You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
This video and accompanying handbook make an excellent introduction to the requirements of communicating with young people with learning disability. Running for twenty-five minutes, and along with the suggested exercises, it represents a very significant advance in the awareness of the needs of this particular group of young people. As well as an effective statement of the need for better communication, there are concise descriptions of the various methods that have been developed, from sign language to the individually tailored system for people with specific disabilities. The title was provided by Holly Williams, herself a young woman with learning difficulties, who was one of the ‘video core group’.
The project drew from several special schools in the Brighton area and has an aura of authenticity, because it involved a ‘consultative’ group of young people. As the handbook explains, the starting point is that, despite the good intentions of several government reports, there is still a lamentable lack of awareness about the need for young people with learning difficulties to be communicated with over many aspects of their lives. ‘Does he take sugar?’ is unfortunately still alive and kicking. The video goes on with the depiction of stereotypes of learning disability, which, portrayed as they are by those very people, makes uncomfortable viewing. As they themselves go on to describe their ‘bad experiences with professionals’, I was reminded of how we workers in the field have to overcome our own sense of inability to communicate with someone who has special needs. We are given advice in this programme, to ‘keep calm’, ‘don't be afraid to make mistakes’, ‘don't be scared to ask if you don't understand’, ‘show an interest in us, make it more than just a job’.
The commitment of these young people to communicate with each other as well as with their audience is very moving. I was reminded of my own difficulty, acute at first, and still occasionally so, when, feeling bereft