Breaking down barriers and mental health go hand in hand, but more needs to be done to ensure those barriers no longer exist. In writing Cerebral Palsy: A Story, I challenge not just perceptions around disability but also the wider issues of acceptance and understanding.
Growing up with a disability I didn’t know I had, I struggled to find my place. Though nothing was said outright, it became clear early on that living with something unacknowledged meant stigma would follow. When something is ignored, the barriers remain – but awareness creates the opportunity for change.
Being Stigmatised
I was repeatedly judged and stigmatised for having a ‘low IQ,’ a label that stuck. In school, I was left to cope on my own, expected to adjust without support for my neurological challenges that my parents would have been aware of, but I didn't know about. Where schools could have stepped in and pushed for change to help me, they chose to step away, leaving me to navigate an education system that had already given up on me.
Being Prepared
It is important we teach children how to break down barriers, because that’s where the stigma start. Preparing children is important. If schools focused on academic achievement while ensuring pupils left with a clear understanding of right and wrong, we might consider that a success. But fast-forward to 2020, and the question remains—are we truly preparing young people for the realities of life, or are we simply ticking the boxes of an outdated system?
Proactively tackling 'Mental Health'
Through necessity, schools are becoming more responsible for students in a far wider sense. When it comes to mental health, they are moving from raising awareness to proactively tackling certain mental health and in doing so, are empowering the next generation to talk about mental illness.
But schools need support if they are to cope and deal with mental health issues, to ensure they can work within their area of expertise. With the right support, schools can start to make more of a difference.
Breaking down Barriers is Important
Breaking down barriers is important if communication between people is to improve. Barriers between health and education need to be broken down – for society to work together to find a way forward, to put children’s interests first. It's come to late for me, but not for other children coming through the system.
Yes, there are many barriers that I need to overcome that make it very difficult to know where to even begin.
My fears, doubts and insecurities have kept me paralysed to the point of not being able to do anything, let alone live anything even close to a normal life.
My parents pretty much threw us to the wolves and expected us to know how to survive, but they forgot to provide us with the skills that most kids need in order to do so.
It would be fantastic to break down at least some of those barriers that keep people from living their lives because of stigmas. I know all too well what that is like.
You have been such a great power of example to me about what can really be accomplished and for that I will be forever grateful.
Thanks Randy. I understand when you say, 'my fears, doubts and insecurities have kept me paralysed to the point of not being able to do anything,' - for many years I stagnated, I had my thoughts as company.
You have come through so much. You know so much more now. Ignore the stigmas. It is important to try to get past those. It's what society and the world should be advocating.
We're all the same underneath, there should be no barriers to break.
Nothing seems to overwhelm your capacity to go full-strength and break down barriers along the way. It's simply in your DNA.
If only I could persuade myself to break down barriers the way you do.
Thanks Tim. I don't believe I am special in any particular way truth be told.
I needed to survive. I have done what I have done out of necessity, needing to know what was wrong with me is my fundamental right. All I wanted to know was what was wrong with me.
I never told anyone, but that thought was constantly there. I was angry. I was hurting, but I never gave up on hope. It was only when my mum was terminally ill that my life changed. I was 46.
Her telling me my birth was difficult, changed the course my life would eventually go in.
Unless and until schools emphasise important skills to learn, include co-operation, self-confidence, responsibility, independence, empathy, and communication instead of primarily focussing on academic results, then our schooling will fail our children.
Ensuring good mental health is a fundamental part of preparing children for the rest of their lives.
Thank you and yes, you're right. I have nothing more that I need to add.