APPENDIX 10
Memorandum submitted by Mencap
1. Mencap welcomes the opportunity to contribute
to this inquiry on behalf of the people with a learning disability
and their families.
2. There are conventionally estimated to
be some 1.2 million people in the UK with some degree of learning
disability, and about 200,000 adults and children with a moderate/severe
learning disability.
3. The educational experiences of people
with mild or moderate learning disability are not radically different
from those of the general population. These young people have
tended not to go on to further education. People with more severe
learning disability were excluded from the school system until
1971, and have only gradually gained a footing in mainstream school
and further education, as well as in special schools and colleges.
As many as 60 per cent of those with severe learning disability
are not literate in the conventional sense.
4. There has been a huge change in educational
practice and expectations in recent years. People written off
as "ineducable" as children are now gaining (specially
designed but still demanding ) Open University diplomas; and increasing
numbers are leaving school and college with recognised qualifications,
eg NVQ's. In particular, the ability of all children and adults
to learn, irrespective of their degree of learning disability,
and the ability of individuals to surprise by their progress in
learning, is being acknowledged.
5. We are increasingly looking to open up
and exploit the whole range of community learning resources, from
the university campus to the mainstream primary school and the
early learning group. Technology is enabling children in special
schools to link up with counterparts in other countries; resources
are being shared between mainstream and special schools; specialist
colleges and day centres can link up with distant FE courses;
virtual reality programmes can enable people to "experience"
new situations in advance of going out to experience them at first
hand.
6. In this new era of expanding horizons,
the public library service can be a rich and indeed indispensable
resource, particularly in the following ways:
— Providing an inclusive experience
for children and adults with learning disabilities to share with
their peer group in library-based activities such as story time,
learning about local history, discovering what a library is, accessing
music, having a quiet place for study where home circumstances
make home study difficult;
— Helping the library-using community
as a whole to broaden the concept of literacy—for example
all children generally enjoy learning Makaton (a version of British
Sign Language);
— Stocking age-appropriate books and
other resources: teenagers with limited literacy skills do not
want children's books or tapes;
— Computer access to learning resources
and information can also help the person with significant learning
disability;
— For those with visual impairment
or who find audio tapes easier than the written word, the modern
library, with its alternatives to shelves of heavy books, is invaluable;
— Librarians as information officers
can help people with learning disabilities (and their families)
find what they need, in the format appropriate to their needs;
and
— Liaison with local special schools,
special educational needs co-ordinators in mainstream schools,
and sections for learning difficulties and disabilities in local
FE colleges, education outreach services, and day centres, can
enable the libraries to contribute to Lifelong Learning for all
sectors of the community.
7. We recommend that:
— Libraries should undertake access
audits in conjunction with local learning and other disability
groups—recognising that for those with learning disabilities
staff training and accessible materials are commonly more important
than physical access;
— Local partners in school, college
and Lifelong Learning should involve libraries in their work on
(multi-media) learning;
— Libraries should review their stocks
of age appropriate literacy materials, eg Bag Books and should
share in encouraging the development of more such material;
— Recognising the learning needs of
family carers and of staff who often have to fund their own learning
programmes, libraries should explore with local voluntary and
professional groups how they can help by stocking relevant information
and texts; and
— There is a public educational role
in mounting exhibitions featuring the achievements of people with
learning disability—eg in art, drama, dancing, sport, etc.
8. We annex some recent Mencap material
which is relevant to the Committee's inquiry[11].
January 2000
11 Not printed. Back
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