‘Out of the darkness into the light’: a life‐story from Ireland

Abstract

Accessible summary • ‘Out of the Darkness Into the Light’ is Bill’s life-story about living with the label ‘intellectually disabled’. • This life-story talks about the bullying and sexual abuse that was done to Bill when he went to live at a special school in Ireland. Bill talks about going to counselling to help put the bad memories of his school days behind him. • Bill wants everyone to speak up about bullying and abuse of disabled people because it is a huge part of people’s lives. Speaking up about bullying, doing more research about abuse and helping people get over their past can change the bad things that happen in disabled people’s lives. • Bill is now writing and talking about what is important to him today: rights, anti-bullying, the love of his family and his loving memories of his Mom and Dad. Summary This article recounts the life-story of one man who was ‘diagnosed’ as intellectually disabled in the early 1960s. It details the time he spent in a special residential school in the Irish Republic after acquiring this label and outlines the bullying and abuse he experienced. It includes his struggle as an adult to come to terms with his intellectually disabled status and the trauma of his early life. It outlines how he transformed these experiences into the advocacy and research work he is now involved in, which includes supporting organisations to adopt rights-based approaches to the issue of bullying, abuse and maltreatment of people with intellectual disability within service and community settings. Bill’s life-story is part of a larger writing project he is undertaking which includes a portfolio of poetry, personal writing and social commentary.