Public Awareness of Intellectual Disabilities Needs to Increase

How you can help to end discrimination against people with Intellectual Disabilities.

Photo by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash

Author’s Note: I cite various British sources in this article that use the term ‘Learning Disability’ to refer to an ‘Intellectual Disability’. This is standard practice in Britain. In all such instances, the British use of the term shouldn’t be confused with the American definition of a Learning Disability — an umbrella term used to refer to a variety of learning deficits (e.g. Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, and Dysgraphia)

Earlier today I attended a church service with my sister, Maria, for the first time since this pandemic began. Maria has an Intellectual Disability and, as her Caregiver, I help her to attend social events such as the Church service this morning because without someone else’s assistance she wouldn’t be able to — both for practical reasons (e.g. not being able to navigate her way to the church) but also for social reasons.

I get anxious at the idea of leaving my sister unaccompanied even for a few minutes in the majority of social situations — Church, a coffee shop, heck even a waiting room in the doctor’s surgery — because a lot of people don’t know what an Intellectual Disability actually is. Meaning, they don’t understand my…