Book Reviews – Insistent Voices: Stories on Claiming Identity

Tony Taylor, Kingston Advocacy Group 

ISBN 0-9546079-0-2, £7.99 

STAR RATING 5/5

The world of people with learning difficulties can be one of
loneliness and despair where their characters are forgotten and in
effect die, writes Matt Dore. But Insistent Voices brings light to
this world, relating the experiences of five people with learning
difficulties in their own words.

The detail of what makes each person tick, coupled with the factual
history of how the large and not-so-large institutions run, how
people are treated and how people survive is gripping. 

Each story is unique, but each has one common thread. These people
were allowed to tell their story, they were listened to and the
main people in their life (not all professionals but usually people
from the “outside”) cared for them and, dare I say, loved them.

There is optimism for people with learning difficulties found on
the pages of this book. I hope it will challenge the professionals
to review how they treat people and cause organisations to change
how they provide services. What is so refreshing is how the book
shows the author, a professional, treating people with learning
difficulties as human beings.

I recommend all those who are serious about working with people
with learning difficulties (indeed, with most marginalised groups
within society) to read this book. It is important that society as
a whole should learn from these stories too. 

Matt Dore is a supporter of people with learning
difficulties

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