This event was organised by the ‘Stay Up Late’ charity. They came up with an idea to host a conference with a difference. They felt that there were lots of conferences about people with learning disabilities but very few speakers actually with learning disabilities. This time, they wanted all the delegates to be composed of professionals and all of those on the platform making speeches to be people with learning disabilities. This was them telling us how they can live ordinary lives.
We arrived to a fully packed auditorium – Laura said she couldn’t believe how many people there were! The event was hosted by Tilly, who has Asperger’s Syndrome and her best friend Del, a beautiful pink stuffed pig. Tilly discovered Del in Clinton Cards and they’ve been inseparable ever since. They opened by saying the emphasis is on the ‘Un’ in this (Un)Ordinary conference but that they preferred the word extraordinary. They explained that this conference was going to cover three key themes; communities, relationships and work.
All the speakers were given centre stage to express
themselves in a variety of ways - some chose to speak, some chose to represent
themselves through videos and there was even some singing. William decided to
sing the “Bare Necessities” song to demonstrate how it should be a ‘bare
necessity’ for people with learning disabilities to have jobs. We also had Ben,
who showed a video of how he had found solace in the Bashment music scene after
difficulties at school and is now well known in this scene.
It
was then Laura’s turn. She was understandably very nervous about getting up in
front of a big audience but as soon as she got up there it looked as though she
had done this hundreds of times before! Laura naturally finds the words to
describe the relationship her and her son have. She talked about the fun things
they do together and why being a parent is the best thing in the world. She
also mentioned her recent work, writing a blog with Sandra Baum, one of our Consultant
Psychologists, on the positives of being a parent. Laura received a big round
of applause at the end, as well as lots of questions from the audience (6 in
total she counted!). Tilly congratulated Laura and described how inspiring she
had found Laura’s presentation having always wanted to be a mum herself and
being told it wasn’t possible because of her disability.
After lunch we heard from Scott. Scott was told at school he
would never be able to get a job. He proved them wrong by
not only getting a job but now being in a senior position. He
also received a British Empire Medal in the 2017 and as he
quite rightly said, he is “…now waiting for his
Knighthood...!!”.
would never be able to get a job. He proved them wrong by
not only getting a job but now being in a senior position. He
also received a British Empire Medal in the 2017 and as he
quite rightly said, he is “…now waiting for his
Knighthood...!!”.
I would like to say a huge thanks to the Stay Up Late team
for inviting Laura to speak and organising hands down the
best conference I’ve been to. Laura described the experience
as giving her more confidence and she wants to do lots more
presentations now! She also said she is famous now
because her talk was mentioned in the Guardian and
Learning Disability Today! I learnt a lot from each speaker
and loved the uniqueness of each one. It is clear that this
type conference should be the norm. How else can we learn
about the changes we need to make except by hearing it
from people with learning disabilities directly? They can
share their stories and educate if given a platform. It also
made me and Laura reflect on the different ways Research
Net could present in future as it was great to see such a
variety. It made me realise the importance of the right
support as well. A lot of the speakers explained that with the
right support (and they all had completely different kinds of
support!) that they can lead “ordinary lives”. Rightly so as a
member of the audience asked at the end “When is the next
conference going to be…?!” and I’ll be at the front of the
queue waiting to buy a ticket!
for inviting Laura to speak and organising hands down the
best conference I’ve been to. Laura described the experience
as giving her more confidence and she wants to do lots more
presentations now! She also said she is famous now
because her talk was mentioned in the Guardian and
Learning Disability Today! I learnt a lot from each speaker
and loved the uniqueness of each one. It is clear that this
type conference should be the norm. How else can we learn
about the changes we need to make except by hearing it
from people with learning disabilities directly? They can
share their stories and educate if given a platform. It also
made me and Laura reflect on the different ways Research
Net could present in future as it was great to see such a
variety. It made me realise the importance of the right
support as well. A lot of the speakers explained that with the
right support (and they all had completely different kinds of
support!) that they can lead “ordinary lives”. Rightly so as a
member of the audience asked at the end “When is the next
conference going to be…?!” and I’ll be at the front of the
queue waiting to buy a ticket!
Amelia Ralph-Lewis
(Assistant Psychologist, Greenwich CLDT) and Laura (Research Net member)
To read
Laura’s Blog click on the link below:
To see Laura’s
mention in the Guardian and Learning Disability Today please see below:
