There are some staggering statistics around the world linking with learning disabilities, some of which are little known. In today’s blog, we are going to demonstrate some of these statistics to you and how here at Inclusive Sports we are trying to fight them and make a small change for the SEND individuals of Solihull.
Over 15% of the world’s population right now is living with some form of disability, that is nearly 1 in 7 people, or over one billion worldwide. So, it’s extremely important that we are in an accessible and inclusive world… and unfortunately, we aren’t quite there yet. 1. Children who are living with a learning disability are twice as likely to be bullied as those who do not have a disability. Of course, this heart-breaking figure can be hard to swallow. In fact, as a lot of bullying cases aren’t reported- this stat could be higher. However, we are tackling this with more than one method! Whilst we cannot control what goes on inside the schools that participants attend, we ensure that all our clubs and camps are a safe space for everyone who attends. One of the main benefits to the clubs is in fact that all the children are making friends are guaranteed to be in an environment with others who are living with similar disabilities. This allows them to be included and identified with because of their disabilities rather than singled out, which can often occur in mainstream schools. We of course have a strict no bullying policy and have plenty of staff on every scheme to ensure that this never goes unnoticed. 2. 64% of UK sports clubs don’t have suitable equipment to cater to their disability audiences. Yet another shocking figure, over half of the clubs in the UK would be unable to cater their activities to individuals living with a disability! Here at Inclusive Sports, we believe that sport is for everyone, and that everyone should have the opportunity to take part. Therefore, we always make sure that all our equipment is disability friendly and can be adapted to several different kinds of ability. After all- not everyone has the same ability level, so why should the equipment be like that? We also sell numerous different items of equipment on our website not only for your own personal use, but clubs and schools too! Our partner business Inclusive Educate is also designed to teach groups, clubs on teachers on how they can adapt their services to become more inclusive to disability audiences with lots of different kinds of courses. 3. Only 6% of adults with a learning disability are in paid work. This can be down to a multitude of different factors, such as some individuals simply not having the confidence to attend work, employers not having a correct understanding of disabilities or discrimination during the hiring process... among many others! However, we are trying to help with this with our Accredited pathway programme. The idea of this is to allow participants who attend our services to go through a process in which they become a mentor or coach within our services and eventually go on to have a full-time job with us at Inclusive Sports. This is to introduce them into the world of work in a supported capacity, as well as getting experience that they would have otherwise struggled to gain. As well as this, we always encourage individuals with learning disabilities to come and volunteer on our camps and have regulars on our team that support us. We also have our very own junior content producer Ci Brennan who was the first person to work at Inclusive Sports with a learning disability. 4. 36% of over 16s play sport recreationally at least once a week, whereas the same age range for individuals with a disability is under half at 17%. One of the main aims of Inclusive Sports’ clubs is to ensure that everyone is getting some exercise in! A lot of our clubs and groups are centred around improving mobility and getting the heart pumping. This can be done through our weekly term time after school projects or on our camps! The sports range from archery, to boccia and bowls just to name a few! 5. People with learning disabilities are 2 to 3 times more likely to be in poor health, mentally and physically. Our services aim to not just tackle mobility and physical health as mentioned previously- but mental health too. This can be through socialisation and making friends that may be difficult to do in educational settings or at home, as well as providing new and exciting opportunities that the individual may not have had the chance to do before attending Inclusive Sports Academy. Getting them out the house and moving for even just one session a week can do wonders for their mental health! 6. 6% of students are receiving some form of special educational support because of their learning disabilities. This is another thing we would like to tackle! Not yet running but in the pipeline, we have plans to set up a new and innovative programme called Inclusive Futures! The idea of this is to provide extra 1:1 and group tuition to CYP to help with giving them extra support that they may lack in the classroom. Please keep an eye out on our social media for updates on this for when we get it up and running! Are there any more barriers that you believe we are breaking down? We would absolutely love to hear them.. Drop your comments in the box below!