Introduction Education Employment Self-Advocacy Volunteering Achievements Publicationss

Introduction

Hello, my name is Danielle and I’m working on Project27.

I was born in 1993 with a left sided hemiplegia, I am blind in my left eye and I have nystagmus in my right eye. I also have a learning disability.

I work with people who have a learning disability and I really enjoy helping other people. While working I discovered I like to create video content and writing articles that people can learn from.

In Project27 one of the areas what I focus on is the Lifestyle collection. I focus on the vocal section where I will be creating audio blogs to talk about things that are important to me and others.

I want to show that people with a learning disability and people who have a visual impairment can cook and learn new skills along the way.

Kind regards,

Danielle

Path to self-advocacy

I am Danielle, a young woman with mild learning disabilities. I was an intern at Amaze and also a member of the Power Group (co run by Amaze/Speak Out) where I developed skills and confidence to speak up. Using skills I learnt at Amaze, I went onto getting a paid job at Speak Out in 2019 as a project worker.

When lockdown hit, I was working at home with far less support than I was used to in the office which is where I really blossomed. I decided to interview people about their experiences of lockdown, creating a series of films called “Speak Out with Danielle”. I spoke to a range of people from local people with learning disabilities to the head of Learning Disability England.

I learnt to how to film, edit and publish the films on YouTube on my own initiative. People sheI met on this venture were impressed. I was invited to work on national research about the history of self-advocacy culminating in publishing an article and speaking at national conferences.

I have also worked alongside other people with learning disabilities to create two films, one about covid and the other about the history of self advocacy. Here is how my boss reflected on my achievements:

Danielle’s remarkable and positive ‘can do’ attitude has opened doors for her to achieve things she never thought possible.

Education

Until 2009 I studied at Portslade Community College. I got OCR Level 1 in Health and Social Care, OCR Entry Level 3 in History and Citizenship Studies.

Between 2009 to 2013 I went to Sussex Downs college and studied.

• Travel and Tourism.
• Spanish Speaking and Listening.
• Life Skills.
• Adult Literacy and Numeracy.

Employment

• Since 2021, I take on support work as part of self-employment and Access to Work funded jobs.
• since 2019: I work at Brighton and Hove Speak Out as a Learning Disabilities Voices Network Project Worker.
• 2017-2018: I worked as a intern at Amaze.
• 2013: I worked as a General Assistant at Blatchington Court Trust.

Volunteering

• I volunteer with Level 3 - a festival of playful media for, and by autistic, learning disabled people.
• I am a Look UK mentor since 2021. I help blind and partially sighted children get more confident.
• I am a member at Carousel, they have helped me get into filming and producing videos and teaching other people how to use different camera equipment.
• In 2017- 2018 I volunteered with an art group called MyMarc. This was an art group for young people with disabilities.

Achievements

• I was awarded the “Leadership in Learning Disability and Autism” award by Dimensions, in the advocacy, policy, and media category.
• One of my biggest achievements has been to carry the Paralympic torch from Abby Road to Lords cricket ground in 2012. I got the opportunity to do this by playing visually impaired cricket with the all women’s team.

I have grown a passion to write, review and share articles on learning disability and self-advocacy.

1. 50 years of speaking up; towards a important history. Published in “Intellectual Disability in the Twentieth Century”
   • This was my first ever article that has been published in a book.
2. In response to “Now that I’m connected this isn’t social isolation, this is engaging with people”: Staying connected during the COVID-19 pandemic”. Published in the British Journal of Learning Disabilities.
   • I co-authored a review, in response to an academic article on learning disability and social isolation.
3. Speak Out With Danielle (YouTube playlist)
   • Speak Out with Danielle is a video series that I created to let people with learning disabilities express themselves and to let everyone else know that they are not alone in there thoughts and feelings.
4. ‘We are here’ - A film about the experiences of learning disabled people during the COVID19 pandemic
   • By the end of the Covid19 pandemic, I helped write, film and edit a film called We are here. This film was for people who have learning disabilities to say and show how and what they was feeling during the Covid19 pandemic.