I have a dream that those of us yoked with the PMLD label rise up and shatter assumptions with our voices. A single voice is small. A couple of voices make a conversation. But the clamour of a chorus is harder to ignore.
As a voice for the voiceless I am passionate about campaigning for other people labelled with PMLD to have the opportunity to speak for themselves. But so often they remain unheard. People talk about us and for us, whilst we remain silent.
When I was 12 I wrote a book about my experience of having the label PMLD and what it was like to become literate and be able to communicate using my own words. A world of opportunity was unveiled; it opened up doors for me that would have otherwise remained closed.
That is why I am so excited about the Teach Us Too Transformational Tales project. Headed by Dr Sarah Helton we are going to capture what literacy means in the words of learners with complex needs.
This trimeric poem in its repeated lines from the first stanza represents the cyclical frustrations I have encountered in amplifying the voices of others, but the last stanza is one of hope. A hope that this project can at last release the authentic lived experience of people labelled with PMLD. It’s time you heard our own song.
PMLD Voices
Our voices have remained silenced,
For too long trapped and locked out
Of stories bearing our label;
It’s time we sang our own song!
For too long trapped and locked out –
Examined and talked about
Like specimens in cages.
We become the observers
Of stories bearing our label,
With all its assumptions.
Find a key and let us out!
Flocks flying to freedom,
It’s time you heard our own song.
Eye Can Talk 