YOUNGSTERS with learning difficulties are speaking out about the problems they face.

The self-advocacy group Just Say encourages students attending its meetings not just to speak up for themselves but to listen and support each other.

Such is the success of the project, organisers are discussing plans to create a youth forum to provide representatives for young disabled people to attend political meetings in the county.

Just Say volunteer Nikki Jungbr, 30, who runs the meetings at Weymouth College, said: "The aim of the group is to build self-confidence and learn how to communicate with other people without being forceful or being walked over.

"It is to get young people's voices heard at political meetings where decisions are taken that will affect their lives. We are trying to familiarise them with the set-up so it's not such a big shock when they walk in."

Just Say meetings are run with a formal structure, using minutes and agendas. Just Say organiser Dawn McCadden said it helped to provide focus to the meetings as well as familiarise youngsters with the way meetings progress.

Ultimately, Dawn hopes some of the group will be able to represent themselves at political meetings such as local government committees and education authorities - all of which can impact on their lives.

Listening is fundamental to the work of Just Say. Dawn said she was struck at how the voices of those with learning difficulties were lost when she attended a recent meeting for children with disabilities.

She said: "When people talk about disabilities the focus is on physical disabilities. The Government recently passed the Disabled Rights Bill to demand disabled access to public buildings, which is good.

"But the voice of those with learning difficulties can be lost. For example, they may not have difficulties getting on the bus but they may struggle to recognise a bus stop or read a timetable. They are also in danger of being bullied once they get on."

She said that Just Say meetings encourage youngsters to talk about the problems that they faced: "A lot of people don't know how to behave around those with learning difficulties. Not everybody is trained to work with them.

"There is also a problem in that people with learning difficulties don't know what to expect in certain scenarios. If we can teach them how to explain to people what they need we are cutting out the middle man."

At a recent meeting the group discussed 'Rights' and how they had to be aware of their rights in order to speak up for them.

In keeping with the aim of the group, which is to prepare disabled students for active political participation, an agenda was passed to each person for them to read.

One obvious difference between this meeting and other political meetings is the presence of Harvey the Hedgehog, the group's mascot and, in his own way, chairman of the proceedings.

Harvey is passed around the table and anybody holding Harvey holds the floor; the rest of the group are quiet and listen.

This exception is more of a novelty than an essential tool. After all, the meetings are supposed to be fun.

The first item on the agenda asked members to talk about their week, with many of them speaking about a recent trip to Thorncombe Woods, where they had helped to cut down scrub and made a bonfire. It was a simple exercise, but for people with learning difficulties it can take longer. To listen to someone trying to explain themselves requires patience - more often than not mentally disabled youngsters are ignored because it is easier than listening.

Dawn said: "People with learning difficulties need time and if you take the time to listen they will be able to express what they need. People rush through life and don't tend to give the time to listen."

The Just Say meetings provide an important opportunity for members to talk about themselves, their likes and dislikes, and any problems they are having, but they are also structured to teach students about the world.

Dawn added: "They are vulnerable to bullying and there is a lot of knowledge that other people have and it translates into not being treated the same as everybody else."

Weymouth College student Georgina Harris, 22, who attended the Just Say meetings last year, said they had helped her to express herself and that there should be more groups of its kind.

Just Say meetings are funded by the government youth agency Connexions and are held across the county at Poole, Ferndown, Verwood, Wimborne and Wyvern school.

Dawn said that she was interested in establishing a youth forum where young people with disabilities could choose representatives to sit in on political meetings.

She said: "It is just an idea at the moment but I could see a system where we would have young disabled people covering areas across the county, from Lyme Regis to Poole.

"It needs funding and a lot of organisation. It would not just be for people with learning difficulties but would cover any kind of disability across the county."

For more information contact Dawn McCadden at Just Say on 01305 251702 or write to Just Say, 3 Princes Street, Dorchester DT1 1TP.

The group has a website, www.dorsetpeoplefirst.co.uk, and can be e-mailed at justsay@ dorsetpeoplefirst.co.uk