Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Blog”
Relationships matter for people with learning disabilities – anyone who has been keeping an eye on the SCLD website and social media channels over the last month can be in no doubt of that. Whoever we are and wherever we come from, we all share a need for human connection, whether that be through our families, friends, romantic relationships, or through our community – such as our neighbours and …
2020 has been a tumultuous year for all of us. The Coronavirus Pandemic has presented considerable new challenges that SCLD and PAMIS believe have disproportionately impacted all disabled people, including people with learning/intellectual disabilities. Despite this, there have been some opportunities for hope including Scotland’s ongoing commitment to becoming a children’s rights respecting nation. We continue to see considerable steps …
My first kiss – The Scout Hall, Pollokshields, November 1975. Catherine Fulton in a purple midi skirt, looking a million dollars. Me, with my wide-collared floral shirt and my new flared jeans that my mum had taken the hem up on because she’d bought them with an eye for my next growth spurt that hadn’t kicked in yet. Every teenager in Pollokshields …
Relationships are tricky things for many of us, including myself, and sometimes I think it’s a case of we can’t live with them and we can’t live without them. This year has been challenging for us all and it has certainly shown me that I can’t live without relationships, even if they have to be virtual. If this is how I am feeling, I’m pretty sure that it is the …
When I think about it, it was in going to different groups that I got to meet lots of people, and I made friends that way. I met people when I started going to my local ACE group, then I got asked to join the national ACE group, so I met more people that way. Then it was through that, that I was asked …
To mark Scottish Housing Day 2020 and its social housing theme, SCLD’s Evidence & Policy Officer Lorne Berkley explores the the role and potential of social housing in the lives of people with learning/intellectual disabilities in Scotland… Over the last few months, we’ve all had to spend much more time at home. The response to the Covid-19 pandemic has changed …
A wee blether with… Jordan Allan, who is Service Quality Director at Thera Trust Scotland, an organisation which seeks to demonstrate that people with learning disabilties can be leaders in society. Thera is co-managed by directors who have lived experience of learning disability, like Jordan… Hi Jordan – nice to meet you, even if it is through a …
Our Evidence & Research Officer, Ruth Callander, writes about how the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown what is really important to people with learning/intellectual disabilities into ever sharper focus… Coronavirus swept into our lives like a tidal wave, turning them upside down, and confining us to our homes. At SCLD, we very quickly adapted our ways of working; video calls and …
Neil, a man with a learning disability and multiple long-term health conditions, tells us of his experience of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and what he thinks needs to change to make things better for people with learning disabilities. My name is Neil, I am a man living in Scotland. I have learning disability, dyslexia, type 2 diabetes, and asthma. I live …
In recognition of Scottish Learning Disability Week and Mental Health Awareness Week, Eddie McConnell, Chair of SCLD and Chief Executive of Down’s Syndrome Scotland, shares a letter to his son Finlay… Dear Finlay, How are you today? I ask, because I noticed that you put your birthday cards back up in your room eight weeks after we celebrated your …