While we were in Edinburgh and more specifically the Downtown area it was somewhat hard to get around. While walking you can begin to notice very quickly how it is almost all cobblestone. This makes it difficult to walk around because none of it is leveled, even I was tripping while I walked. Now, imagine if you had a difficult time walking around and you had tripped. I understand people go to Edinburgh for the shops, history and the experience but it’s going to be hard to if it’s hard to get around. Finding a way for everyone to be mobile will be a hard task but it’s something that needs to be done in order for everyone to enjoy the area.

I also saw how while in Glasgow they had a lot more availability for people who have disabilities to be welcome at any place they might be going. While in Edinburgh, I noticed they didn’t have Braille anywhere and they didn’t have many lifts. One thing I did find out was how they had sign language on the public buses for people who couldn’t hear when their spot was coming up. This is at least a sign of progression in the right direction for a population that is not always looked at.

While being at the conference I was really interested about learning how individual speakers were trying to work towards inclusion within society and within the classroom. After I had immersed myself in anything to do with inclusion I had started to see how there was more talk about what people were doing within their research rather than how it should be implemented in a classroom setting. However, this isn’t to say none of the work would be good to use. What I am trying to say is, maybe there should be a little more attention on how the research can actually be applied. Whether that be in a school setting or in public activities. At times there was a speaker who, for 15 minutes, only talked about what people could do but never once said anything about what they were going to do to make inclusion a more realistic plan.

Dr. Garry Hornsby has been working since the beginning of his career to make sure that classrooms are more inclusive. He has been working to make sure inclusive education is spread worldwide. Places like the Us and Germany have been harder to try and make them comply because they don’t want to go along with the CRPD. This is partly because the CRPD would make education a full inclusion area for people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Although I do believe inclusion is a great plan and it should be implemented I think it can be hard to do especially when some students don’t work well around certain environments. I believe if we can find an equal balance with inclusion in mind then soon, hopefully, we will see inclusive classrooms all around the world.

While at the conference I saw two different keynote speakers talk about employment which I believe is pushed aside because it isn’t always on someones mind. While having an intellectual or development disability, it can be very difficult finding a job. This became even more clear to me when going to the conference. One of the keynote speakers talked about the types of jobs people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. His exact words were “they are the types of jobs you and I would consider boring” and it made me think how even though that could be very well true, that shouldn’t be the only jobs they can get. There was only one person who had a job the speaker was proud of and that was being a chef. Even though I understand he meant well and was trying to go in the direction of saying we need to focus more on this so more people with disabilities have better jobs, he could have said it a little better. Meanwhile, I appreciated the way the other keynote speaker was saying how we need to do more so people with disabilities can go through further education and have a higher chance of acquiring a better job later on in life.

However, looking at organizations like the one promoting Talking Mats is something which brings me a lot of hope for people with IDD because it shows the efforts actually put forth to make sure people are happy with their lives. This organization has also helped many individuals find where they want to be career wise. One of the women, Susan,  who is a part of this organization and who also has IDD is now one of the people helping all of their new clients get situated when they sign up and help them find jobs suited to their own preferences and abilities. Not only that but she is a self-advocate who spoke several times while at the conference in order to promote their organization. She is someone who will be engraved in my mind for being able to do so much for so many people who are just like her.

I will start off by saying how amazed I was with this academic and professional conference. When I first entered the conference I was slightly nervous because of how many people there were so advanced in their fields of practice. However, I quickly got over that nervousness when I remembered how we were there for the same reason, advancing research and knowledge about Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. While walking around the area of the conference I was not shocked about how accessible the venue was. They have elevators in order to go upstairs, they had plenty of accessible bathrooms for people who need them and they had ramps that went to the main keynote speakers. Although, this is a wonderful piece of information to have it’s not the only area where people with disabilities have accommodations. While we were staying at the Cairncross House in Glasgow, I noticed while in the bathroom there was Braille on the trash cans so this way people who are blind are able to tell the difference between the sanitary garbage and the normal trash.

Two other areas I noticed that were accessible throughout Glasgow were some restaurants and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum. In a few of the restaurants I passed I saw how even though the only way to get up to the actual restaurant was by stairs they added a lift to the side of the way. This way, anyone who may have walking difficulties or for those who can’t walk at all are able to still access the restaurants. Lastly, was the Kelvingrove Museum, where I was able to see a plaque that truly gives hope to those who have disabilities and the plaque said “Not every disability is visible. Accessible Toilet”. I have noticed since being here in Scotland that America needs to step it up a notch and do some of the things that Scotland has been doing otherwise we’ll get left behind. Obviously, these are not the only aspects of accessibility in Scotland but they are the only ones I saw and thought they would be good to share.