Admin Today, in our third blog we are looking at the ‘I Achieve My Goals’ outcome from Stoke-on-Trent’s new Learning Disability Strategy – Living My Best Life.
People have spoken up about how important it is to have aims and targets in their lives and how trying new things and having the same choices are a basic right.
People told us why having targets and achieving goals are important to them. One said, “it helps you to find out about the things you want to do”
One person shared their experiences of having goals and working in a placement, they said “I felt confident and proud of myself, like I had the experience I needed to do the job. It made me feel happy, proud about myself. Yes, I felt nervous to start with but I enjoyed doing it.”
“I was really happy and excited when I started volunteering.”
Living My Best Life says ‘being included and doing well are very important.’ The strategy is an all ages plan for Stoke-on-Trent that includes lots of information about working with schools and colleges, making sure people get the right support at a younger age to move through their lives with positive targets and goals in place.
Reach members told us “yes, like the sound of all that extra support in schools and for adults, I think the targets are all good, think they’ve got it covered with them I do.”
“Checking things is good and could help but they need to be making sure the right support is in place to help people get through their exams, it’s so stressful, people need to be supported right.”
Work experience and volunteering have always been important to people, and they told us work placements and experience “helps us to meet new people and it builds your confidence”
People said the strategy was good because it sets out it’s ideas based on what people can do rather than what they can’t do, “I agree with that, they should look at what people can do, not what they can’t.”
One of our members told us what they think about the ideas based on getting more support for people to do work placements and work training, they said, “It’s very important to have the chance to do volunteering work, I do it, it gives me the chance to learn new things, new skills, it helps me relax and I get enjoyment from doing it, but it also makes me feel better about myself, builds up my confidence, lifts your spirits, yes, good for my health and for my mental health, it makes me feel on top of the world.”
The strategy highlights the need for better support in getting people into paid work, as the numbers of people with learning disabilities finding, and staying in, paid work are low in Stoke-on-Trent compared to the rest of the West Midlands, and the UK.
One person told us “some people will be worried about getting picked on, being targeted if they go into a workplace. They might be worried about having pranks played on ’em because they’re different and vulnerable. People would need to know they’d got support, know there’s someone to talk to in case they got targeted.”
Another person told us more support for people in work was important. “Work on training for people, you need support and training to make things work, change the attitudes of the employers too, then they will pay people.”
Living My Best Life sets out to do just that. “Yes, them working on people’s skills is good, helping people to get better at things, it’s a good idea.
The strategy also says it will ‘make sure people with learning disabilities are as financially independent (in control of their own money) as they can be’. People with learning disabilities told us this is a good idea. One person said “people need support with their money, it’s OK to be independent but make sure they get the right support as well, so it works.” Another said “it’s a good idea, it depends on what people can do.”
Find out more about the plan to support people with learning disabilities to achieve their goals by downloading Living My Best Life: https://www.stoke.gov.uk/downloads/download/891/learning_disabilities_strategy
