Quotes
Below are selection of quotations from the 2023 revised edition of Chris’s book, ‘Couldn’t You Just Call Me John?…’
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“Maybe surprisingly, for me the biggest problem for the future is not funding. It is getting the public to become more understanding.”
Director of Kent’s Learning Disability Service
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“I don’t think of my caring as a job: just going out each day to be with my friends.”
Support worker at a care home
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“Middle and upper class parents obtain more help for their children with a learning disability than the less educated.”
Professor Anna Vignoles
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“No one seems to believe what a person with a learning disability says. I feel so frustrated all the time. I cannot get a proper job. I so much want one… Society should understand more.”
40 year old with autism and epilepsy
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“Initially we support workers have to explain to parents that we can usually improve things but not provide a cure.”
Headteacher
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“I used to live at Leybourne Hospital, but I’m not naughty now.”
Elderly woman with Down’s Syndrome
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“I earn about a hundredth of what I used to earn in the City. But it’s great.”
A volunteer care worker
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I worked out the number of hours a week where a parent was solely responsible for their child – it was a hundred and ten.
The author
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“If I don’t give you eye contact or answer you if you are talking to me, please don’t think I’m being rude.”
10 year old girl to teacher
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“When I see a stranger showing little acts of kindness towards my son, it makes me tearful.”
Father of autistic boy
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“Things have improved [for people with a learning disability] but there’s a long way to go before they are treated as the individuals they are.”
Senior social worker
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“Individuals with a learning disability should certainly be included more into society. Many can contribute.”
Social worker
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“He can get terribly frustrated. And that can lead him to be violent. So, I’ve taught him that when he feels it coming on, he has to make his hands into great big claws and roar and roar as hard as he can. It’s a bit noisy but stops him hitting people.”
Father of 12 year old autistic boy
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“He’s done really well. He got a top job in the IT world. It is a real success story for you to tell. But, apart from us, he’s never had a friend.”
Parent of a 21 year old autistic man
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“Allow your autistic child to have fun. It will raise their self-esteem which is absolutely vital.”
Specialist doctor
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There are five learners in the pottery class … one lady does not talk unless prompted, although, as I leave, she bursts into a wonderful description of her pet rabbit.
The author
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“We kids with autism would like you to watch out for us… meaning, please never give up on us. There are times when I can’t do what I want to but it doesn’t mean I don’t want to. Please never laugh at us even when we’re doing a less than great job.”
Naoki Higashida
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The 2023 revised edition of “Couldn’t You Just Call Me John?”: A Layman’s Guide to Learning Disability and Autism is available to buy now on Amazon and at all good bookshops.