New MN campaign around children with special needs

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello

Following on from this, um, lively thread from a couple of weeks back, we wanted to follow up on kungfupannda's excellent suggestion of an MNHQ-backed awareness-raising campaign aimed at - in kungfupannda's words - 'making it absolutely, uncompromisingly clear that in order to fully include children with severe disabilities, people might have to accept a bit of disruption once in a while.'

We were thinking about something along the lines of our We Believe You campaign on rape myths; that is to say, an ongoing awareness-raising project aimed at the general public, rather than a short-term campaign with specific policy requests attached. We would be thinking about pages on Mumsnet itself featuring the experiences of our posters, activity on our Bloggers Network, ye olde Twitter hashtagge, and any press coverage we can grab.

The suggestion on the thread was for the campaign to be called 'Tolerance is...', but we at MNHQ are a little unsure about the word 'tolerance' (which can suggest barely-contained irritation, rather than the kind of empathetic understanding and generosity of spirit we'd all like to see). So we were wondering whether something along the lines of 'This is my child' would work better?

Please feel free to use this thread to give us any feedback and ideas, and generally let us know what you think.

Thanks
MNHQ

Who sent that PM then?

Why on earth would you post a PM on a thread anyway?

Dev I'm honestly not trying to bully you. Nor is anybody else. I'm just trying to point out the vicious circle you're in when you reject any support and then say you don't get enough support, and how wary it makes people. People do want, and try, to support you.

Yes. Let's get back to the issues. I like the idea of a campaign that looks at raising awareness of people with all types of disabilities and all ages. I have no suggestions for a slogan but like the idea of one about seeing the person as well as the disability, and the 'it could be you/ you child' idea.

But Dev has tried so many different things with her DS nothing seems to work in his case, so I can see where shes coming from try seeing it from her point of view its a bloody hard life she and her family have.

This is bloody depressing. I think the idea of a campaign is a good one, I don't think it has to be world changing, but I think within the parameters of World of Mumsnet, it could be a positive thing.

I know other posters here (myself included) who have been educated and enlightened by posts from people on here (be they parent's, carers or posters who are themselves disabled). But I don't want to be part of something which causes this much conflict on a board which, to me at least, is all about support.

I am a parent of a small child who happens to be disabled, I am not an activist.

I just hope that this thread actually gets ideas across for a campaign - that is what this thread is about, debate is good, and we might not all agree. Everyone can have their say, I don't expect people to respond to my every post, if I feel the need to have attention focused on me/ my problems I start a thread asking for advice and support.

Mn are trying to start a positive campaign about sn, and recognition of disability - that is good, not simple, but if it changes opinion, brings about acceptance and compassion without pity, consideration without patronising and makes people see the person not just the disability then surely that is a good start.

This is making depressing reading!
My DS is also very severe,we are isolated,we as a family do suffer and that is why we need to change things!
It doesn't matter one bit whether I or DS have a harder time than you or you have a harder time than us , we have all got one thing in common and that's disability affecting our lives.
And yes originally I did only have children in mind but I'm well aware that DS is going to become an adult and face the same challenges he does now ( probably more ) do can't we just move on and remember the intention of this thread as being something positive...

Agree!

Leith, you don't need to apologise to me. I was just trying to explain that children with disabilities don't receive less discrimination than adults with disabilities, but that a child that is discriminated against because of their disabilities is likely to become an adult that is discriminated against because of their disabilities.

No anger involved, just trying to get across that this issue affects everyone, and even if a campaign is started about children with disabilities, it can grow (just as our children with disabilities do) into a campaign about adults with disabilities too.

I like 'this is me' and 'it could be you'

I'd like it to be a very practical, down-to-earth campaign, rooted in real life examples of things we might do/not do which make life more difficult or unpleasant for people with disabilities and what we could do better, eg. why it's important to get the fuck out of the wheelchair space and what the effects are for wheelchair users if we don't, why it's not on to grumble and tut when a child who 'looks ok' is allowed to skip the queue at the fairground ...

I realise though that this is asking those of you with direct experience to do some educating and I understand if you've had enough of this role.

I'd like the campaign to include children, adults and families.

Thanks Couthy I could not decide if I had upset you or if you were agreeing with me.

tompride.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/toby-young-disabled-children-should-be-excluded-from-schools/

The link takes you to a politicle blog by Tom Pride in which he makes comment on an article written by Toby Young in which he argued that things like wheelchair ramps in schools were a waste of time and money because all inclusive education does is dumb down the education that the able bodied kids get.

He kind of defends himself in this piece here www.nosacredcows.co.uk/blog/2026/my_latest_spectator_column.html:
These are not new articles but they do highlight the mindset that we should go back to hiding people with impairment or looking after them in specalist institutions. In other words going backwards not towards a more equal and fair society.
Whay I would like is for MN to bring people like Toby Young and other influential bloggers and writers to a meeting where they can be challenged, these are the people that are setting the mood music of discrimination and allowing the government to say things like scroungers and austerity.

Additional Needs? No. Additional Rights!

Toby Young runs a free school now. I hope he's changed his views.

Hello

Apologies for the silence - we need to read through all of this, digest what you're saying and come back to you. We will try to do that ASAP.

Thanks

Take your time Rowan, the "othering" of people with impairments won't be going any where for a while.

I don't think tolerance is a good word. Nor is acceptance, as that implies "putting up" with something. What I would like to see is something that embraces seeing the person (adult or child) first, and the disability after. But not (as someone said to me once) "I don't think of you as disabled".

talking of putting the child first... NOT ofsted talk of "disabled children" in their reports..

Here's a start MNHQ

Consider what retweeting Tweet about Richard III - bbc.in/11AG758 > It wasn't just a hump-ch, then ;) ' says when put alongside this campaign.

I mean, really?

All about paying lip service, wasn't it?

Notnagging he hasn't. No way would I send either of my boys to a school of his.

I just hope that, in the not impossible event that he finds himself sick or disabled and unable to walk, he remembers that he needs to drag himself up the stairs. Just to avoid being PC, like.

I'd adore opening a free school for kids with ASD / speech issues etc here; I have a building all picked but nowhere near enough cash to do it :(

But a prat like T Young- yuck

As for dumbing down yep, that's why ds1 with his asd is thriving and planning on uni; my mate with severe cp (3 affected limbs and a voca) has a business and graduates this year. He won;t mind me linking, this is him here