Learning Disability Week: Raising Awareness, Acceptance and Support (16–22 June)
Learning Disability Week, from 16th to 22nd June 2025, is a crucial time to raise awareness about the challenges and experiences faced by children and adults with learning disabilities. It is also a moment to amplify their voices, champion inclusivity, and reflect on how society can become more understanding, compassionate and inclusive.
Understanding Learning Disabilities
A learning disability is a neurological condition that affects how a person learns new things, processes information, and communicates. It is not a mental illness or intellectual limitation, but rather a unique way of interacting with the world. Learning disabilities are lifelong conditions and can vary widely from person to person.
Types of Learning Disabilities
Some of the more commonly recognised learning disabilities include:
- Dyslexia – affects reading, writing and spelling skills
- Dyspraxia (Developmental Coordination Disorder) – affects movement and coordination
- Dyscalculia – affects the ability to understand numbers and mathematical concepts
- Dysgraphia – impacts writing, spelling, and motor skills
- ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) – often coexists with learning disabilities, impacting focus, organisation, and impulse control
- Autism Spectrum Disorder – while not strictly a learning disability, it can significantly affect learning and is often discussed alongside other neurodevelopmental conditions
Diagnosis and Causes
Learning disabilities are usually diagnosed in childhood, often when difficulties arise at school. Diagnosis typically involves assessments by educational psychologists, speech and language therapists, and paediatricians. Early identification is key to offering the right support.
The causes can be varied and include:
- Genetic factors
- Premature birth or low birth weight
- Brain injury
- Prenatal exposure to alcohol or tobacco
- Differences in brain structure or function
Living with a Learning Disability
The Social and Emotional Impact
People with learning disabilities often face barriers to fitting in, being heard, and feeling valued. From classrooms to workplaces and social settings, their challenges are frequently misunderstood or dismissed. This can lead to:
- Low self-esteem
- Social isolation
- Anxiety and depression
- Difficulty forming and maintaining friendships
In children, this might look like frustration in school or trouble participating in group activities. For adults, it may result in unemployment, underemployment, or feeling excluded from societal engagement.
The Impact on Families
Families of those with learning disabilities often become advocates, navigating complex educational, healthcare, and social systems. This responsibility can be emotionally and physically draining, leading to:
- Parental burnout
- Financial strain
- Relationship pressures
- Emotional overwhelm
Families need support just as much as individuals do—to learn how to provide care without neglecting their own well-being.
Work, Friendships, and Belonging
In the workplace, people with learning disabilities may struggle with standardised procedures, time management, or communication. Many are overlooked in hiring processes or do not receive reasonable adjustments to help them thrive. This exclusion can affect not only financial independence but also personal identity and sense of purpose.
Friendships and social relationships can also be affected. Misunderstandings, social anxiety, or communication difficulties can create barriers, making it harder for individuals to feel accepted or maintain meaningful connections.
The Mental Health Impact of a Late Diagnosis of Learning Disabilities in Adulthood
For many adults, receiving a diagnosis of a learning disability later in life can be both enlightening and deeply unsettling. While it may offer a long-awaited explanation for years of struggle, it also opens the door to a cascade of emotional responses, grief, anger, shame, and a profound sense of loss for what might have been.
A Life Misunderstood
Prior to diagnosis, many have endured a lifetime of being misunderstood, labelled as lazy, disruptive, or underachieving. Without the appropriate support or recognition of their needs, these adults often internalise negative beliefs about themselves. Over time, this can erode self-esteem and fuel chronic anxiety or depression. The narrative becomes one of personal failure rather than systemic oversight.
Shame and Regret
Post-diagnosis, adults frequently reflect on past behaviours, choices, and difficulties through a new lens. What once felt like moral or personal failings are now seen as the manifestations of an undiagnosed condition. While this can be validating, it also brings shame and regret. They may ask themselves: Why didn’t I know sooner? What could my life have been if I’d had support? The mourning of a life that could have taken a different path is real and often painful.
Anger and Resentment
Anger is another common response—directed at schools, teachers, family members, or even medical professionals who overlooked or dismissed their struggles. There may be a sense of betrayal or abandonment, particularly if signs were present but ignored. This unresolved anger can complicate relationships and hinder emotional recovery.
The Challenge of Adapting
Adapting to a new understanding of oneself is not straightforward. Adults must reconcile decades of identity shaped by struggle and stigma with a new narrative that involves neurodivergence. Building coping strategies, seeking reasonable adjustments, or even re-entering education or employment with accommodations can feel overwhelming. The emotional labour of this transition is immense.
Phiona’s Commitment to Supporting Adults Post-Diagnosis
Phiona takes a particular interest in supporting adults who receive a late diagnosis of learning disabilities. She understands that the diagnosis is not simply a label, it is a turning point that unearths complex layers of emotion, identity, and life history.
Her approach is rooted in lived experience, compassion, validation, and empowerment. Phiona creates a safe space where clients can express the grief, confusion, and anger that often accompany a late diagnosis. She helps to make sense of their past experiences and supports them in rewriting their self-narrative in a way that acknowledges both the struggle and the resilience it took to survive it.
Phiona also focuses on practical and emotional adaptation, guiding clients as they explore new coping mechanisms, navigate disclosure in personal and professional settings, and rebuild their self-worth. Her work emphasises that it’s never too late to understand yourself fully, nor too late to heal.
In supporting, Phiona not only helps clients to manage the psychological aftermath of diagnosis but also champions their right to live authentically and without shame.
Finding Calm: Support from Phiona in Havant or Online
Phiona offers tailored support for children, adults and families navigating the complexities of learning disabilities. Based in Havant, with options for online sessions, she helps people understand their nervous systems and find moments of calm amidst the chaos.
Phiona uses a combination of therapeutic interventions including:
- Breathwork – to support emotional regulation and relieve anxiety
- Somatic awareness techniques – helping individuals connect with their bodies and reduce stress responses
- Nervous system regulation – building resilience by understanding fight, flight, freeze and fawn responses
- Family support sessions – offering tools for communication, emotional resilience, and understanding neurodivergent behaviour
This holistic approach can be life changing. By helping individuals learn how to self-regulate, Phiona creates a space for healing, growth and greater connection, both within families and with the wider world.
Support from UK Charities and Organisations
There are many UK-based organisations offering resources, advice and advocacy for people with learning disabilities and their families:
- Mencap – www.mencap.org.uk
Leading UK charity offering advice, advocacy, and community support. - British Dyslexia Association – www.bdadyslexia.org.uk
Resources for individuals, parents, and educators. - Contact – www.contact.org.uk
Supporting families with disabled children. - Autism Hampshire – www.autismhampshire.org.uk
A local resource for families and individuals living with autism in Hampshire. - Scope – www.scope.org.uk
Disability equality charity offering support and campaigning for change.
Let’s Create a Society That Sees, Hears, and Values Everyone
Learning Disability Week is a reminder of how much work still needs to be done. It is a time to listen to lived experiences, challenge harmful assumptions, and celebrate the strengths and diversity of people with learning disabilities.
Whether you're a parent, a teacher, an employer, or someone living with a learning disability, you deserve support, dignity, and understanding.
How You Can Help
- Listen without judgement
- Challenge ableism in your community
- Offer support to local families
- Educate yourself and others
- Advocate for inclusive practices in workplaces and schools
Whether you're dealing with stress, anxiety, trauma, bereavement or looking to break habits, reframe fears, or phobias. Phiona can help you develop approaches to overcome these barriers that prevent you from living life to the fullest. Helping you navigate life’s challenges and take the next step towards a brighter, calmer future.
If you feel you would like support, and you feel therapy may be the answer. I offer 15 minute complimentary consultations, for you to have the chance to discover how therapy might support you. Visit my website for more information.
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Phiona is here to support you in Havant or online. Whether you're looking for personal guidance, nervous system support, or ways to create peace in your home, get in touch to start your journey towards calm and connection.
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