There was a meeting in Parliament Parliament is a group of people who make laws and check what the government is doing. earlier this month to discuss improving the work opportunities of people with a learning disability. I spoke about why that is important, and how I have developed in my job.
Last week, Lee Scott MP, the government The Government are the people who run the country. They decide how much tax people should pay for things and how things like the National Health Service should work. ’s ‘Special Educational Needs Tsar’ (expert), hosted the Learning Disability Confident event at the Houses of Parliament. The aim of the event was to encourage more employers to get people with a learning disability into meaningful jobs.
My employers, Mencap, were
involved
Involved is being included in something or taking part in something.
in organising the event and lots of people from different companies came and took part. They were asked to sign a
pledge
A pledge is when someone promises to do something.
to give more work opportunities to people with a learning disability in future, including paid jobs and
supported internships
A work placement for young people with additional needs, where they get support from a job coach.
.
Find out more about Mencap's
Employment
Employment means having a job.
services.
Lee Scott talked about some of the government’s plans for employment.
Some of the other speakers were from companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, National Grid and
NHS
The NHS is the National Health Service. The NHS gives free healthcare to everyone in the UK and includes things like your GP (doctors) surgery and hospitals.
England. They talked about all the positive things that they have found from employing people with a learning disability, or from providing opportunities for people to do
work experience
Work experience is when you try out a job to help you learn new skills.
or supported internships.
The event is important because we know from our research Research is a way of finding out information which could come from books, or asking people what they think. that only 7 percent of people with a learning disability who are known to social services are in paid work. We also know people with a learning disability have the lowest employment rate of all disabled groups.
We want to see this improve in the future. I know about this issue from the work I did on the Disability Employment
Strategy
A strategy is a plan to show what an organisation, or a person, wants to do and how they are going to do it.
with
the Department for Work and Pensions
The Department for Work and Pensions is sometimes called the DWP. It is part of the government and manages payments and benefits like Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Employment and Support Allowance, and Income Support.
and the Department of Health last year.
I spoke about how important my job at Mencap is, the support I have had to do my job through Access to Work, and my own work achievements. I told the people there about how I am now managing a person with a learning disability who is doing work experience Experience is when you have learned or tried something before. at Mencap, and why I want employers to hire people with a learning disability.
After I spoke, Lee Scott hosted a panel session where employers in the audience could ask questions about employing people with a learning disability. Their questions included how can we get more employers to know about the benefits of employing people with a learning disability, and how the government can help.
The event went well and the employers in the audience were very positive. Lots of employers signed up to the employer pledge. I think this is really good! We’re going to follow up with the employers who signed to help them work with more people who have a learning disability.
After the event I spoke to some of the employers and told them about my work at Mencap and about the positive achievements of people with a learning disability being in jobs. I think it was great that they were able to hear good examples of what good employees people with a learning disability can make.
I hope the Learning Disability Confident event encouraged employers to employ people with a learning disability.
If employers are not seriously considering people with learning disabilities for jobs, then they are not always recruiting the best people. The best person for a particular job may well be someone with a learning disability.