See Me Now
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008
“I have a life like everyone else. I deal with the problems we all have. I am not a person to be put in a box. Just because I am disabled does not mean that it is any different for me.”
See me now, see me now
The person they said no
The person they said could never do,
See me now, see me now,
The person with a home,
The person with a family,
The person with a life,
See me now
I first met Shirley when she was running a pilot programme for Skills for Care London region to encourage service users and carers to contribute to the education and training of social workers. My poem was inspired and written at one of the sessions.
I was subsequently invited to participate in the Social Workers Educational Trust conference. I have trained as a mentor and contributed to a number of working groups.
But I do have a number of challenging questions about how all the principles of service user involvement and participation in social care will become a reality. I am told by one organisation that they cannot pay me as a trainer because this will affect my benefits but another organisation is able to make a contribution towards my costs. This needs to be sorted out. I do not know if the new guidance published recently by Skills for Care will really make a difference to me. In the meantime if you would like an independent voice on your committee, board or panel get in touch!!
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