Background
Mindroom was founded by Sophie Dow - herself a mother of a child who has fundamental learning difficulties.
Her daughter Annie is 18 years old and has severe learning difficulties as a consequence of a chromosomal deletion on Chromosome 1, the short arm.
Having spent years researching the complexities of learning difficulties, Sophie Dow, who is by profession a journalist and worked for twelve years as a Swedish Correspondent out of London, soon realised there was a huge void in terms of access to all round information on learning difficulties.
During this period it became frighteningly clear that learning difficulties are widespread, poorly understood, often diagnosed very late or not at all and the source of massive issues for those who have the difficulty, their families and society at large.
The experience of trying to find the answers for Annie was traumatic. It took a long time; there was no pathway to a solution; information was unavailable; medical and educational support systems focused primarily on the mainstream; knowledge and experience levels were low. Something needed to be done.
Falling outside the norm as Annie and so many of our children do places you in a multifaceted and complex world.
The facets include the mind, the soul, the environment, ongoing medical research, the educational system, social services, your inner most feelings and self esteem and of course your fears.
The complexities are the interplay between all of the above.
In some ways the term learning difficulties applies just as much to society as to the children and adults involved.
Our society seems to have a blind spot - its own form of learning difficulty - towards people with special needs. Society's present inability to meet their needs is both part of, and adds to, the problem.
Mindroom was set up to remedy that.
