News Release, 23 June 2000
A new report from the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities says that if we value choice in our own lives and believe it to be a universal right, we urgently need to re-design services for people with severe, profound and multiple learning disabilities to reflect this.
"Sit down at bedtime and count how many choices you have made that day. Then think about what it would be like if all these choices had been denied you," says Lloyd Page, a forty-year-old man with mild learning disabilities.
This is the experience of many of the estimated 200,000 people with severe learning disabilities in the UK, particularly if they have little or no verbal communication. In response, the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities will publish on 28 June, Everyday Lives, Everyday Choices, a report which investigates different ways in which people’s choices can be understood and implemented.
The report has been produced as a result of a two-year initiative working with a number of projects across the UK. It discusses a range of themes including: communication, community activities, employment, friends, where you live, citizen advocacy, risk, staff development and training. The report recommends that:
- Government should ensure that people with learning disabilities and high support needs have the support of a citizen advocate, if they so wish
- Local Authorities and Health Authorities should develop effective and practical ways of consulting people with high support needs and their family carers, when planning services
- Service providers should assess the communication needs of each individual and ensure that staff communicate appropriately
- Staff responsible for individual assessment should provide real options in the transition from school to college, including further education, training and supported employment
Hazel Morgan, programme manager at the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities said, "It is no longer good enough to say people are either too disabled to make choices, or it is too expensive for services to accommodate choices.
"Choice is a right, an expression of self-determination, and to deny this is a form of oppression. We live in a society where the market economy and consumer choice is paramount and people with learning disabilities should be able to share this."
Lloyd Page, who has written an introduction in the Everyday Lives, Everyday Choices report based on his personal experience of living with a learning disability said, "Choice is important to us. It may be a nuisance having to make our minds up, but it is a great deal better than having our minds made up by someone else…or other people pretending that we don’t have a mind that we could make up."
Note to editors
For further information and interview requests contact please contact the press office on 020 7803 1105 / 1128 or email the press office
The Foundation promotes the rights, quality of life and opportunities of people with learning disabilities and their families. We do this by working with people with learning disabilities, their families and those who support them to:
- Do research and develop projects that promote social inclusion and citizenship
- Support local communities and services to include people with learning disabilities
- Make practical improvements in services for people with learning disabilities
- Spread knowledge and information.
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