Interview

Life with an intellectual disability - interview series by Inclusion Europe

Steg för Steg is Finland's only Swedish-speaking association for and with people with intellectual disabilities. Steg för Steg is one of the FDUV's member associations and works to ensure that people with intellectual disabilities are heard and seen in society.

Anne-Marie Callus is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Disability Studies at the University of Malta. She has been working with people with disabilities for over 25 years, particularly in inclusive research and as a support member of a self-advocacy group. Today, she shares with Inclusion Europe the importance for all children to receive a quality education.

After struggling to send her daughter Lisette to an ordinary school, Christine Dufour founded the NGO "On souffle dans ton dos" to help children with disabilities to be included in mainstream school. Inclusion Europe met Christine Dufour who dares to believe that an inclusive society is more than a sweet dream. 

Eirini Kareta is EU Programmes Manager at the British Council and one of the key organisers of the project “Inclusive Schools” (“InScool”, in short). We interviewed Ms. Kareta as part of our campaign of 2020 focused on inclusive education, motivated to learn more about the InScool project.

Thibeau Bastien, a 22-year-old sportsman from Belgium has, together with his “sailing buddy” Matthias, achieved an impressive track record in sailing. After joining Unified Sailing Belgium in 2013, he became European champion in 2015 and in 2017, won gold at the Special Olympics World Games in 2015 in Los Angeles and in 2019 in Abu Dhabi.

Carmen Jiménez Recena, 23, is the first Spanish woman with Down Syndrome who went to stay abroad in the context of the Erasmus+ programme.

570 pupils, almost half of them with special educational needs, learn together at the "Protestant school complex ‘Martinschule’" in Greifswald (Germany). We spoke to Benjamin Skladny, headmaster of the Martinschule since its beginnings.

Locking students away in a different room or restraining them otherwise - at school, this should only be used as a very last resort. The “In safe hands” campaign of our member Enable Scotland raises awareness about the overuse of these methods. Jordan McKenna, who works at Enable Scotland, told us more about the campaign.

Our former President Maureen Piggot answered three questions about accessibility in an interview by Funka, a company focusing on accessibility.