The park was lovely. I tried really hard not to do the 'disability rights' thing but it all just played out in front of us & really demonstrated to me why there is so little progress being made for those with more severe learning disabilities and/or autism (1)
There were a few toddlers & (grand)parents at the park, then a couple of little girls of 7-10 ish arrived. These girls had LD & autism. That was particularly apparent because they were with support workers. That was apparent because they were wearing lanyards
The girls were playing nicely. Differently but perfectly socially acceptably. They just wanted to look at what they wanted not play the way the support workers were trying to direct them to play. The support workers were clearly caring & following procedures but it was so wrong
Those little girls were so othered. And they just didn't need to be. With a different training approach those support workers could have engaged with the girls play, not tried to make them play in a neurotypical style. Just not being so obviously paid workers would've helped
Another lady, there with her grandchildren was also watching all this, and she leaned over to me (sat on the mobility scooter & obviously disabled) and said to me, very kindly and compassionately, 'we are so lucky aren't we', nodding towards our various kids
And that's why learning disabled adults can die more than 20 years earlier than everyone else & society doesn't care enough to change it. Right from early childhood some kids are marked as different & everyone knows it. And then there's the 'we are so lucky ours aren't like them'
Those two attitudes combine into the situations we see learning disabled and/or autistic adults put into. Hidden away, othered and then quietly seen as 'for the best' when dying so young. No-one really says that these days, but it's what most people think.
And until we are more honest about that and more open about that discussion, then we won't make any progress towards being more inclusive and having better lives for everyone
