Greenwich Parent Voice (Greenwich, London) has created a short film on social media which addresses the under-reported issue of shame and stigma, rooted in religious beliefs, attached to disability and autism in BAME communities. This problem crosses local and national boundaries. In our film parents talk movingly about their pride and joy in their children: https://youtu.be/6BH8jmZNG5s Project summery: GPV is a voluntary organisation in London, UK giving parents of children with special needs a voice. Influences and attitudes within some BAME faith communities prevent parents and carers living positively with their child's disability. This harms children and families; it leads to denial, isolation and children not getting support at school, under-achieving, mental health problems, dropping out, entering the criminal justice system and families breaking down. Our aim is to end this stigma. We are achieving this by bringing parents and carers together to talk, educating people, promoting positive messages about disability and getting this conversation going locally, nationally and internationally. |