‘I never let anything hold me back, never’

Inspirational is one word that comes to mind when describing Shane Loughlin, who is a Disability Awareness Speaker from Cavan town.

Shane has been giving talks in Cavan Institute for the past eighteen years on his life experiences studying and working with cerebral palsy.

“I give a presentation on cerebral palsy and how I dealt with it growing up and how I deal with it today,” he told the Celt.

Cerebral palsy is the name for a group of lifelong conditions that affect movement and co-ordination. It’s caused by a problem with the brain that develops before, during or soon after birth.

Shane found growing up with cerebral palsy “a bit difficult”.

“When I was younger a lot of people didn’t’ know what disability was,” he recalled.

“It’s getting better, it’s not just there yet but it is a lot better than years ago.”

Now just after celebrating his 39th birthday, Shane said living with a disability is “good for me.”

“I never let anything hold me back, never.

“Loads of people told me in the past that I’d never be able to do this, I’d never be able to do that. One of the big things I got told a couple of years ago was that I’d never get to college.”

Shane became a member of RehabCare, a centre for people with disabilities in Cavan town, a couple of years ago, where he first began giving PowerPoint presentations.

“I found out a bit about myself and it was good to see it because I never knew,” he explained, adding that through RehabCare, he began delivering the presentations to the students at Cavan Institute.

“We built up a kind of relationship and I do my talks. We do question and answer sessions but we would also come together and the college would do a lot with RehabCare,” he said, mentioning work experience opportunities, games and quizzes.

The interaction enables the students “to understand what disability is” which “builds up their confidence.”

Meanwhile for Shane, he decided to enrol in a Level 5 Special Needs Assistance course at Cavan Institute, in which he achieved a distinction.

“I worked really hard and I got through college,” he shared proudly.

Throughout this time, Shane continued giving his talks at the college, which he still does to this day. However, he said life is now “busy” since he started working as a grounds keeper in the Farnham Estate, which sees him looking after flower beds, weeding, cutting lawns and planting vegetables.

“I look forward to them [talks] every year,” he shared.

“We work around work because I do want to keep up the talks.

“So yeah, it’s good,” he shared cheerfully.

Social Care Tutor at Cavan Institute Lorraine O’Dwyer said students are “inspired by Shane”.

“His way in which he presents it [his disability] is fantastic. Also his motivation for achieving his goals and his potential and also informing the students about cerebral palsy has been amazing.

“Sometimes the perception of someone with a disability is very different,” she described, adding that “when Shane steps in the door, he has a great sense of humour, he’s so open they can ask him any question.”

The students in the college continue to benefit from their experiences at RehabCare and in turn the service users benefit too. CI students do activities such as Tai Chi, mocktail making, drama, singing, a RehabCare’s Got Talent Show, and spa days among other initiatives.

“That has just been brilliant for us,” said Sinéad Mulligan, who is the Programme Supervisor for RehabCare. “The students are really positive, they’re really bubbly and because they’ve met Shane and they’ve seen the centre, they’re really eager to come in. For the service users it’s lovely to meet new people, they’re getting experiences that maybe we wouldn’t necessarily be providing for them, and it’s always just really really fun.”

She described Shane as the “driving force” behind the initiatives.

“He keeps us on our toes,” she said, adding “he really is brilliant.”