This year, Learning Disability Week will run from June 20 to June 26 with the focus being on the everyday-ness of living with a learning disability.

A little over two years ago, Nike released an amazing ad for International Women’s Day. The basic idea was that one day women won’t need a day to celebrate their progress, prove they’re just as good or be activists, because things will balance out, and the causes they’re currently fighting for, will be a part of their everyday. The achievements that call for huge adulation today, will be commonplace then.

This sentiment is true for a lot of groups of people who face challenges, including those living with learning disabilities. 

One day we won’t need to dedicate a week to raising awareness around the challenges the learning disabled face, to end the stigma and discrimination that makes their lives more difficult. One day we won’t need to dedicate seven days to spread education around the necessary considerations needed to make life easier for them. Learning Disabilities Week aims to help us get to that day. MenCap, a UK-based organisation created to improve the lives of those with learning difficulties and help them fight for a better future, started this annual campaign.

Last year, the theme was Art and Creativity. Children with learning disabilities were encouraged to play and create with sensory activities like cling film art, cooking and baking, making play dough, and hand splatter art. 

This year’s focus is on Living Life with a Learning Disability and showcasing the different ways the intellectually impaired have used to stay in touch and create thriving relationships with their friends and community. There’ll also be discussions about still needing to isolate despite lifted restrictions and the effects COVID19 had on their mental health.

People with learning and many other disabilities often boast average and sometimes above-average intelligence. This means they have hopes and dreams and ambitions like you and me, and they are just as capable! Initiatives like this help create a fair field for the differently-abled to play in. Another way to level the field is with education. People with varying disabilities often struggle to learn in a way that is comfortable for them and need special care to be taken and accommodations made.

UCT Online High School, which is mindful of this dilemma, has a host of learners with physical, visual, hearing and speech impairments, and attention difficulties, are on the spectrum, and who live with varying mental health conditions.

The school’s Student Well-Being, and Faculty and Student Success teams work hard to create an accessible and inclusive space for learners to feel and be supported, heard and acknowledged. Their Learning Design and Learning Technology teams receive regular feedback so their content and Online Campus can better cater to a range of learning needs.

Of course, there should always be an international celebration of women and a week to celebrate people who live with learning challenges, but simply because they deserve it and occupy a respected and cared for space in society, not because we need to advocate.

For more information on how UCT Online High School supports a child with learning disabilities – Book a call with one of their friendly Admissions Counsellors or contact them on +27 21 140 1792 or admissions@uctohs.valentureonline.com and they’ll be sure to answer any questions you may have.