Reporters are scared to interview Paralympians with learning disabilities’

I’m one of the fortunate Paralympians with a learning disability who has progressed to the top of my game and competed in many competitions. I won gold in 2012, two silvers, and a bronze in 2016.

Sadly, many other athletes with a learning disability will never get that opportunity. Currently, the only events open to us are swimming, athletics, and table tennis, which are issues that desperately need addressing. I spoke about it at a meeting in Parliament this week organised by the learning disability charity Mencap.

‘People keep saying the coverage of the Para events was better than ever. It didn’t raise the profile of learning disability sports. It would be awesome to see learning disability athletes getting the same coverage as ‘regular’ athletes by Tokyo 2020. I want to prove what we can achieve.’ 

Despite my past success and proven record, I still couldn’t go to Australia to compete at the Commonwealth Games this year – another issue I raised at the Parliamentary event. Not because I’m not fast enough, or because I’m injured, or even because S14s (the learning disability classification) don’t have an event – they do. Well… the boys do! The girls weren’t included in any events, which was really sad.

‘A British swimmer in my class broke the world record on the Gold Coast – you might have missed it’

As I wasn’t allowed to go along, I managed to follow it on TV instead. People keep saying the coverage of the Para events was better than ever, which it possibly was. However, when it came to learning disability athletes, there wasn’t too much. On this occasion, I believe that was mostly due to there not being much for them to take part in, so there wasn’t much to cover, but it’s a recurring issue. A fellow teammate broke a World Record in the 200m freestyle at the Games, which is great, but it didn’t raise the profile of learning disability sports.

It would be awesome to see learning disability athletes get the same coverage as ‘regular’ athletes by Tokyo 2020. I think this can be done with better communication between athletes, coaches, and the media and with everyone clubbing together to make an effort to change things.

“We’ve had lots of media training so we know the ‘dos and don’ts’ and we shouldn’t have to be ashamed or apologise for our disability.”

A big issue is that, like the public, the sporting world doesn’t understand what a learning disability is or how it affects people. I’ve been told I might not be ‘disabled’ enough to be a para athlete. But that’s because people don’t understand that an invisible disability can affect someone’s whole life. We can struggle to understand training information, getting to venues and tactics.

Paralympians and fear over communication issues

When I first started swimming, I used to get disqualified a lot, and it was only through my coach working with me that I learnt how to stop this from happening so frequently. It still happens sometimes, and I need constant reminders.

A lot of people are suspicious because they remember the Spanish Basketball team that in 2000 cheated and faked having a learning disability. It makes them doubt the rest of us. That was a horrendous incident, and it haunts athletes with a learning disability today. Since then, we still don’t have access to as many sports as we did in 2000.

Another issue is that some reporters are often scared to interview us because they’re concerned they won’t know what to ask or be able to communicate with us. We’ve had lots of media training, so we know the ‘dos and don’ts’, and we shouldn’t have to be ashamed or apologise for our disability. That’s who we are and what makes us so unique. We offer a different perspective on things.

In Rio, 7% of medals (12 out of 147) won by Team GB at the Paralympics were won by athletes with a learning disability, despite making up just 3% of the overall Team GB. Even after this success, we have missed out on many of the change in attitudes that the Paralympics has given to other disabilities, and we deserve this too.

I’m currently training hard towards trials for the European Championships, which I hope to qualify for. They are being held in Dublin in August 2018, and I’d love to be there representing Great Britain. I love wearing my GB kit and making everyone proud. I want to continue doing my best and raising the profile of learning disability athletes to prove what we can achieve. More media coverage would be very welcome.

Jessica-Jane was assisted to write this blog.