Hi, another posting from the Dad.
On Monday I had the honour of speaking at the Speaker's House at the House of Commons. This was an event organised by I CAN and the ACE Centre in advance of the National Year of Communication, and was introduced by The Rt Hon John Bercow, The Speaker of the House of Commons. Many will be aware that Mr Bercow produced a marvellous report that highlighted the needs for children with speech and language disabilities.
It was, of course, a wonderful to have the opportunity once again to lend a voice to those whose own voice is not heard. The chance to speak about the problems faced by parents, the frustrations and anxieties we have to deal with is always welcome in the hope that our story may prevent others from having similar difficulties in the future.
But for me, there were a couple of other aspects that really struck a note. The first was one of the other speakers, a young man currently attending Dawn House, I CAN's secondary school near Nottingham. He spoke about the difficulties he has faced in his school life, labelling, assumptions, etc. This was before Dawn House and it is amazing to see the turn around. He is an insperational person, currently attending college 3 days a week and hoping to go on to Uni. His mum was also there, and she has clearly had to fight the battles too many parents have to fight. But she has fought and she has won, but the question is; why does she have to fight for a basic right for her son.
The other amazing part was a video that was shown of Stephen Hawking talking about the value of communication. His speech ends with the statement; "...with a voice, we have the power to be who we are." http://youtu.be/xPoc7GOpPYo
My hope for next year is that the profile will be raised so that more and more children will be given the voice to have the power to be who they are.
On Monday I had the honour of speaking at the Speaker's House at the House of Commons. This was an event organised by I CAN and the ACE Centre in advance of the National Year of Communication, and was introduced by The Rt Hon John Bercow, The Speaker of the House of Commons. Many will be aware that Mr Bercow produced a marvellous report that highlighted the needs for children with speech and language disabilities.
It was, of course, a wonderful to have the opportunity once again to lend a voice to those whose own voice is not heard. The chance to speak about the problems faced by parents, the frustrations and anxieties we have to deal with is always welcome in the hope that our story may prevent others from having similar difficulties in the future.
But for me, there were a couple of other aspects that really struck a note. The first was one of the other speakers, a young man currently attending Dawn House, I CAN's secondary school near Nottingham. He spoke about the difficulties he has faced in his school life, labelling, assumptions, etc. This was before Dawn House and it is amazing to see the turn around. He is an insperational person, currently attending college 3 days a week and hoping to go on to Uni. His mum was also there, and she has clearly had to fight the battles too many parents have to fight. But she has fought and she has won, but the question is; why does she have to fight for a basic right for her son.
The other amazing part was a video that was shown of Stephen Hawking talking about the value of communication. His speech ends with the statement; "...with a voice, we have the power to be who we are." http://youtu.be/xPoc7GOpPYo
My hope for next year is that the profile will be raised so that more and more children will be given the voice to have the power to be who they are.
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