Learning Disability Week – an annual celebration of people with a learning disability, and their families and carers – takes place from 16th to 22nd June 2025. There are 1.5 million people with a learning disability in the UK and this year’s Learning Disability Week theme, ‘Do you see me?’, is aimed at ensuring people with a learning disability feel seen, heard and valued.
To mark Learning Disability Week, we spoke to Vijay Patel, a campaign officer at the UK’s leading learning disability charity Mencap. He shared his personal experiences of living with a learning disability, his journey into employment and what Learning Disability Week means to him.
Accessing education and employment with a learning disability
Vijay Patel is a Campaigns Officer at Mencap, where he works to make information accessible and raise awareness about the rights of people with learning disabilities. Starting as a Young Ambassador, he has held several roles across Mencap and is also captain of their football team, promoting inclusion both in and out of the workplace.
Vijay began by sharing what it was like growing up with a learning disability:
“Growing up as a person with a learning disability was hard to get the support I needed when I was a child and throughout my life. For example, getting support in school.”
Vijay was fortunate enough to be in previous employment, but faced some challenges:
“It was hard for me to get the job I wanted because when I used to go to the job centre, I didn’t get the support that I needed. Applying for jobs through the application process was hard and it was not accessible for me to understand the questions.
“They would ask me to find jobs on my own which I would struggle with. They found a job for me which was to work at a pub but that was not what I wanted to do. I was threatened by the job centre when they told me ‘you must take that job or you’ll lose your benefits’, which was unfair. I was being discriminated as a person with a learning disability because I did not get the reasonable adjustments I needed.
“It took me three and a half years to move on to a different career from working at the pub. I went on to work at Mencap, where I wanted to work.
Vijay went on to explain how he got the role as campaign assistant at Mencap, and what the role involves:
“I found out about the Campaigns Assistant role whilst I was still working as an admin assistant for the Mencap Trust Company. I then applied for it and I got the role and have recently been promoted to campaigns officer.
“As campaigns officer at Mencap, my role is to make easy-read documents accessible. I also chair meetings, go out to do networking events to talk to them about campaigning, and I work with different teams within Mencap.”
What is Learning Disability Week?
Each year, the third week of June is Learning Disability Week. It is when individuals and organisations make sure the world hears what life is like if you have a learning disability.
The theme for the 2025 Learning Disability Week is “Do you see me?”, which is about making sure that people with a learning disability are are seen, heard, included, and valued in all aspects of life,
The ways people can get involved in learning disability week can include talking about and celebrating the amazing things that people with a learning disability are doing in your community. You can also do voluntary support for people with learning disabilities, or get involved in campaigns and fundraising.
Speaking about what Learning Disability Week means to him, Vijay said:
“Learning Disability Week is really important to me because I want to be seen, heard and valued for the things I can do as a person with a learning disability, just like any other human being can, which I can be proud of.
“For example, when it comes to busting myths, I can go to the pub to socialise, I’m able to play football for our Mencap football team and recruit people to join, I’m able to have a job, and I can travel independently. It opens a whole door of more opportunities for me to be able to have those things.
“When people say you can’t have those opportunities and can’t do them, they are completely wrong because I can, and so can others, – we can achievethings and live our lives.”
He added: “You can get involved by raising awareness, fundraising or campaigning – you can go to Mencap’s Learning Disability Week page to find out how.”
Challenging misconceptions about learning disability and offering advice
Vijay continued to highlight the biggest misconceptions about learning disabilities:
“People can get confused a lot of what a learning disability is when they think a learning disability is a learning difficulty, which is not true. A learning disability is a lifelong condition that affects you for your whole life from when you’re born, and there’s no cure. A learning difficulty, for example, is to do with ADHD and dyslexia.
“Another misconception is when others think people with learning disabilities can’t have relationships, get a job, travel, socialise like playing sports or go to a pub – which is not true because everyone can have that and we should not be discriminated for who we are. We are just human beings, just like everyone else.”
Vijay concluded by advising other people living with a learning disability:
“My advice is to be proud of who you are! And if you need any help or advice, you and your family can contact Mencap’s Learning Disability Helpline on 0808 808 1111 or by email at helpline@mencap.org.uk.”
Visit the Mencap website to learn more about the support it offers for people with learning disabilities, and follow Mencap on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.