Scottish Learning Disability Week returns from 7–13 September 2026, with people and organisations across Scotland coming together under this year’s theme, “I am here… to be seen.”

Scottish Learning Disability Week celebrates the lives, talents and contributions of people with learning disabilities and calls for their voices to have real influence over the decisions that affect them.

Coordinated by the Scottish Commission for People with Learning Disabilities (SCLD), the Week will celebrate people with learning disabilities and their right to be seen, heard and included.

Being seen is about more than visibility. It means being recognised and valued for who you are, having choices and control over your own life, participating in your community and having a say in decisions that affect you.

As one Scottish Learning Disability Week working group member said:

“Being seen is being part of society and contributing to it.”

Celebrating people across Scotland

Throughout the Week, events across Scotland will give people with learning disabilities opportunities to connect, perform, create, celebrate and speak about what matters to them.

A highlight will be The Room at V&A Dundee, a co-produced exhibition shaped by people with learning disabilities. The project celebrates different ways of experiencing and interacting with the world and shows what can happen when people have genuine choice, agency and creative freedom.

Talking about the opening of the exhibition, one member of the working group said:

“People will know it’s our room.”

Josafinni Porter Chambers, Guest Designer at V&A Dundee, said:

“The Room at V&A Dundee is a beautiful example of the power of co-design. Every group member has made their mark, and I hope the project shows how much we can all learn from different ways of experiencing and interacting with the world.”

Other events include the online #HereToBeSeen launch; an inclusive “I am here… to be seen (and heard!)” music gig by Stay Up Late Scotland; People First Highland’s “Living a good life?” conference in Inverness; and the Date n Mates Love Without Limits conference in Dundee.

Bruce Adamson, SCLD Chief Executive, said:

“Scottish Learning Disability Week celebrates people with learning disabilities, their talents and their contribution to communities across Scotland. But being seen means more than visibility. It means being heard, having your rights respected, protected and fulfilled, and having real influence over the decisions that affect your life.

“People with learning disabilities were largely invisible in last week’s Programme for Government. They have said clearly: ‘I am here… to be seen.’ Government now needs to show that it sees them.

“The Human Rights Bill cannot wait, and the move away from the Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence Bill is deeply disappointing. We need action now: stronger rights protection, people with learning disabilities at the heart of reform, and a national learning disability strategy with clear commitments.

“Scottish Learning Disability Week is a chance to celebrate, but also to ask what comes next. Being seen must mean having the power to turn rights into reality, every day of the year.”

Scottish Learning Disability Week runs from 7–13 September 2026. People, communities and organisations across Scotland are invited to take part.

Find out more and see the full programme at scotldweek.com.

Media enquiries please contact:

Kelly Kolatowicz, SCLD, Head of Business Development
Email: kelly.k@scld.co.uk
Phone: 0141 248 3733