Peter & Friends - A book about COVID-19 and having a learning disability and/or autism.
Everybody has a voice, and everybody matters whoever they are, and it is our duty to assist them to be heard.
A new book about COVID-19 and having a learning disability and/or autism called ‘Peter & friends’ was launched at an international event. The book is a collaboration with Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, London South Bank University and Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities.
Speakers at our book launch event included Sir Norman Lamb, former MP and champion for the rights of people with learning disabilities.
The book, Peter and Friends, is freely available to download by all.
The book and the event have attracted international attention and with contributions from Australia, Austria, Canada, England, Ghana, Ireland, Malaysia, Netherlands, Scotland, Spain, South Africa and Wales by people with learning disabilities, their families and those supporting them during the Covid-19 pandemic
We thought it important to write this book as many of us feel that people with learning disabilities have been largely forgotten during this pandemic. This book will hopefully help people’s voices to be heard and not only the specific difficulties people have experienced but the remarkable resilience they and their carers have shown.
In writing their story many people have been assisted by family, friends and carers in different ways. This is why the style changes, to try and catch the person and their preferred style of communication.
In the book are stories from people in a variety of different situations, including workplaces, family homes, in supported living, people in hospital including patients or staff in general hospitals, Assessment and Treatment Units and Medium Secure Units.
Christine-Koulla Burke, Director, Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities, London South Bank University.