Easy Read
What is intellectual disability?
Intellectual disability is a lifelong condition
It slows down our learning
It affects our skills and behaviours
- in good and bad ways
It affects our day to day lives
With the right support we live successful lives
We can have different support needs
Some people need a little support
Others need more support
Support needs can also change
Intellectual disability is often invisible
People cannot always tell by looking at us
There are different names for intellectual disability
For example learning disability
Or learning difficulty
It depends on the country you live in
We use intellectual disability in Australia
Health
Many of us have other health conditions too
It is important to have regular health check ups
We can learn to take care of our health
- with the right support
It can be difficult to cope with and focus on
- our disability and health needs at the same time
These struggles to deal with health care and disability needs
- can start mental health issues.
This is because it can cause stress and anxiety.
Our success can be seen
We can succeed in many areas of life.
For example many of us can:
- study and do well at school
- get jobs and very good careers
- start and run sucessful businesses
Maxine said: “I have a business by writing my book
and have sold 36 copies already.”
“I have a business with my drawing and different types
of artwork. I have already sold 29 products.” Mark
Many of us
- can get married
Tammy said: “I love being married to my husband and
my husband is a great support to me.”
Many of us
- raise children
“I am a proud mum of 2 beautiful and kind loving children.” Skie
Many of us
- live by ourselves
Larissa said: “Proud to be living by myself and two ragdoll cats.”
Many of us
- prove people wrong when given chances
Sam: “I always wanted to be a teacher but thought my disability made it impossible,
But now I co-teach future and current teachers at university.”
Many of us
- communicate without words
We can do many everyday things
We
- shop for ourselves and our family
- cook
- travel
- work
- study
- enjoy hobbies
We can have different ways to learn
We may need more time to learn new things
We can make choices about our daily life
Success can look different for everyone.
Strengths
We have different strengths like
- strength to keep on going
- will power
- being creative
- honesty
- kindness
- and a sense of humor
We are able to think in different ways
We have strong values
We feel deeply for others
- because we had bad experiences
We do not want others to feel that way
We need chances to show what we can do
With person-centred support and chances
- we can reach our goals.
Struggles
We have different struggles
These struggles can range from low to very high
These can change in levels but are always there
Struggles can be caused by intellectual disability
Struggles caused by intellectual disability can be:
- communication
- social skills like meeting new people
- memory
- understanding
- money skills
- maths skills
- reading
- writing
- self care
- movement skills
- emotional skills
- low confidence
We can also find doing big tasks hard
- and it can help to do it step by step
We can also struggle to:
- solve problems
- make choices
- speak up
- make complaints
- control feelings
- do things without support
Reading about struggles can make you
- feel worried or stressed
Take a moment to calm down
- drink a cup of tea
- do crafts
- cuddle your pet
We now will continue talking about struggles
Struggles can also be caused by society
Society means other people in your community
Society can give us extra challenges and struggles
Struggles caused by society are called barriers
Society often sees people with intellectual disability
- in a negative way
As a result we might not get a chance to:
- access education
- be employed
- learn life skills
- fit into community
- access services
- fill in forms correctly
- get support from services to get government funding
- make friends
- have relationships
- have children
- engage in next steps of life
We often face discrimination
People often
- look down at us
- think we cannot do much
- judge us quickly
- take advantage of us
- speak over us
- speak for us
- speak to our support person instead of us
- tell our story for us
- do not listen to us
- overpower us
- misunderstand us
And sometimes people
- limit us
- make choices for us
- make decisions for us
People can also make us feel
- less
- broken
- not wanted
- like we are invisble
- like we are not equal
- our needs do not matter
As a result we
- do not believe in ourselves
- feel we must say “yes” all the time
- do not fit into society
- stop trying to reach our goals
- limit ourselves by what others think of us
- burn out trying to change ourselves
- lose understanding of who we think we are
- lack confidence in ourselves
- do not have hope for the future
We are at greater risk of mental health issues
We often trust too much
- when it comes to relationships and scams
We often trust people who have more power
- health care workers
- teachers and other education staff
- bosses
- police
We need this to change
It is not us who need to change
It is the society who needs to change.
Who made this booklet
People with intellectual disability made this booklet
1. Julie Loblinzk Refalo OAM
2. Skie Sarfaraz
3. Sam Hurd
4. Mark Podmenik
5. Maxine Podmenik
6. Tammy Carlon
7. Luke Wheatley
Together with Iva Strnadová and the GeneEQUAL team.
GeneEQUAL is a program to support people with intellectual disability
- get better health care
How we made this booklet
Our Mentoring Group made this booklet together. Seven people with intellectual disability and one person with another disability worked with the GeneEQUAL team for nine months.
We made all the big decisions. We chose the words, shared our real experiences, and pushed back when something didn’t feel right. This was our booklet.
We then shared it with our community. Over 40 people with intellectual disability reviewed it, gave feedback, and helped us make changes. Words were replaced. Pictures were updated. New stories were added.
This booklet shows how we see ourselves — in our own words, from our own lives.
You can download our booklet here
