Sunday 27 January 2008

What kind of access do people with learning disabilities want? Part 5

Access that is across the board; that happens in every part of our lives

  • Having access in one area of life (for example work) can be hard if you don’t have access in other parts of your life (for example at home).

  • Being treated differently in different areas of life is hard. For example, being treated like a colleague at work but like someone ‘in care’ at home (for example, supported living centre).

  • Barriers are often in layers, when you take one down you have to tackle the next one. For example, to access employment you need a job, you need transport to get there, you need an alarm clock to get to the transport on time, and you need support to keep the job.

  • Having access to technology at school but not at home is something that happens a lot.

  • Getting jobs for people is helped by positive assessment –where you start with what people can do rather than what they cannot do. You work on the idea that everyone can learn.

  • Access is fragile. It can be easily lost or broken. If one person has a good access experience, it does not mean that another person in the same time and place will have the same good access experience.

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