Mencap respond to an image that has been circulated on social media today.
Steve Baker, Regional Director of Services at learning disability
A learning disability is to do with the way someone's brain works. It makes it harder for someone to learn, understand or do things. charity Mencap, said:
“We are appalled by what is happening in the picture. After seeing it we immediately took action, and have suspended the support worker
Support workers
Support workers are people who are paid to give care and support to people who need it. are people who are paid to give care and support to people who need it. in question and reported the issue to the relevant local authority
A local authority is also called a council
A council is also called a local authority. They are a group of people who make decisions about some of the things in the area where you live. These include: schools, social care
Social care means the services that give care and support to people who need it. (support for people), parks and dustbin collection. . They are a group of people who make decisions about some of the things in the area where you live like schools, social care (support for people), parks and dustbin collection. safeguarding
Keeping people safe from being hurt, abused, or neglected is called Safeguarding. team. We take the wellbeing of the people we support extremely seriously, and we expect and train our staff to deliver high quality care and support services. What we see here would fall well below that standard. Our priority now, as always, is ensuring that we offer the highest quality of care to our beneficiaries so they live the lives they choose.”
-ENDS-
For further information please contact the Mencap press office on 020 7696 5414 or media@mencap.org.uk.
Notes to editors
About Mencap
There are 1.5 million people with a learning disability in the UK. Mencap works to support people with a learning disability, their families and carers by fighting to change laws, improve services and access to
education
Education is when you learn things. When you fill in a form to get a job, education means you write where you went to school, college or university.
,
employment
Employment means having a job.
and
leisure
Leisure is when you have time to do things you enjoy like playing sports or going to the pub.
facilities. Mencap supports thousands of people with a learning disability to live their lives the way they want.
For advice and information about learning disability and Mencap services in your area, contact the Learning Disability Helpline on 0808 808 1111 (8am-6pm, Monday-Friday) or email helpline@mencap.org.uk
What is a learning disability?
A learning disability is a reduced intellectual ability which can cause problems with everyday tasks – for example shopping and cooking, or travelling to new places – which affects someone for their whole life.
People with a learning disability can take longer to learn new things and may need support to develop new skills, understand difficult information and engage with other people. The level of support someone needs is different with every individual. For example, someone with a severe learning disability might need much more support with daily tasks than someone with a mild learning disability.
Learning disability is not a mental illness or a learning difficulty. Very often the term ‘learning difficulty’ is wrongly used interchangeably with ‘learning disability’.