Campaign Voices
People with learning disabilities have been campaigning to have their rights protected in law for many, many years now.
Here are some of the people who have been campaigning for a Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill, they have told us why it is so important to them and many others, and what their experiences have been.
Peter
Peter is a long standing member of ENABLE Scotland and lives in Glasgow. He is a member of ENABLE Glasgow branch board, also a member of ENABLE Scottish Council. Peter enjoys attending his local ACE group which is an Active Community of Empowered People who have learning Disabilities.
Peter enjoys helping at swimming club and is also a committee member of the Glasgow taxis outing fund which takes children with additional support needs on the annual taxis outing to Troon. Peter is a proven campaigner and has campaigned a lot on the subject of bullying, this included Peter making a film about his life to share with others and break down barriers and stigma.
Faiz
My name is Faiz, I am 25 years old from Glasgow and I have a learning disability. For me a Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill is very important, and I think it would be very beneficial for me, and people like me.
I was diagnosed with a learning disability in primary school, and this made things different for me. School was a bit of a struggle because I was in a mainstream school, but I did get support from pupil support, and I got on with all my classmates.
I liked school because I really enjoyed H.E as I love cooking! After school though I went to college, and I found this really difficult! I didn’t get the same support at college that I did at school, and this made for a difficult transition from school to college.
Jackie
My name is Jackie and I have been involved with ENABLE Scotland for some time now, and a member of ACE for over 10 years!
My first campaign with ENABLE was when I became campaign ambassador for the Stop the Bus campaign in 2016 which looked at helping more people with learning disabilities, like myself, get a free bus pass because before the campaign I didn’t qualify for one.
This was a really important campaign for me as I struggled using the bus before my free bus pass because I found making sure I always had the right change difficult.
But through this campaign people like me got a free bus pass, which helped with my independence as I could travel now with so much more ease!