Join us in supporting Learning Disability Week 2009
June 22, 2009 by Dave Musson
Today marks the start of Learning Disability Week and here on The Daily Dust we’re going to be bringing you a different article each day to keep you up-to-date
Learning Disability Week runs until June 28 and is an annual week aimed at raising awareness of issues that affect people with learning disabilities and their families in the UK.
The week is backed by Mencap, the UK’s leading learning disability charity, who are using this year’s event to launch their “Changing Places” campaign – which will be the focus of our article tomorrow.
Until then, here are some facts about learning disability:
- Only 1 in 5 people with a learning disability work, compared with 1 in 2 disabled people generally, yet at least 65% of people with a learning disability want to work. Of those who do, most only work part time and are low paid.
- Children with a learning disability can often be excluded socially and 8 out of 10 of them are bullied.
- 58,000 people across the UK with a learning disability are supported by day care services.
- People with a learning disability are 58 times more likely to die before their 50th birthday than other people, and 75% of GPs have not received training in treating people with a learning disability.
- 29,000 adults with learning disabilities live with parents aged 70 or over, many of whom are too frail or too old to continue in their caring role.
- 8 out of 10 families who support someone with profound and multiple learning disabilities are at “breaking point” due to the lack of support they receive in their role as carers.
Stay tuned to The Daily Dust throughout this week for more stories about learning disability in the UK.
Source for the facts: Mencap
Picture credit: Dave Musson Photography
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[...] charity is using this year’s learning disability week, which started yesterday, to join forces with the Changing Places Consortium to campaign for fully [...]