Helping to keep safe

Abstract

Purpose -The aim of this paper is to consider risk from the perspective of people with learning disabilities.Design/methodology/approach -The paper explores the thoughts and experiences of two people with learning disabilities around two different areas of potential risk and their participation in a mental health promotion group which has helped.Findings -People with learning disabilities encounter many risks in their lives but with the right support these risks can be managed.Originality/value -The paper adds valuable insight into the life of people with learning disabilities and the risks they face.We are two men with a mild learning disability who went to school together and are still friends. We are both members of the Tuesday group which helps people to understand about good mental health and staying well. We are both independent although we do need some support from outreach or staff visiting our houses. One of the problems we have experienced and a common experience for other people with learning disabilities, is being bothered by people we do not know or want to talk to. This is not people being friendly or saying hello but something unwanted that can be threatening and cause anxiety. Sometimes this can be nasty, one of us has been mugged and we both have experiences of hurtful comments from school kids on the bus and people pestering and begging for money. These experiences are not nice and can lead to panic attacks and not wanting to go out. Sometimes people are hurtful either physically or emotionally and these are hate crimes because people pick us out because they think we are different in a bad way and stupid. Even people who are friendly can sometimes be hurtful when they use old fashioned words to describe people with learning disabilities.In this article we would like to tell people about some of the things we have done and the topics we have discussed in the Tuesday group to deal with the problem and reduce the risk of unwanted attention and to keep safe when we are going out.In the Tuesday group there are two people from the local mental health services who help to run and organise the group and anything from three to eight members. At the group we have made our rules on how we treat each other like listening and taking turns. Also we choose what we want to do with our sessions which last for two hours with a short break and sandwiches and a drink after where we chat. Because many of us have had the problem of being picked on and this had made some people upset and not wanting to go out we decided that we wanted to keep safe. This was done over a period of time some weeks we would have a break and talk about other things and to keep things different we also invites a number of people to come and talk to us to see if they could help. Below is a list of sessions we did and a little bit about it.