The Challenging Behaviour - National Strategy Group has launched a charter to promote the human rights of individuals with learning disabilities who are perceived as challenging.
Up to 27,000 people with learning disabilities in the UK may have been given a label of challenging behaviour, resulting in this group of people being:
- stigmatised and socially excluded - denied the right to ordinary lives in the community, to education, recreation and employment - placed in institutional settings a long way from home and families.
The label challenging behaviour, has become misused over time. Rather than being used as a term to encourage carers and professionals to understand the underlying reasons for a person's behaviour, 'challenging behaviour' has been used as a diagnostic label, viewed as being intrinsic to the person.
The Challenging Behaviour -National Strategy Group want people (and
organisations) to sign up to the charter to register their support for the principles it contains and to commit to action to improve the lives of children and adults who are labelled as challenging. We need as many people as possible to support us, so please ask your friends and family to sign up too.
