New British health official with an intellectual disability says he's not a "token"

From The Guardian in the UK:

When Society Guardian interviewed Nicola Smith, the first disabled co-tsar for learning disabilities, on her appointment in 2006, national director for learning disabilities Rob Greig was present to ensure that everything went smoothly. Fast-forward three years, and Scott Watkin (pictured), Smith's successor, is facing the same challenge with only a Department of Health press officer riding shotgun - standard practice on such occasions.

The arrangement is a measure of how much more relaxed the department is now about having a person with a learning disability speaking on its behalf, Smith having been a model of diplomacy during her tenure. But it is also a reflection of Watkin's confidence and maturity. Still only in his twenties, he seems totally unfazed at being parachuted into a government job and required to talk to the media on his second day.

This is all the more remarkable because Watkin's is not a well-known face in the learning disability sector. He has had no involvement in national or regional self-advocacy groups, and the widespread reaction to his appointment was: "Scott who?" That may be no bad thing. As Anne Williams, Greig's successor, says of her new job partner: "He brings a young perspective, different experience and different aspirations. He is fresh pair of eyes."

"I like talking and doing practical stuff," says Watkin. "If something I knew wasn't right, I would challenge it. I am going to do my job as best I can, and I am going to make sure that people's lives are changed."

He already seems at ease with the language of government. Acknowledging that extra funding for services is likely to be in short supply in the years ahead, he says: "That means we have to use the resources we have and make better use of them." Talking about the groups needing help under the government's refreshed learning disability strategy, Valuing People Now (VPN), he includes from memory "family carers, people from black and ethnic minorities and newly-arrived communities".

Watkin will lead on making the three-year programme's vision a reality. He will focus particularly on developing strong and effective advocacy for people with learning disabilities.

Despite being a surprise appointment, Watkin is by no means inexperienced. For six years he co-chaired the learning disability partnership board on the Isle of Wight, where he lives, and helped restructure it in preparation for VPN and personalisation of services. Recently, he had a run-in with the island's council over plans to make £500,000 savings in learning disability services. The savings have gone into the 2009-10 budget - in fact, the council says it could end up saving £1m without affecting services by extending personal budgets and improving commissioning of residential care - but Watkin says he won an apology for the shortcomings he perceived in consultation.

"It's very important because people with a learning disability find change very difficult. The council says that services will not go down in quality, but it's too soon to say," he points out.

He was persuaded by a friend to apply for the co-director post. The selection process culminated in a two-day residential session, where shortlisted candidates had to make presentations and take part in discussions, as well as being interviewed. Smith's experience in the job demonstrated how difficult it can be for a learning disabled person to get a hearing in Whitehall meetings, but Watkin seems unlikely to be cowed.

He is plainly at the mild-to-moderate end of the learning disability spectrum, but in the 11 years since leaving special school has had less than 12 months' paid work - as a supermarket shelf-stacker.

A priority under VPN is improving employment prospects: fewer than one in five of the learning disabled population have a paid job, usually part-time and lowly paid, although 65% say they want to work. Watkin is clear that, even in the context of a recession, the key is training - for employers in awareness, as well as for jobseekers in employment skills. This applies just as much to government as to the private sector, he says, because VPN is not an agenda for the health department alone.

What about charges of tokenism that his three-year appointment risk inviting? "I believe that the government is seriously looking into finding other jobs within government for people with a learning disability seeking employment. So I definitely know that this is not a tokenistic job," he says.

"I feel very strongly about tokenism. If I thought this was just tokenism, I would not be here now."

Watkin moved to the Isle of Wight from London with his mother when he finished school, and now lives with his wife, Stephanie, who is also disabled and who introduced him to sport and the Special Olympics. She is a shot-putter; he runs the 100 and 200 metres and competes in the standing long jump. He will not, however, be taking part in forthcoming games in Leicester "because I haven't trained enough".

The couple organised their wedding on principles of person-centred planning: gathering friends around them in a circle of support, they talked about their hopes and dreams and then set about seeing what was possible. Unfortunately, from Watkin's point of view, one thing it did prove possible to realise was his future wife's dream of riding a camel. The honeymoon duly took place in Tunisia. How was the camel riding? "Not very comfortable," he winces.

That was not the only time the couple have travelled overseas. And Watkin has twice arranged, with only minimum support, to move house. But when it comes to healthcare, he has found that old assumptions and prejudices die hard.

Watkin stresses that his own NHS experiences have been fine: he cannot speak highly enough of the care he received during recent eye surgery at the Queen Victoria hospital in East Grinstead, West Sussex. But he says that his wife has fared less well, and that when he has acted as her advocate, the nurses have talked automatically not to her, nor to him, but to her support worker. "It makes you feel very cross because you are not in the picture," he says.

Improving healthcare for people with a learning disability is another priority under VPN after an inquiry headed by Sir Jonathan Michael last year found widespread failings. As learning disability co-tsar, Watkin will share Williams's personal assistant and, says Williams, get whatever further support he needs. But he is travelling independently to and from London, despite the fact that until last week he had never been on a tube train.

"I took him on the underground for the first time," Williams says. "But he is keen to try things for himself and the next time, when we are due to make a joint presentation, he is going to try to bring me back to the office." No one should bet against Watkin succeeding.