Deborah Sowerby

Deborah was born in 1949 in London. She spent some time in hospital as a young child and then was sent to a residential special school in East Sussex at the age of five, staying there until she was sixteen and then going on to Art School.

Discovering the Social Model

Here Deborah describes the impact of returning to study in later life via the Open University.

Covering Up

Here Deborah describes keeping her past and herself secret after school.

Alarm Clock

Here Deborah describes getting used to the world after school.

Feeling a Failure

Here Deborah talks about her sense of failure as a child.

Left Behind

Here Deborah talks about moving class and leaving her friends behind.

Interventions

Here Deborah talks about her days on the hospital wing of her residential school.

Recognition

Here Deborah recalls having her ability recognised in her Art lessons.

Being Corrected

Here Deborah talks about the culture of ‘treatment’ within her school.