Although we offer Hall Hire in Newhaven to local groups and organisations in the area, our main focus is working with our Mencap members from the surrounding area.
We are your local Mencap Newhaven, Lewes & District.
Everything we do is about valuing and supporting people with a learning disability, and their families and carers.
Our vision is for the UK to be the best place in the world for people with a learning disability to live happy and healthy lives.
Learning Disability
To understand learning disability it is important to firstly understand what a disability is. A person with a learning disability has an impairment which developed before, during or shortly after birth.
This limits their ability to learn, understand or communicate, and restricts their ability to participate and be involved in everyday life situations. They may also have a physical or sensory disability or a mental health problem too.
There are many different kinds of learning disability requiring different levels of support. Some people may need occasional support with things like completing forms, managing money, using public transport or having a job. Some may need support with everyday things like getting dressed, shopping or help to live more independently. While others with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) need full-time support with every aspect of their lives.
It is important to think about a person with a learning disability as an individual first. Like everyone else in society a person with a learning disability has individual needs, dreams, rights and responsibilities. It is not helpful to think of a person with a learning disability as part of a group of people who sit outside of mainstream society.
Conditions
Associated Conditions with our members
Cerebral Palsy
Many people with cerebral palsy also have a learning disability. It is a physical condition that affects the persons movement and control of their body. It is caused by a part of the brain that has not developed properly either before birth or during early childhood. There are several different types of cerebral palsy, depending on which parts of the brain have been damaged. Some people are severely affected, while in others it is barely noticeable.
Epilepsy
Epilepsy is one of the most common conditions affecting the brain. It is not a learning disability but 30% of people with a learning disability also have epilepsy. People with epilepsy have seizures when the way their brain works becomes disrupted. Most seizures are sudden and short-lived, lasting a matter of seconds or minutes. They are not dangerous to the person having them.
Autism and Aspergers
Both Autism and Aspergers syndrome are part of a range of disorders that cause communication and emotional problems. This touches the lives of some 500,000 families in the UK. The characteristics of the condition vary from one person to another. It is a lifelong disability that relates to people and the world around them. People with autism often have a learning disability, and have difficulty forming relationships with other people, communicating and understanding what other people are trying to communicate and using their imagination.
As with a learning disability, people can have mild, moderate or severe autism. Some people will be able to live fairly independently with little support while others may require lifelong, specialist support. However, with the right sort of support all people with autism can, and do, learn and develop.