Concepts of Access: Conclusions

• There is plenty to celebrate as well as things to be angry about in terms of the level and quality of access that people with learning disabilities experience.


• People with learning disabilities want the same opportunities for access as everyone else.


• We need to be critics of access issues – so that we keep on trying to improve.


• We all have a responsibility to try and change things.


• There it no single solution to access issues.


• Access is as much about the relationships that we develop with people, as the goals or outcomes.

We can all make a difference if we:

• Raise the expectations of professionals, parents and people with learning disabilities themselves, by raising awareness of good “access practices”.


• Talk properly with people with disabilities-as happened at the seminars- in ways that are free of jargon, unhurried and respectful.


• All work together so that the views and opinions of people with learning disabilities are heard in places where it matters (for example self-advocacy conferences and Partnership Boards).