A man from Liverpool has started his own campaign, Speak To Me, to raise awareness of instances when individuals with disabilities are not directly spoken to.
Harry Georgiou has moderate and complex learning disabilities alongside a few medical disabilities.
He started the Speak To Me campaign in a bid to highlight the way in which people interact with individuals who have disabilities.
He told: “the Speak To Me campaign is a powerful movement that raises awareness about the instances when individuals with disabilities are not directly spoken to, instead their parent/carer or guardian is addressed as the spokesperson
“This often makes those with disabilities feel overlooked and disregarded, as if their voice and opinions do not matter.”
Harry was inspired to start this campaign based on his own personal experiences.
“Whether it be at a doctor’s appointment where the doctor only addresses my parent as the decision maker, or when someone assumes I cannot understand or communicate because of my disability”.
The campaign’s use of videos, photos, and quotations shared on social media and through email serves as a reminder that everyone, regardless of their abilities, deserves to be spoken to and heard directly
As well as starting his own campaign, Harry works as a Youth Advisory and co-production assistant at DFN project, SEARCH, a transition to work programme for young adults with a learning disability.
He is eager to get the message out there and encourages anyone who has any ideas or examples to reach out and send them to: [email protected].
He finished: “As a whole society to be more inclusive, we need to understand the ways different people learn, communicate and cope with different situations
“All we want is a seat around the table, that’s all Speak To Me is asking for is a chance for people to get spoken to the way you would like to be spoken to”.
