Making Awareness and Campaigning

 Some people may say that having a disability is terrible. It can be at sometimes, but my favourite saying is a disability is an ability to do something. I feel my disability gives me the ability to raise awareness and campaign for disabled people's Rights. So, in this Blog I am going to talk about why it is really important to raise awareness of disabilities and campaigning for disabled people's Rights, share my experiences of campaigning and why is it important to me. 

Why is it important to raise awareness of disabilities? I like the saying you don't know what it is like to be someone else unless you are in their shoes, especially if they have a disability. Even although most people are very understanding when it comes to people with disabilities, there are still a lot of people who don't understand that disabled people are just same as everyone else. I think this is due to a lack of awareness of disabilities. Take my bad nails experience for example that I mentioned in a previous blog. I know it was terrible how they turned me away just because I needed help with placing my hands under the dryer, but I believe this is because they may not have that awareness of disabilities.  

Why is it important to campaign? By campaigning for things like changing places toilets, it is making the world a better and more inclusive place for disabled people.  Campaigning and raising awareness ties in nicely. Take the Changing Places campaign for example. Right, I don't know what people were thinking when they were designing a standard disabled toilet. They are sometimes too small or narrow and especially they don't have equipment such as a hoist or changing bed. Again, it is just lack of awareness and I do see why it is. When you go to use the toilet, do you think to yourself that disabled people couldn't use this toilet? No, you probably don't and that’s OK, because you haven't got awareness of Changing Places toilets. That is why we need to raise awareness and campaign for things to make places better for disabled people.

Since a young age, I felt strongly about disabled people's Rights and always wanted the world to be better for disabled people. I remember when people asked me, ‘What do you want to be when I get older?’, and I always said that I want to be an ambassador for disabled people and their Rights. I am, now I suppose. My disability has given me a gift, and that gift is to raise awareness and campaign for disabled people's Rights.

I remember when I was in high school being asking to do a talk about myself. So, I talked about my communication device and how to talk to me. Another time I was asked to write about something that I feel strongly about, so I wrote about how important it is that people who need communication devices get the funding for them. My teacher was delighted with it. I guess that was just beginning of my campaigning journey.

Once I left school, I went on to campaigning for things and doing public speaking. The first public speech was in front of 70 speech therapists. I spoke about my experiences of using AAC (Augmentative and Alternative communication) and then I answered questions. I loved that day and I guess it opened up so many doors for me. A while after that speech I was asked to join a campaign called, Now Hear Me, it's my Right to speak. This campaign was to get AAC made Law, this means that everybody who has a speech problem must get AAC equipment and the support that they need. I am very pleased to say that campaign was very successful! With this campaign, I attended a lot of meetings, I did a lot of public speaking including at Scottish Parliament and I was in a video. I loved doing this and still do the odd thing   because I know how it feels to not have speech and I feel that everyone has the Right to speak and to be heard.

Another campaign I do is for more Changing Places. I started about 7 years ago when I discovered there wasn't enough disabled toilets with all the right equipment such as a hoist. This also meant I was limited in the places I could go to. I attended my first Glasgow TAG and I brought my toilet issue up and then my campaign   kicked off from there. I did a lot of things, I started up a petition, did presentations (one of them I told you about before in Inverclyde), I made my own video, I did a few articles for STV and Glasgow times and now I have a Facebook page for my campaign called ‘The Toilet Woman’. I started to make a difference. When I started my campaign there was only two Changing Places in the Glasgow area, which was shocking! Now there are a lot more, thanks to my campaign and other people's campaigns as well.

Being heard and going to the toilet is a basic Human Right. I am proud to campaigning for these things. Through my blog I continue to raise awareness and let people know about my campaigns. I love writing Blogs because it does help me to get my word across about everything, especially about my experiences of having a disability. It helps to raise awareness of my life having a disability. Some people may look at me and only see my disability and think that I don't have a good life, or I don't understand. By writing Blogs, I want to show people that I may have a disability, but I have a fantastic life and can do anything if I put my mind to it. Everyone has a story to tell, so why not tell it!

Looking into the future, I hope to continue campaigning for disabled people's Rights and keep raising awareness through my Blogs.

Written by Jill