> Workshop: Am I me or my learning disability?: A journey with children and young people to enrich their sense of self

Workshop: Am I me or my learning disability?: A journey with children and young people to enrich their sense of self

Saturday 28 November 2020
17:00 to 18:00

There is a richness from engaging and working therapeutically with those with learning disabilities; the discovery of the space created, the client led nature of the work and the holding of the opportunity to be whoever the client wants to be; who they truly are deep within.

For many of the children and young people I work with they carry the ‘label’ of their disability. I have seen shifts in attitudes towards those with learning disabilities over the years; from a time when little was expected from people with learning disabilities and they faced ‘infantalisation’, to expanding opportunities, practices and research into individual developments; increased expectation of potential achievements and a focus on ‘age appropriate’ interventions and individualisation. But are we still missing something? Do we truely see the individual behind the disability? What does dramatherapy do to reach those unseen parts and let them out and how can we promote and continue understanding of those with learning disabilities; to give individuals a voice and for society to not see the costume but see the individual?

In this workshop I will briefly highlight the work of the arts therapies team at the Eden Academy Trust and the multi-disciplinary approach integrated across the therapies and the classroom. The workshop will then explore ideas and ways to further promote individualism and engage with the clients to find a way for themselves to remove their ‘disability mask’.

This session is being recorded.

Helen Milward is a Sesame trained Dramatherapist and is currently the Arts Therapy Service Manager at the Eden Academy Trust, specialising in working with pupils with learning difficulties. This work has led to many opportunities to develop research and understanding of working with this client group, as well as present and offer training, both internally and externally. She has previously presented at the BADth Conferences in 2016 and 2018.