A night of powerful stories and human connection
We were joined by acclaimed author, director, and teacher Stephen Unwin as he discussed his latest book, Beautiful Lives: How We Got Learning Disabilities So Wrong. Blending rigorous research with personal experience of raising a son with severe learning disabilities, Unwin explored the social, cultural, and philosophical history of learning disabilities, and the ongoing fight for dignity and human rights.
Hosted at WAC Arts in Camden, a community-rooted charity with over 45 years of impact, this event offered an opportunity to hear first-hand from Stephen about how this book came to be written, and to ask how we can all challenge a dark history of prejudice and say, ‘enough is enough’.
More about the book: ‘For much of history, people with learning disabilities have been regarded as unworthy of interest – often seen as a threat to the social order and sometimes dismissed as barely human. While recent years have seen an improvement, learning-disabled people are still treated as fundamentally different.
Beautiful Lives is a personal and pragmatic account, told through the eyes of a father whose son has severe learning disabilities. From early civilisation to the chilling realities of twentieth-century eugenics, this powerful book uncovers a startling and rarely told history – one deeply embedded in the challenges still faced today. Unwin shapes this history into a powerful story of love, lived experience and the long struggle for a better future.’
More about the author: https://www.stephenunwin.uk
