International Women’s Day - What it’s like to be a woman with a Learning Disability

Blog by Jovi Edwards, Choices Officer

One of the women on the Sunnybank team who we all feel inspired by is Choices Officer, Jovi.

She has achieved lots of great things, and always makes others feel uplifted and happy.

Here Jovi shares her experience of being a woman with a learning disability.

“I think it can be quite challenging being a woman with a learning disability. The disability I have (Autism/Autistic Spectrum Disorder/ASD) is often difficult to diagnose in females as the assessments are more male-based.

I get quite a lot of panic attacks when something doesn’t go right (even if it’s the smallest thing) and I have a lot of special interests that people younger than me would have (like Disney & Unicorns).

There are some positive things I do which help me to go about my day to day life. One of the things that I do is wear my Sunflower Lanyard. I make sure I wear it when I go to concerts for my favourite bands Little Mix, Rak-Su & JLS and when I go to major events such as the Summertime Ball and when I go to the airport.

It means that staff are made aware that I have a hidden disability without me having to tell them and then they try to help me in the best way possible.

One time that The Sunflower Lanyard really helped was on the way back from France in 2019, I got to go in the minivan from the EasyJet plane to the terminal and then got to go through the terminal from the gate to Baggage Reclaim in one of the golf buggies!”