocate speaks for and with people who are not being heard, helping them to express their own views and make their own decisions.

The aim is to ensure that minority groups in society, who are frequently disadvantaged, have a means to know about, and gain, the life opportunities that are equal to the majority population. Advocacy is a process or spectrum of several activities that seeks to challenge the social exclusion experienced by many, that often leads to their loss of rights, and in some situations, to abuse.

Advocacy is about enabling every person to have a voice of their own and ensuring that they are not excluded because they do not express their views in ways that people understand.

Advocacy is taking action to help people say what they want, secure their rights, represent their interests and obtain services they need.

Advocacy promotes social inclusion, equality and social justice.

Take a few minutes to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and think about the following things:

      What would it be like for you if you were unable to speak and tell others about all the things that are important to you?

      How would you feel if everything you did, or every action you took, was directed by someone else and you were always left out on the margins of society?

      What would it be like if you had no control over your own life because others took it away from you, no one listened to you or took any notice of you, and decisions were made about you without you having any say in the matter?

This is so often what it is like for a person with a learning disability. Independent advocacy is about challenging social exclusion and discrimination. An advocate is a means to redressing the balance of power by providing a mixture of:

    Support

    Signposting

    links to other services

    sharing information and knowledge to support decision making

    being a ‘voice’ to ensure that people’s rights are respected.

Advocacy aims to achieve a more equal and just society for people who are disregarded and at risk of social exclusion. It is a tool that can be used in a variety of ways to ensure that minority and disadvantaged groups in society have a means to know about, and gain, the same life opportunities as others.

 

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