Amy Begley: I am a person with intellectual disability, and that's just the way it is
Amy Begley: "The world needs to adapt to individuals' needs, not the other way around. When that begins to happen, we will see real change." Picture: Matthew Murphy
The 3rd of December each year is International Day for People with Disabilities, established as a day of celebration by the United Nations in 1992. It lets us focus on the abilities people have.
It is important to raise awareness about rights and disability. Each year there is a theme for the international day. This year the theme is 'Leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible, and sustainable post-Covid19 world.' There are a lot of important messages in the theme in the strange times we live in.
The most important thing I want people to know is that people with disabilities have rights just like everyone else. Some of those rights are very obvious and make sense to people, like the right to accessibility or education.
Ireland signed the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD) into Irish law in 2018. When people in society hear the word disability, I feel, they automatically think that we are not capable and they have a set idea in their heads.
I am a person who has intellectual disability, a learning disability and that is just the way it is. When you see me, you cannot see my disability, but I still need to fight for rights along with many other people with intellectual disabilities. I love the person that I am and if I didn’t have my intellectual disability, I would not be an advocate.
Some people need very little support and others may need around-the-clock support 24 hours a day and that is OK. No matter what our needs are, we have the right to participate in our society. I got support to write this article, but each word is still mine, each idea came from my mind and I want to speak up for those who find it hard to do it for themselves.
The hardest challenge I see now is attitudes in society and changing the mindset to make people see that we have so much to offer. I am proud that we have UNCRPD now and that we will have laws to back it up in different aspects of life.
I am very grateful for the world we live in now because we have come a long way, with a bit more to go. We are talking about disability, we are talking about rights and we are talking about hopes and dreams. People with disabilities are being acknowledged and heard.
Covid-19 has been extremely hard on everyone. I know everyone has had stress and struggles. It has been a really challenging time. It has been extra hard for people like my brother who is autistic and struggles without routine.
It was even harder for people when they didn’t understand what was happening, when they got up in the morning and couldn’t go anywhere. That felt like their rights were being taken away.
The truth is, many people with intellectual disabilities didn’t have a lot of choice and control over their lives before Covid-19, but now maybe people in society might understand what that feels like. I am very proud of so many people with disabilities, that they adapted during Covid-19 and they worked through it.
During the pandemic, I did art classes for the Cork Education and Training Board for others who were stuck in residential services and I know people were happy with that little piece of routine. Not everybody could access a tablet or a laptop for an online class though, so those people were lonely and isolated.
Article 27 of UNCRPD is about work and that is really important to me. I work in illustration and animation. The arts is an important sector for giving people opportunities and careers. It is not just an educational tool. People with disabilities can be artists.
Sometimes people put us in boxes in what they expect us to do like working in shops or cafes. People have the right to make choices about where they work and what they do. The choice is the important thing. I want people to open their minds and dream big!
People deserve to be employed fairly and paid equally like everyone else, no matter what their ability is. I started work by doing a job shadow day, and then I went on to do a six-month trial and now I have been working with Lidl for three years now. I am respected.
Everyone knows I have a disability but they don’t see me any differently than anyone else, I am the same as everyone else working my shift for 10 hours once a week. I have a team spirit and I really enjoy my work. I feel valued.
I am part of the Ability Board in Cope Foundation. We have experienced the support that we need so we now want to spread that feeling all across Ireland. It is not rocket science; it is not hard to do.
Article 30 of UNCRPD is about participation in cultural life, recreation leisure and sport. People need more opportunities to take part in cultural life. I work with Suisha Arts in Cope Foundation and the arts can have a big impact on peoples' lives.
I have travelled to Europe and met with other organisations and we work together to make the world a better place and more accepting for ourselves and everyone else.
A lot of the time people with disabilities feel like they need to be the people to change in society, and they want to be the same as everyone else. At the end of the day, we are all individuals, with hearts and minds and realising our rights is at the centre of that.
We must focus on abilities and strengths and be true to ourselves. I think good support, understanding and awareness will help more people with disabilities to succeed in whatever they wish to do or be.
The world needs to adapt to individuals' needs, not the other way around. When that begins to happen, we will see real change.
- Amy Begley is an Artist, Illustrator and Advocate from Newmarket, Co. Cork.
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