perspectives on partnership brian hayes & dermott lowneds
Post on 29-Dec-2015
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TRANSCRIPT
Perspectives on Partnership
Brian Hayes & Dermott Lowneds
Introduction
• I am Brian Hayes a member of the of the Self Advocacy Committee of the Board of Inclusion Ireland.
• The Sub Committee organised the self advocacy workshop this morning.
• The theme for today’s conference is Partnership Now! The question we have is ‘Are we equal’?
Today’s Workshops
• Are people with disabilities equal partners in making decisions that affect our lives and our choices?
• In our workshop we talked about self advocacy, relationships and how cuts to services affect our choices.
Self Advocacy
• Paul spoke about Self Advocacy
• Advocacy helps us understand our rights and this helps us fight for our rights.
• Support is important – the right support
Self Advocacy
• The right support is doing what the person wants not what the staff or family member want
• Funding
• If the government funded advocacy work then we could control the work we do and decide on the issues that are important to us.
Self Advocacy
• We want – more independent advocacy groups– a national independent advocacy group
• We need money to keep our advocacy group going
• The Government has written a lot of new policies for day services and residential services. These new policies are about what the person wants.
Self Advocacy
• Advocacy helps people with disabilities understand their rights and say what is important to them.
• If the Government puts money into advocacy it will help to roll out their policies.
Self Advocacy
• an independent national self advocacy group can work in partnership with the government and advise them on how disability policy and law affects people with disabilities on a daily basis.
Relationships
• I am Dermott a member of a member of the of the self advocacy committee of the Board of Inclusion Ireland.
• Marie and Phil talked about relationships in the workshop.
• People with disabilities have the right to a relationship no matter where they live.
Relationships
• We want to talk about relationships, the good and the bad
• We need to know how to stand up for ourselves in relationships and understand that if you are not happy you can walk away.
• Attitudes need to change towards people with extra support needs
Relationships
• Outdated law.
• Rules in disability services
• people never get a chance to fall in love.
Cuts to Services
• Adrian talked about cuts to services and how these cuts affect our choices everyday.
• Staff Cuts are effecting our friends and ourselves using disability services
• Public Accounts Committee.
• We are Not Going Away.
• We will not Be Walked over and are Citizens Of this Country Too And Should Be Treated Equally.
A Quote
I will leave you with a quote :
I have a disability yes that’s true.
But all that really means is I may have to take a slightly different path than you.
Thank you for listening
Enjoy the rest of the conference
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