I have been struggling through a document intended for people with disabilities. It is something I should have been able to read quickly and easily.
The document relates to the problems at a sheltered employment centre for people who, for the most part, have intellectual disabilities. Some of them will be able to read the words. Others are not able to read at all. It is doubtful any of them will understand what the document means or how it relates to them.
I have more than one university level qualification and I struggled to understand what the document was saying. The person who gave it to me, the mother of a person who works there, does not understand it. Her husband, well used to dealing with bureaucracy in his own work, is also struggling.
I have gone further afield in an effort to find out just what is going on. Nobody seems to know. Those responsible for the document are not answering questions apart from saying, "We have sent the necessary information out."
In the middle of it all there is a statement suggesting the person who has received the document should ask someone else for clarification. I very much doubt they got as far as that. The document runs to three and a half pages of bureaucratic rubbish. They are simply trying to say, "Your employment here is at risk because we owe money. We are doing the best we can to sort it out. We will keep telling you what is happening."
It is not the only such document I have been reading. The other relates to the AGM for the residents in this group of units. The agenda for this runs to many pages. As I only moved here earlier in the year I am unfamiliar with what might be ongoing issues. Perhaps they will be cleared up at the AGM. I will attend that out of necessity but, as a new resident, I have very little idea. I do not even know the people who have nominated for positions. It is not for want of trying. I have simply not even seen them to introduce myself. The language the document is written in is not encouraging. There are details lacking but it is still far too long for anyone to take in quickly.
I suppose I have always tended to write things too concisely. Perhaps it has come about from not having the physical capacity to write rapidly and legibly. I would like to think it has also come about because I want to be understood. Yes, I know I write "run on" sentences and I witter away here but if I need to write something for everyone to understand I can do it concisely and in plain language.
Is it too hard for the very people who should understand the need for plain English to write it for those with learning difficulties?
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