Exploring the importance of the Keys to citizenship for young children with disabilities.

On Friday 4th October, the team at Plumtree and Reframing Disability met with Kate Fulton, the coordinator of Citizen Network Australia. 

We spent the day discussing what the concept of citizenship means for young children. We explored the keys to citizenship model and why this is an important concept for children and their families.

Citizenship is about how we can all be equal yet different. It means:

• Being respected – being able to hold your head up high and getting respect from those around you
• Being equal – citizens all have the same fundamental worth or dignity, they don’t believe that just because someone has more money, power or a better-paid job that this makes them a better person
• Being different – citizens are not identical, they have many different gifts which they bring together to build a better world

Citizenship and the acceptance it brings is the key to truly belonging, being valued and getting the good things in life. 

The Keys to Citizenship model was developed by Dr Simon Duffy from Centre for Welfare Reform . The Keys provide a framework to guide people with disabilities and their families to live their best lives. 

We are excited by this collaboration between Plumtree, Reframing Disability and Citizen Network Australia. We look forward to sharing more information in the near future! 

Want to know more about the Keys to citizenship? 

https://www.centreforwelfarereform.org/library/keys-to-citizenship2.html