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Simone Aspis is dedicated to making disabled children's voices heard, helping others succeed where she failed.

As a child I had many good reasons for speaking up, especially about the awful education I received at a special school. No one heard my cries, leading me, at the age of 12, to ask then education secretary Sir Keith Joseph if there was anything he could do to get me out. For many years I was angry and frustrated at not being heard, especially by those who were close to me and thought they knew what was best.

However, the turning point came when Chloe McCollum, a young woman who was labelled as having severe learning difficulties, began her campaign to become the first person with Down's syndrome to attend a mainstream secondary school in the London borough of Lewisham. Chloe wrote a statement to the local education authority and a letter requesting a meeting with its chairperson, Gavin Moore. She then did an interview for the local People First newsletter.

Chloe achieved only a part-time mainstream school placement, but her interest in disability rights grew and led to her attending the "Young And Powerful" day of action outside Downing Street. Her campaign also led other parents to see how their children with more severe learning impairments could have their voices heard.

Knowing what Chloe had achieved led me to see how strong I was as a young woman, and what I could have achieved if I had been appropriately supported by my parents and allies from an organisation such as People First. I realised parents lacked positive role models and the confidence to see how their children can speak for themselves, which is why I chose to work as a family representative. My role is to support families with disabled children with learning difficulties who have initiated legal proceedings to secure a supported mainstream school placement.

One of the young people I have supported includes 11-year-old Andrew Downer who, for his successful tribunal hearing, wrote his own statement explaining why the LEA was wrong and provided examples of his work. In addition, Andrew visited mainstream and special schools so that he could tell the tribunal panel which school he wanted to attend, and why. This led to several articles being published which, I hope, would have inspired other young people to speak up about what they want out of life.

Indeed, I have learned from all the young people I have supported, both in terms of how we may be able to support them to speak out and in informing my ideas on what is meant by inclusive education and community.

Increasing numbers of disabled children are becoming involved with self-organised groups and getting their voices heard. I hope that disabled children with learning difficulties can develop the same self-confidence as their disabled peers without learning difficulties. After all, article 12 of the UN convention on the rights of the child, not to mention the Children Act 1989, says that the voices of all children should be considered when making decisions about their futures.

Simone Aspis is a disabled activist with learning difficulties.