Raising awareness for adults with disabilities is at the core of what we are trying to achieve here at Genesis Orwell Mencap. Genesis is an Ipswich disability day care service for adults with a variety of special needs. Therefore, every year we have our own disability awareness day, to shed a light on exactly what it is like to have a physical or learning disability. It is important that our support workers have an understanding of the life that the individuals that they are tasked with caring for have. The differences between people with disabilities and those that do not, exist, but they do not divide us. In fact, understanding them brings us closer together, rather than further apart.
These differences for adults with disabilities include having staff to support you through many of your daily functions. So during this special day, support workers were the ones who were cared for, whilst their service user administered the care. Ian was able to be the one to feed Neil who is a support worker meaning that Neil got to truly be in the shoes of the service users that he cares for every day. Not only did support workers become more aware of what people with disabilities go through every day, but service users understood the work that support workers do every day.
It was a huge lesson for empathy at Genesis and we are so glad that everyone participated in it. It was wonderful to see every single support worker and service user take part. Having support workers in wheelchairs and blind folded gave a short but enlightening glimpse into what disabled adults go through every day. Genesis is an organisation that provides learning disability care Ipswich and strives to be as inclusionary and empathetic to everyone no matter their disability. We hope the next Genesis Disability Awareness Day is just as eventful and joyful as this one. Genesis will never sacrifice the dignity and care of all service users.
