16/03/2024
Hello everyone,
I hope that you are all well. And hello to all the new followers that have recently joined my page.
This video is an updated introduction about myself.
For those of you who are new to my page my name is Theresa Jackson, I am 25 years old, and I am from London, United Kingdom. I have Cerebral Palsy which means that I am in a wheelchair full-time. Also, I have type 1 Diabetes where I take insulin 4 times a day to regulate my blood. I am a professional sketch artist and I have my own YouTube channel where I educate people about disabilities of all types. I have been a professional artist for six years now and I have been a YouTube creator for over three years.
I got interested in art when I was studying level one art and design back in college in 2017. But I never really wanted to be an artist before college as my passion was to become a children’s social worker as I had been in the system throughout my life and was very interested in helping others to have a better understanding of a meaningful life. I felt that I could relate to people that are going through the process of foster care or being placed into a care system as I have been through both systems and to have a social worker that has been through the same situations might help them to express themselves more or more effectively having the ability to talk more freely about their experiences without having to feel alone. But the college that I attended didn’t have any health and social care courses because of course they were a special needs college and they didn’t think about the students who had a physical disability and wanted to do a diploma in health and social care or business. So I had to choose art instead but little did I know that I was going to be an artist and a YouTube creator later in my life.
The reason why I have created my platform is because I would like to provide a platform where I can raise awareness, educate people and show people that people with disabilities can make something out of themselves. This could be Artists, creators, writers, influencers or anything else that would make them unique and inspirational. Or even if you want to become a social worker or doctor you can become whatever you desire if you put your mind to it and never give up on your dreams and aspirations in life.I have chosen to create my YouTube channel and TikTok because I feel people don’t get educated on disabilities enough. Especially in schools in the UK and countries around the world, they do not educate on what disabilities are and the types of different disabilities that are out there in the world. This is the reason why we come across people that are afraid to come up to us or talk and pity us very much like we don’t understand or that we are lower than our actual age. And therefore, I feel like there should be education about disabilities in schools so that the students are then ready and disability worthy when they finally come into society when they have finished school and college.
I have also made my platform so people from all over the world can be educated on disabilities and that I can provide poor countries the opportunity to be educated on disabilities. I feel that curiosity and the inspirational enjoyment of having a compassionate diversion to educate people.
However, this would be a feeling of sympathy that I have deep inside me and I would like help to build on assisting other people, who may have handicap needs or in other words a disability.
I then thought about the people that have disabilities in other countries for example Burundi and south Sunden who have little or no lack towards disability rights and so this saddened me.
Consequently, alongside my anguish and sorrow, I then began to feel remorseful and then manifested that maybe I could start my own YouTube channel where I educate people on disabilities. And in which I can proportion my own wisdom of my life, with cerebral palsy and type 1 diabetes.
In addition to the very first day that I made my first video, I have not once regretted my decision on educating people about disabilities. And therefore, now whenever I do not create a video I feel empty and naked. This is because I get a sense of achievement and gratification when I make my videos, as I feel that I am contributing my experience and awareness to the disability community and society.
I then had the desire and determination to create my YouTube channel and create educational videos about disabilities.
This has been one of my favourite projects that I have really enjoyed doing, alongside many of my fine illutstrations containing sketches with expression of creativity of my personality on my professional artist side.
Understanding disabilities is a key factor to knowing what goes on in the brain of someone with a disability. And more people with a disability will have the capacity to be able to make decisions than you may think. This is why people get it wrong most often because they think that we don’t understand anything but that is not the case. We try to do everyday tasks to the best of our ability and capability. This is why people should not just assume that we don’t understand anything. However, if someone comes up to you and starts talking to you normally then they will recognize that we do understand and have chats about the news or anything else that you may talk about. Then they will be willing to engage with more people with disabilities and be able to feel comfortable around people with disabilities and complex needs.
For example, whenever I go to hospital or A&E with multiple of my support workers that come with me most of the time the nurses or doctors will talk to my support workers as if I was not there. And I get really annoyed with this because I don’t have any learning disabilities and I have the mental capacity to talk to nurses and doctors. But they don’t listen to me whenever I try and talk to them, and it is not appropriate not to try to talk to the individual themselves when they have a disability, especially when they have capacity. I feel that everyone should have a chance to have their say and get their voice heard and to get their point across.
This is why I wanted to make a YouTube channel so that I can make a difference to people’s life's worldwide and for those countries that find it hard to educate people on disabilities because they don’t have any resources to provide a safe and reliable resource and research area. By making my YouTube videos and channel available to the public worldwide this will give poor countries an opportunity to learn about disabilities on a free and safe platform. And between making YouTube videos and making more awareness about disabilities and people with complex needs I hope that we can make a tighter community around the disability community. Also, we could then focus on making a difference on ableism across the globe, if you are not aware what ableism is. It is the discrimination of social prejudice against disabilities based on a person’s belief that typical abilities are superior.
An example of this may be ignoring requests for accommodation or believing that people with disabilities have less value and worth than a person without a disability.
Ableism is not acceptable in this day of age. In fact, it can manifest as an attitude, stereotype or an outright offensive comment or behaviour. And I feel like we should make more awareness of this subject as it is still out there. And even though not everyone comes across this matter there are some people who do experience ableism from time to time.
I have also made my platform so people from all over the world can be educated on disabilities and that I can provide poor countries the opportunity to be educated on disabilities. I feel that curiosity and the inspirational enjoyment of having a compassionate diversion to educate people.
If we look and think about Stevephen Hawkings, he was nonVerbal and paralyzed, but he was famous for his discovery that black holes emit radiation which can be detected by special instrumentation. And he was famous for his incredible book as well. Anyway, my point is that despite his disability and being non Verbal he still made his dreams and ambitions come true. Therefore, I feel like and want to help those who have a disability to achieve their dreams and goals in life despite of them being worried about what people may think.
Also, I really do think that we do need to have more people like Stevephen Hawkings that would have a good impact on society because it would inspire more people to get involved in people with potential insight on making a world a different place.
My goals for the upcoming year are I would like to continue educating people on TikTok and YouTube about disabilities. And I am planning to write and publish my own autobiography. This will focus on my experiences about living with cerebral palsy and how I got to where I am today. Also, it will explore how disabilities show up in different people and why it is important to raise awareness around disabilities.
I would also like to create a charity that provides a platform for people with disabilities from all walks of life and the world to come together and raise money for the poor countries that don’t have the resources to make their country a better place for people with disabilities. This would mean that they will be able to get help and experience to be able to help people with disabilities with the experience of other countries who know how to manage people who have disabilities and other healthcare needs. I feel that it will benefit people with disabilities from all over the world to have the opportunity to have a chance to live a fulfilling life like everyone else on the planet.
Also, we could help children and young people with disabilities and complex needs that live in poor and not so lucky countries to have access to a suitable education that is best adapted to their needs. This would include a sensory education system for the server students with disabilities and a more moderate education system for the students with less server disabilities.
We can also provide teaching staff and teaching assistants with medication education and training. So, students with medication needs and feeding tubes can also have the experience of school like any other child.
Together we can help people with disabilities in all countries around the world to have and lead a fulfilling life if we could all come together and help people with getting the right support and education that they would need to have to help people with disabilities and complex needs.
And for this reason, I am on a mission to encourage people from all over the world to have and get disability awareness known in every country. And how I am going to do this is that I will keep making educational content on TikTok and YouTube so there is a free platform and resource that poor, or Wethy countries can use free education though videos without having to pay. Also, we can build a big community network worldwide so that we can learn from other countries about how they support people with disabilities. And then together we can possibly share experiences and ideas between countries.
Together let's make a difference and empower disabilities around the world.
Thank you for watching this video.
If you have not already please follow me on tiktok, facebook and youtube at theresa jackson youtube and tiktok educator.
Also I have linked my Amazon wishlist in my bio if anybody wants to send me something.
Have a lovely weekend whatever your plans are, please dont be afraid to ask me any questions. I am happy to answer any of your questions.
