Disabled young people matter
My experience of working with disabled young people changed my views forever.
What happened?
Hi, I’m Craig, and I’m currently taking part in a year long voluntary programme called Vtalent year, which offers young people (aged 16-25) the opportunity to work in children and young peoples services, who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity. So far I have undertaken loads of different activities, ranging from helping with a huge event which encourages young people to play outside more, to working with young parents whose children are on the child protection register.
I want to talk about my most recent project, which has been working on consultations with young people who have disabilities. This group is called OYE! (Oxfordshire Youth Enablers). The consultations are part of an Oxfordshire County Council initiative to get the voices of young people with disabilities heard on the matters that specifically affect them. This current set of consultations is based on ‘transitions’ or put simply ‘life changes’. These consultations were almost entirely designed by young people who had taken part in a disability forum.
The reason I’m so passionate about writing this article is that in the past two weeks, I have encountered what some might call an epiphany.
It all started with a meeting that I was facilitating; in this meeting was a young person with cerebal palsy. I don’t know if you could call it ignorance, or simply not having the experience of dealing with people with disabilities, but when this young person walked into the room, my immediate reaction was that – simply because they had speech problems – they wouldn’t be able to give the same level of contribution, and I’m ashamed to say I almost completely disregarded them. However, much to my astonishment, this young person set the meeting on fire; their contributions were invaluable – it was a real eye opener for me.
Our first consultation was with a group of people with Aspergers Syndrome. Aspergers is something that can prohibit people’s abilities to adapt to social norms. I have to admit that I found this consultation the most challenging; the very nature of the disorder meant that I had to significantly adapt my approach whilst talking to the young people so that they were able to take part. The consultation was set up to receive information through a variety of games and activities that would provide us with information that we could take away with us. I found it truly astonishing that these young people – many of whom where highly intelligent – had never considered the various ‘transitions’ that we were talking about. The very concept of going to university seemed a world away to some of them, despite them clearly having the capacity to do so.
We did three further consultations, one with Friends of the Young Deaf, one with a foundations studies group, and one with Guideposts Trust Listen Group, which is an organisation in Witney for young people with learning difficulties.
These various consultations were all structured in exactly the same way to ensure that the information collected would give a clear overview and insight into what needed to be done and changed, with respect to young people making these transitions.
The information we got became so predictable; only some of these young people knew about the options available to them in life. Most didn’t know how to find a job, or where to even look for one. So many of the young people expressed the desire to live independently one day but didn’t know how to do it. However, the most shocking conversation I had with a young person, that will have a profound and life-long effect on me, was one I had with a young person at the Guideposts Trust group, in which they specifically told me that they dare not look for a job, because they’d been discriminated against so many times, and that they were completely in despair with the whole system.
Everything that I have talked about above – and believe me I could go on for a lot longer – has made me so, so passionate about the social model of disability, and that a disability – however serious - should never be a reason for being excluded. I think that is our responsibility as a County Council to make serious changes, otherwise we risk losing brilliant people, and our society as a whole will suffer!!
Further information
For more information on Oxfordshire Youth Enablers (OYE!) and their consultations, contact Michele Eyre on (01865) 256667 or email michele.eyre@oxfordshire.gov.uk
Related websites
BigVoiceOxfordshire.com
