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No one should have to pass a test

ISSN 0951-9815
Volume 32, No 4, summer 2019 to qualify as a human being

Published by
CL Initiatives Ltd
No 6 The Square t is shameful that we have to argue that certain types of person actually do qualify
Waterhouse Green as humans, as if there were some sort of reasonable dispute about it. However,
Whittle-le-Woods, Chorley
Lancashire PR6 7LF Ithat is where we find ourselves, as yet another shocking undercover television
Tel 0125 727 0430 documentary – the Panorama programme on abuse and violence at the private
Whorlton Hall hospital in County Durham – recently confirmed.
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Rosemary Trustam In this issue, two mothers write about how their shocking experiences, coupled with
Tel 0125 727 0430 equally horrifying stories they heard from others, prompted them to start campaigns to
rosecli@btinternet.com demonstrate the humanity of people with learning disabilities and those with autism.
CL Initiatives Ltd
(address as above) Isabelle Garnett’s #HumanToo movement (page 13) makes a point that should not have
to be made – that the more than 2,000 adults and young people with learning disabilities
Editor locked away in oppressive institutions are human, so “deserve” the same human rights,
Simon Jarrett
simonj@jarr.demon.co.uk respect and love as anyone else. Julie Newcombe’s work on Rightful Lives (pages 14-15)
makes a similarly stark point – people have the right to enjoy their lives, not to have
Production editor them frittered away by the mind-boggling indifference and callousness of many of
Christy Lawrance
www.clcomms.com those who commit them,
detain them, mistreat
Social media editor them and keep them “
Rosemary Trustam It is at that moment when a
t @CommLivingmag needlessly locked away person’s humanity is denied that
f www.facebook.com/ from the rest of society.
CommunityLivingMagazine As Tim Stainton makes the violence, the abuse, the

Research clear in his elegant essay deprivation of rights and the
Julie Ridley on inclusion and citizenship
Reader in social policy and practice, University (pages 22-23), we should indifference begin
of Central Lancashire
not make people jump ”
Photographer through a series of hoops
Seán Kelly before we decide to “allow” them to be part of society. On what grounds do we insist
www.seankellyphotos.com
that people should have a certain level of reason, or moral capacity, or verbal ability, or
Cartoonist/illustrator literacy, or anything else, before we allow them the same rights as everyone else? It is
Robin Meader not just the certain types of human who pass these tests – members of the “lucky sperm
robinmeaderartist@gmail.com
club” as sociologist Michael Young calls them – who should qualify for all the privileges
Legal correspondent that being human bestows. To be born human is enough, and it is the job of society to
Belinda Schwehr LLM bend and shape itself to accommodate all its human members.
Legal framework trainer and consultant
Care and Health Law It is at that moment when a person’s humanity is denied that the violence, the abuse,
belinda@careandhealthlaw.com the deprivation of rights and the indifference begin. We should not have to say it, but
we must: people with learning disabilities are human too.
Publisher
Rosemary Trustam
rosecli@btinternet.com Skiing, singing, daring and determination
Our cover story is about Stephanie Crawshaw, who has profound and complex disabilities,
Editorial Board
Jo Clare, CEO, Three Cs uses a wheelchair and does not communicate verbally, who went skiing on the slopes of
Noelle Blackman, CEO, Respond the Austrian mountains with her father Andy and a heroic support team (page 18).
Tony Bamforth CEO, The Elfrida Society It is a story that would make the average health and safety officer or risk assessor
Jo Adshead, CEO, Linkability
Sue Pemberton, CEO, Integrate Ltd want to lie down in a darkened room. But it happened, and it was brilliantly successful.
Jane Lloyd and Debbie Forde, senior lecturers, This was because the family, support organisation Linkability and the ski instructors
School of Social Work, University of Central involved saw no limits, and viewed Stephanie as the daring and admirable human she
Lancashire
Helen Atherton, lecturer in nursing, University is, who wants to take risks and feel freedom.
of Leeds Elsewhere, the Include Choir (page 27) have made a witty and joyful song explaining,
Sally Warren, MD, Paradigm of all things, the Mental Capacity Act. Our interview (pages 20-21) is with the
Rosemary Trustam
Gill Levy remarkable David Towell. Born two days after the end of the Second World War and
Gabby Machell, CEO, and Mandy Crowford, one day after his profoundly disabled sister was taken into institutional care, Towell has
director of services, Westminster Society spent his life working alongside people with learning disabilities, fighting and
Isabelle Garnett
Simon Jarrett advocating for rights and opportunities for them.
Stephanie Crawshaw, her family and support team, the Include Choir, David Towell,
Designed and printed by Isabelle Garnett, Julie Newcombe – these are just some of the good guys. There are
Character Graphics, Taunton,
Tel 01823 279008 many thousands more across this country and the rest of the world. If the fight seems
tough at times, and things seem dark, we should remember that.
© CL Initiatives Ltd 2019
Registered charity no 1141176
Company no 7530680 Simon Jarrett
Editor
www.cl-initiatives.co.uk Community Living Vol 32 No 4 | Summer 2019 3