1. Convention for Persons with Disabilities Why the Convention is so important to us

2. Inspiration A successful Convention will:  Inspire us to achieve our dreams.  Help us to see greater possibilities in our daily lives.  Make us feel more positive as people.  Help us to become the best person we can be.

3. Our lives as children The Convention must ensure that every child has the opportunity to:  Grow up in a family and be loved. This is more than just a right, it is essential part of growing up.  Grow up with friends and know that they belong.  Become a “child of their community” to be valued and wanted for who they are.

4. Our lives as adults A successful Convention will ensure that as adults:  We are able to live in the community and be part of community life.  We have control of our own lives and no-one else can make our decisions for us.  We are recognised as the unique human being who we are – others do not try to change us so we fit in.

5. The Things we don’t want  We don’t want anything in the convention that continues the negative labels we have had to live with.  We don’t want anything in the Convention that suggests that we are not capable, lack capacity or any other such nonsense.  We don’t want anything in the Convention that grants control of our lives to others because of the nature of our disability.

6. Will the Convention Succeed? I think the jury is still out.  Few of us with an intellectual disability have been involved.  The language and concepts are difficult to both communicate and understand.  We have been consulted but I am not sure we have always been listened to. Institutionalization is a good example of this-self advocacy wants Institutions closed but are people really listening.

7. A last word Many positive things have happened.  We have influenced some decisions.  We have received tremendous support to be here from Inclusion International and DESA  However most of all we must feel that this Convention on Disability is ours, it belongs to us – it is part of who we are.