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 | You and YoursΒ - Transcript Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 |
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| TX: 26.02.04 – TASKFORCE SAYS PROGRESS IS BEING MADE BUT PEOPLE WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES ARE STILL SOCIALLY EXCLUDED PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON |
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| THE ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT WAS TYPED FROM A RECORDING AND NOT COPIED FROM AN ORIGINAL SCRIPT. BECAUSE OF THE RISK OF MISHEARING AND THE DIFFICULTY IN SOME CASES OF IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUAL SPEAKERS, THE Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ CANNOT VOUCH FOR ITS COMPLETE ACCURACY. ROBINSON This week the Government's Learning Disability Task Force published its second annual report. The report says there have been big improvements in the quality of life for people with learning disabilities. But it also says that many are socially excluded. In a minute I'll be talking to the co-chair of the task force about her concerns but first here are the views of Jean Wilson, whose daughter Victoria has a severe learning disability and two people with learning disabilities - Rebecca Cooper and first Karen Flood. FLOOD Things we face is like transport because it's not accessible, like getting on trains or buses. Also what else is not accessible is if you've got to go to a hospital because if you can't read the signs you can't get from A to B in there and that is one of our major problems. Also people who work in the medical field, they all seem to talk to the person who's with you and not to you. WILSON The difficulties for somebody like my daughter Victoria, who has high individual support needs are - they see the negative before the positive, they see the disabilities rather than the woman. An example of where my daughter was excluded was she has a problem with her kidneys and she needed a special kidney test but the doctor who first met her just took one look and said - No, no, no she would be too dangerous for my equipment. And it was only when I went up to him and said - Did I hear you correctly, are you saying she cannot have this test which is vital to her health because of her behaviour? And he said - Yes. And I said - Oh I think this is called discrimination and I will be taking this further. At which point he changed his mind. But how many family carers have the bottle that I have to question his judgement? My daughter wouldn't have had that test, her kidneys wouldn't have been tested and her general health would have declined. FLOOD What we are finding though is that what would play a major part is education, is that all young kids going through the same system I went through 20 odd years. I mean I went to a normal school and I would totally disagree with it because I couldn't read or write properly. And I'm working with young people today who's going through the same system I went through and to us it annoys you because they're not getting the opportunities that they should be getting, like every other child. WILSON I think the Government has to recognise and identify these invisible people, like Victoria, because there are many people with high individual support needs who they don't know about, so can't plan for. And they need to identify them and plan very thoroughly for them. They need to work harder with black and ethnic minority people because if it's difficult for somebody like Victoria, it's doubly difficult for them. And they're not doing enough work in this area. COOPER It's people's attitudes that need to be changed. I mean we're human like everybody else and the Government should get the ideas and things from people who are from black and ethnic minority. ROBINSON Rebecca Cooper. Michelle Chinery co-chairs the Learning Disability Task Force, it was set up two years ago to try to promote the interests of people with learning disabilities and she has a learning disability herself. What would you say has been achieved since your first annual report? CHINERY We actually have achieved quite a lot. The closure of the long-stay hospitals has occurred, we do recognise though that some of the long-stay hospitals will not meet the deadline but we actually want the long-stay hospitals to be closed properly and for the people with learning disabilities who are in the long-stay hospitals to get the right support to live out in the community. ROBINSON What else would you say has been achieved over the past year or so? CHINERY We've also achieved better contact with some government departments. There's some work being done to make sure that government departments take on the needs of people with learning disabilities and that essential information is made more available through the Government. The sex offences bill also … ROBINSON I want to come on to that because that's one of the things that I know that you're worried about but just thinking about the things that you are so far pleased with - you've mentioned more accessible information, better relationships with government departments, the closure of the long-stay mental institutions - anything else that you're pleased with? CHINERY Nothing. ROBINSON Okay then to the things that you feel most worried about. You talk there about the Sexual Offences Act, why is that a worry for you? CHINERY We had the worry because we were very concerned about people with learning disabilities being stopped and not able to consent to have sexual relationship, we're very concerned in relation to people's rights and also we were concerned that carers - and residential care homes in particular - might split up people with learning disabilities and say that they can't have a sexual relationship because of the Bill. ROBINSON What is it in the Sexual Offences Act that you think might make carers behave in that way? CHINERY It's the means test, there's a test that people have to have, if somebody reports - if I understand it right - if somebody reports an offence or an offence has occurred or they allege there's an offence then it sets off a whole process of the kind of the person with learning disabilities consent to have sexual relationship. ROBINSON And so you think that in order to avoid that process carers might simply prevent people from having relationships who want to have them. CHINERY Yes, yes. ROBINSON You also raise concern about another proposed piece of legislation - that's the Mental Incapacity Bill, which we've heard on this programme before would give carers more powers to make decisions on behalf of people that they look after. Why are you worried about that? CHINERY I'm very, very concerned about advocacy. In the Government's response which came out on Tuesday they recognised that advocacy needs to go into the bill … ROBINSON Advocacy? CHINERY Yeah but all it actually says is they're going to look at it - that is not going far enough. I urge government to put advocacy into the bill as a priority, I think it should be a priority. I strongly feel and the task force feels that people with learning disabilities should have independent advocacy to make choices for themselves. ROBINSON Michelle Chinery thank you very much and we asked - we put some of your concerns to the Department of Health and what they say is that - they're grateful for the report, they will look at it and they'll respond to it in due course. CHINERY Thank you. Back to the You and Yours homepage The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ is not responsible for external websites |
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