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Cognitive assistance systems help people with learning disabilities to increase their skills and consequently their employment opportunities in the regular labour market. Research on advanced work instructions has encouraged training disabled workers in cognitively demanding production tasks, especially manual assembly. However, studies lack evidence on the effect of repetition or work cycle alongside the form of instruction and type of disability. This paper addresses this gap and reports on an experiment conducted at a sheltered workplace. Four forms of instruction (paper-based, animations, projection, adaptive projection) were tested to assist operators with three types of disability (illiterate, psychosocial, cognitive) with a manual assembly task. The results show that projection enhances the first assembly cycle. Challenging operators by filtering the content of the instruction with increased experience leads to greater independence and a better understanding of their tasks. However, adaptive instructions can form a barrier for those operators who are most dependent on mentor support. The form of instruction should thus be considered carefully for each operator as their adaptation to changes and cognitive assistance systems varies. The results are discussed in light of the Industry 5.0 human-centric and socially sustainable production agenda with managerial and research implications and future research priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A lack of access to learning opportunities is among the main reasons for social exclusion of people with cognitive disabilities in the professional field. It has been accentuated in the last few years by the rapid development of online learning strategies that limit the physical presence of students and instructors. Personalized systems can help overcome access barriers in learning for people with disabilities by helping them learn autonomously without the direct intervention of tutors. However, despite the wide range of research initiatives in this area to deal with individual differences, learners with cognitive disabilities still suffer from a lack of consideration of their conditions. Indeed, most e-learning platforms have been designed without taking into account users with multiple profiles and impairments. This paper systematically reviewed papers to provide insights about personalization within e-learning systems. We highlight personalization goals and approaches and review whether they improve learning accessibility and outcomes. The objective is to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of current research and suggest some opportunities to improve research in personalized e-learning systems for people with cognitive disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impact of policy changes and budget cuts on services and support faced by people with learning disabilities. Drawing upon collaborative research in England and Scotland and interviews with commissioners and support organisations, we show how landscapes of care and support are unstable and fragmented. We identify how pressures of time, resource and precaritisation in the workforce are creating 'debilitating landscapes of care' that further erode the capacities of both the people that work in the sector and people with learning disabilities. Some challenges that people with learning disabilities face in this context include finding appropriate local support, narrowing access as a result of reductions in benefit entitlements and identifying quality providers amid a complex array of private and charitable provision. Capacity to cope with these challenges is contingent on access to quality advocacy, supportive family, friendships, productive occupational learning environments and peer support, but these are not always available. The impact of COVID-19 has only served to intensify some of the issues we identify and the urgent need for a response. Our analysis is inspired by Berlant's (2007) conception of 'slow-death' and Puar's (2017) associated conceptualisation of 'debility'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shares key learnings and emerging principles on ways of enabling genuine participation from young people with learning disabilities in co-design. Reviewing previous research focusing on co-design with young people and people with learning disabilities, we highlight key gaps including – a lack of approaches engaging young people with learning disabilities throughout a co-design process; and limited examples of genuine participation focusing on lived experience and engagement in creative and conceptual decision-making. We present our work with young people with learning disabilities to design a game-based learning tool, with a focus on the co-design process. The work illustrates a situated, tailored Participatory Design approach for engaging participants across all stages of co-design. Findings highlight the importance of contextual preparation by embedding in situ to support multi-vocal, multi-method engagement; and asset-based narratives to empower young people and support expression of voice, enabling creativity and conceptual decision-making. Synthesising key learnings and reflections, we present emerging principles underpinned by a rights-based ethos, with an emphasis on creating the right conditions and developing capacities to enable genuine participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Support practices of paid disability support staff often restrict decision-making autonomy for people with cognitive disability, partly due to inadequate training and supervision (Antaki et al., [3]). [Paper Presentation], The Living With Disability Research Center Roundtable: supporting people with cognitive disabilities with decision making, Melbourne. Development of an evidence-based practice framework to guide decision making support for people with cognitive impairment due to acquired brain injury or intellectual disability. Keywords: Intellectual disability; acquired brain injury; supported decision making; temporality; participation; Handicap intellectuel; lésion cérébrale acquise; prise de décision assistée; temporalité; Discapacidad intelectual; lesión cerebral adquirida; toma de decisiones con asistencia; temporalidad; participación EN Intellectual disability acquired brain injury supported decision making temporality participation FR Handicap intellectuel lésion cérébrale acquise prise de décision assistée temporalité ES Discapacidad intelectual lesión cerebral adquirida toma de decisiones con asistencia temporalidad participación 934 952 19 09/09/22 20220901 NES 220901 Introduction Having a voice in decisions about matters that affect one's life is an important aspect of "personhood" (Flynn & Arstein-Kerslake, [17]) and self-determination (Shogren et al., [36]). [Extracted from the article]

In this paper we introduce Ashworth's lifeworld fractions as a methodological framework for inclusive research with autistic people 'with profound learning disabilities'. We first define the fractions and then evaluate their potential for enabling research within the 'third space' of inclusive research. Fundamental to the third space is the inclusion of the social and support circles of people with profound learning disabilities within research. Using the example of a recent study we illustrate how the fractions are a useful enabler of this. We conclude by suggesting that a key value of the fractions is in how they take the research collective beyond the elements of experience that most obviously confront them to consider its full breadth and effects. We argue too that the fractions support the management of the collation and analysis of the copious amounts of data that are generated through qualitative research. We conclude by offering a new and critical dimension to the fractions through presenting them as a means through which those involved in the third space – autistic people, their social and support circles, and researchers – can come to more emic understandings of lived experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars have paid surprisingly little attention to the role of the state in the provision of accommodation for the learning disabled before the twentieth century. This paper will address this lacuna by investigating the fate of pauper 'idiots' in Victorian England. As this paper will illustrate, 'idiots' and 'imbeciles' fell under two overlapping jurisdictions-the Poor Law Board and the Lunacy Commission. The tension between the two systems led to a call for a different type of asylum-a hybrid of the county asylums and pauper workhouses-that was eventually constituted under the authority of the Metropolitan Asylums Board in 1867. This paper illuminates the local negotiations which resulted in the congregation of 'idiots' and 'imbeciles' in Poor Law Union workhouses, and explores the nineteenth-century ideology of 'moral treatment', which devalued the learning disabled as 'incurable' and thus unworthy of expensive, specialised state provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of supporters in facilitating access to and use of technology by people (adolescents and adults) with learning disabilities has not been the primary focus of much of the research that has been undertaken to date. The review of literature presented in this paper suggests, however, that issues of support, risk and safety are emerging as factors that have a significant influence on the quality of technology access and use that adults with learning disabilities experience. There is a need for more research into how the relationship between supporters, technologies, adolescents and adults with learning disabilities is mediated by risk, and this paper offers an original perspective on how positive risk-taking might be a useful conceptual framework to aid in the exploration of this relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was passed in 2006 and came into force in 2008. It sets out a number of core values, including dignity, individual autonomy, non-discrimination, participation and community inclusion. Although the CRPD has been recognised as an important step forward by many disabled people and their supporters and provides the foundation for building a good life, the author argues that it does not necessarily equate with it. The underpinning Western values of choice, independence and control are important, but leave out groups of marginalised people for whom these goals may not be achievable. They also present challenges and dilemmas for those involved in supporting/caring roles. In this paper, the author reflects on the implications of the CRPD for the lives of people with learning disabilities, in particular those with profound needs and explores whether it provides a genuinely coherent framework for an inclusive society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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This paper presents a proactive process to include young people with learning disabilities in mainstream counselling in secondary schools in the UK based on the findings of a consequential mixed methods research study. Data were collected from a quantitative and qualitative survey (n = 396) and qualitative semi-structured interviews (n = 15) with counsellors and psychotherapists producing findings that were used to build a model for inclusive counselling practice in secondary schools. This paper applies those findings and the model to the school counselling context. The findings provide useful insights into counsellors' views and perspectives on inclusive counselling and a proactive way forward for facilitating greater access to counselling in schools for young people who have learning disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the UK's recent history of promoting the social inclusion and equality of men and women with learning disabilities they remain a significantly disadvantaged group. Compared with their non-disabled peers they are more likely to be unemployed, less likely to own their own homes and are at a significantly greater risk of physical and mental ill health. The first part of this paper discusses the welfare rights of citizens with learning disabilities in terms of New Labour's welfare to work policies. The second part discusses the UK's mixed welfare economy and its impact upon services for men and women with learning disabilities. The paper concludes by considering whether the social inclusion of men and women with learning disabilities can be promoted solely through policies that emphasise inclusion through work and the personalisation of welfare services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I examine and critique the construction of 'learning disabilities' at an Ivy League university in the USA. Drawn from a study of the experiences of learning disabled labelled Ivy undergraduates, this paper focuses on the language practices, assumptions, and power relationships that characterize the University discourse within and against which these diverse learners shape their educational lives and identities. Using discourse analysis techniques, I analyse University policies and practices to illuminate the complex, disempowering discourse about what it means to be 'LD' at the University. I conclude with possibilities for constructing an alternative discourse about learning diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge of God for persons with intellectual disabilities: an impossible oxymoron? This paper proposes to further the work of disability theology by engaging with the doctrine of revelation-the Christian doctrine that describes matters regarding knowledge of God. Karl Barth's concept of co-humanity is considered alongside Michael Polanyi' s understanding of tacit knowledge so as to begin to conceive of ways forward for persons with intellectual disabilities, away from Enlightenment-informed theories of knowledge, towards a theologically informed conception of knowledge of God. Further, this paper suggests that the use of the imagination and the arts may act as a hermeneutic of sorts for communication with persons with intellectual disabilities. The theology and epistemology of Barth and Polanyi, combined with more creative forms of communication, result in a theory of knowledge of God that is truly inclusive for the whole Church. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses key methodological issues for qualitative research with learning disabled children, based on the author’s experience of involving learning disabled children in her doctoral study. The study was founded on the social model of disability and a sociological understanding of childhood that recognizes the abilities of disabled children as competent research participants. Issues that arose throughout the research process, from the early stages of gaining access to children, to communication challenges for interviewing learning disabled children, and the analysis and dissemination of data, are discussed. Within this context, this paper explores key methodological issues for researchers with regard to interviewing learning disabled children and actively involving them in qualitative research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supported employment is now regarded as a major vehicle for enabling people with learning difficulties to enter employment. The purpose of this paper is to use the evidence provided by three case studies of people with learning difficulties who have participated in supported employment to critically examine its fundamental premises. The paper argues that the influences of normalisation theory and the US model of supported employment have combined in the UK to form a variant of supported employment which, in pursuing the concept of real job, fails to adequately address the consequences of impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a dominant Western tradition that reveres cerebral learning, embodied learning approaches have received limited research attention – and less in education than other disciplines. This paper draws on previously reported empirical data from a five-year Creative Partnerships study to argue that psycho-physical theatre practice can promote embodied cognition, has particular value for young people with learning disabilities in special schools and has potential for inclusive education in mainstream schools. The paper describes a psycho-physical actor training process developed with, and for, actors with learning disabilities. Its application within special educational contexts, which we call ‘mimetics’, has focused more keenly upon physicalised interaction as the core communication. In this form of communication, reading, interpreting and responding to the individuality of others happen through the development of non-verbal dialogue. This focus has illuminated the importance of an intuited or ‘felt’ understanding which is generated by and recognises such communications. In special education settings, being different is inherent, and physicalised interaction more routine, so ways of working different from the mainstream are required. The paper suggests that such settings are rich sites for research to develop, value and recognise the significance of embodied cognition and realise its potential for special and inclusive education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper draws on data from a national survey of social workers and social care practitioners in England undertaken in 2010–2011. It focuses on practitioners working in services for adults with either learning or physical disabilities and, in particular, their experiences of responding to alcohol and other drug use among their service users. Based on secondary analysis of survey and focus group data from the earlier study, the paper outlines the extent to which workers in these areas of practice encounter alcohol and drug problems and discusses the key challenges this poses for them. The findings show that between 4% and 10% of adults' practitioners' service users have alcohol and drug problems depending on the nature of the disability. Regardless of the type of disability, practitioners reported difficulties in talking about substance use with their service users as well as identifying tensions around life-style choice and risk management. They also reported the need for education and training in a number of areas. Social work education and subsequent training in working with substance use problems needs to be available to adults' practitioners and it needs to address the specific issues and needs in different areas of social work practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Our study investigated two co-located learning disability services in Wales. The paper reports the views of professionals who were involved in planning the new services as well as of those who eventually worked in the services. Fourteen professionals from health, social care, voluntary service providers, and advocacy groups were interviewed over an 8-month period. The main focus of the investigation was on problems in establishing the co-located services, what the existing barriers to improved learning disabilities services are and how co-location may address these barriers. Respondents were positive about the dynamism that the service planning phase brought, but there was also a consensus that some aspects of multi-agency work across professional divides were outside the control of the new services. Overall, although there are clear benefits of co-location for professionals, co-locating services largely appear to be a missed opportunity on the way towards more integrated health and social care services in the learning disabilities sector. This raises questions about the usefulness of co-location as part of the integration policy agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing interest in the geography of health in the concept of 'wellbeing', as it provides a fuller understanding of health, builds in embodied experiences, and accounts for the socio-spatial relations and contexts that shape health. The paper sets out the case for using 'wellbeing' to rethink the poor health outcomes experienced by people with learning disabilities, which conventional tools of healthcare and health promotion have failed to address. Shifting the focus of concern from the individualised objective ill-health of people with learning disabilities to a broader sense of emotional and social wellbeing and happiness, the paper argues that there is potential within learning disability spaces and networks for wellbeing to flourish, through greater self-determination and presence in and attachment to local places. The outcome is people with learning disabilities being able to find stability and build resilience in difficult bodily and social circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tells of the social experiences of three four-year-old children with learning disabilities as they negotiate their daily lives in their homes and early education settings in England. We apply a social model of childhood disability to the relatively unexplored territory of young children and use vignettes drawn from video observation to explore the interactive spaces contained in settings with different cultures of inclusion. Using a multimodal approach to the data we show the nuanced ways in which the children enact their agency. We explore the relationships between agency, culture and structure, and argue that children with learning disabilities are active in making meaning within social and relational networks to which they contribute differently depending on the barriers to doing and being that each network presents. Thus, the paper provides an original use of the notion of distributed competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to make a contribution to the development of practice-near research through discussion of a project which explores the experiences of a socially marginalized group — young people with severe learning disabilities. Psychoanalytically informed infant observation is adapted as a research method for observing these young people in the family home. The paper discusses the rationale for the development and adaption of the research method in the process of observing. The discussion focuses on the key themes of understanding the quality of developing subjectivity and the ways that young people, adults and siblings coped with the often stressful aspects in the home. The article concludes with the implications for policy and practice and proposes that methodologies such as this are needed to capture the complexity of the lives and experiences of these service users and their families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the art therapy ending process for two adults with learning disabilities, Gavin and Megan (both pseudonyms). In particular, it considers a tension that develops between ending and the emergence of a new beginning suggesting that this tension can sometimes be captured within the art work. This paper also looks at the use of objects within these two case examples and the way they are endowed with psychic meaning and vitalized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper asks, in the context of recent legislative changes, what can be done to support more citizens in England and Wales with learning disabilities to vote in national elections? This issue is addressed through (i) a review of recent disability access campaigns that have reported discrimination against, and the under-representation of, adults with disabilities in UK elections; (ii) a review of recent research undertaken in the USA into the assessment of competence to vote and research undertaken in England that conclusively documents the under-representation of voters with learning disabilities in the 2005 general election. It is proposed that a 'functional approach' to developing an individual's capacity to vote could help to fulfil Article 29 of the United Nations' Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities that gives all people the same political rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is currently a lack of provision for, and research into, the intellectual accessibility of heritage sites. This paper explores some possible ways forward. It examines recent research with people described as having Down syndrome and uses the syndrome’s identified characteristics to create good practice guidelines. It assesses these guidelines against an audio tour written for people with learning difficulties. In conclusion, the paper suggests that drawing upon a generalised model of Down syndrome and these good practice guidelines will allow sites to identify some potential barriers and enablers to intellectual accessibility, but that fully to appreciate the effectiveness of their provision they must still institute site‐specific research by people with learning difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The constructs of risk and resilience and their implication in the life of individuals who are gifted, learning disabled, and gifted/learning disabled will be explored in this paper. The intent is to understand further how the constructs of risk and resilience affect individuals who are gifted/learning disabled. The paper includes a discussion of risk and resilience, followed by a discussion of learning disabilities, giftedness, and learning disabilities combined with giftedness. Each of these sections addresses the risk factors that hinder normal development and make the individual more vulnerable and the protective factors that serve to buffer the individual's response to adversity. Interventions that may foster resilience in the individual who is gifted/learning disabled are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concurs with Professor Hauerwas' strong misgivings about policies to prevent learning disabilities per se. It explores the link between suffering and having a learning disability, agreeing with the view that suffering is often caused by attitudes within society. It emphasises that there needs to be empathy with the aspirations of people with learning disabilities; that paternalist attitudes are unacceptable and that there needs to be reciprocity in relationships. It argues strongly against viewing people with learning disabilities as a homogeneous group. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

While there have been significant developments in the field of inclusive research with people with learning disabilities, there is limited knowledge about the ways inclusive research teams have conducted participatory data analysis. The authors argue this is inherently tied to the sensitivities involved in the inclusive research process. In this article, we present the experiences of two inclusive research teams (from the UK and Australia) who developed ways of working together to collaborate on data analysis. Both studies touched upon sensitive topics and crossed disciplinary boundaries. One was an evaluation of a series of history workshops with young people with learning disabilities; the other was an exploration of effective models of peer support for parents with learning disabilities. The authors explore different approaches to data analysis in inclusive research teams, and reflect on the politics of 'sensitive' research in this field, especially in relation to expectations of funders, ethics committees, and stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of 'special' has played a crucial role in the development of educational policy and practice, and the meaning of the term has been the subject of far-reaching debates and controversy. This paper is based on research which explored the meaning of 'specialness' in theory and practice from the point of view of practitioners working in segregated schools, providing education for young people designated as having moderate and severe learning difficulties. The research demonstrates the articulation of the individual model of special in teachers' thinking about pupils, themselves and their relationships with pupils, and also in the learning environment provided for different categories of young people. We argue that the dominant discursive practices of practitioners construct and maintain 'otherness' in special education, and pre-empt alternative discourses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research and practice in sexuality and learning disability has directly and indirectly highlighted the pathological sexual behaviour of men with learning disabilities, particularly their abuse and exploitation of women with learning disabilities, and relatively high HIV risk sexual behaviour with men without learning disabilities. It is consequently argued that there has been a relative neglect of their wider sexuality and sexual needs. This paper reconstructs this wider agenda, drawing on empirical evidence and theoretical interpretations of need from research and sex education in support of the observations made. In identifying a range of key issues for sexuality work with men with learning disabilities and arguing that they require greater recognition and attention, the paper also provides directional pointers for informing such work and for responding more widely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses criteria defined by Zarb to describe research undertaken with people with learning difficulties, in the context of an emerging emancipatory paradigm. First, the paper addresses the question: Who controlled the research and what it was about? It considers consultation with people with learning difficulties, the influence of public service organisations and the ethical committee. Secondly, the paper evaluates how far disabled people were involved in the research process, and discusses issues relating to the inclusion of people with learning difficulties as respondents, obtaining informed consent and the involvement of carers in interviews. Finally, the paper discusses the questions: What opportunities existed for disabled people to criticise the research and influence its future direction? What happened to the products of the research? The role of a pilot study, opportunities to provide feedback and dissemination strategies are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper examined the neuropsychological profiles of two groups of learning disabled children using the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery, Three groups of 12 children were selected on the basis of their performance on the Wide Range Achievement Test: a normal control group, a group of children deficient in reading and spelling only, and a group deficient in math only. All were tested using the WISC-R, the Luria-Nebraska Battery, and several tests of tactile perception from the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery. The pattern or profile of scores on the WISC-R did not differentiate among these groups of children, contrary to previous research. The expressive speech, writing, and reading scales of the Luria-Nebraska Battery differentiated the poor reading/spelling group from the other groups but did not differentiate the group deficient only in math. Tactile perception tests failed to distinguish among the groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last number of years, opportunities to learn in higher education for people with intellectual disabilities have increased. Consequently, this subgroup of students is gradually becoming part of an increasingly diverse college community. Because learning varies across different individual cultures and systems of higher education, our current understandings of how students with intellectual disabilities learn are inadequate. This study set out to explore how people with intellectual disabilities learn in one Irish college. Eighteen students with intellectual disabilities were asked to make a drawing of how they understood learning and were interviewed by six of their peers who trained as co-researchers. The findings indicate that the learning experiences of these students are as complex and as multifaceted as any other college student. A model that captures this learning is presented using four categories: the Cognitive Stages of Learning, Self-regulation of Learning, Learning as Collective Meaning Making and the Supportive Environment and Learning. The learning potential for people with intellectual disabilities presented in this paper goes some way to addressing preconceived notions associated with the label of intellectual disability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper contrasts the personal experiences of a man with learning disabilities and autism with staff in two different settings: a long-stay institution for people with learning disabilities, and the community. These experiences highlight some of the potential personal, professional and ethical conflicts facing staff working in learning disability services. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mabel Cooper and Gloria Ferris lived in St Lawrence's Hospital one of the large learning disability institutions which were built round the edges of London. In this paper, Mabel and Gloria share their memories of three nurses at St Lawrence's, supported by Jane Abraham and in this process reveal a number of ethical issues that remain relevant today. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A learning disabilities coping program was implemented in the final year of two primary schools within the context of a whole class coping program and whole school learning disabilities professional development. Using data collected over three years from school surveys, reports, interviews, school documents and a field diary, this paper reports on the feasibility of implementing and sustaining this intervention. The schools successfully implemented the program and continue to use components of it. Facilitators were: priority given by the school, usefulness and ease of use of the coping program, teacher skill and interest and maintenance of the connection between the universal and withdrawal aspects of the program. It is likely there is a need for increased presence of the above facilitators for continued implementation of all components of the intervention to be sustained. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines transition scenarios to adult and active life in Spain from an inclusive viewpoint. For people with learning disabilities, the transition to adult life is a particularly complex process worldwide, and this is especially true in Spain. The multitude of services and professionals involved, the diversity of views regarding what represents integration, the difficult coordination between school and post-school services, these are just some of the situations that pose obstacles in constructing paths towards transition. An overall understanding of the relationships existing between the different scenarios in which these processes take place is fundamental if the necessary actions for improvement are to be established. This article aims to analyse this situation, presenting the main discrepancies observed in and between Spanish schools and the post-school services that condition the fulfilment of objectives relating to inclusion in society and the workplace. The article concludes by proposing actions for fostering the transition to adult life from an inclusive perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is about mothering, young learning disabled people, their sexualised and relationship lives and normalisation - not through the lens of the disabled person, but via a mothers perspective and theoretical discussion. As a mother who has a learning disabled daughter, a feminist and an academic my own mothering experience, my Ph.D. research and social theory are woven throughout this paper with the intention of opening up debate about sex, intimacy and normalisation, and how these impact upon young learning disabled people. I suggest that the relationship between sex, reproduction, intimacy and intellectual impairment and a project to decipher what it means to be human in all its dirty glory are also part of the discourse that needs to be discussed experientially and theoretically. So much so that the messy world within which we all live can be variously and differently constructed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The self-advocacy of people with learning disabilities (PWLD) is an issue of high current importance. In the UK 210,000 people have severe and profound learning disabilities, whilst 25 in every 1000 of the population in England has a mild to moderate learning disability (Department of Health, Valuing people: a new strategy for learning disability for the 21st century, London, Stationery Office, 2001). At the most restricted end of the communication spectrum, PWLD are often forgotten members of their communities, whose label “learning disabled” wrongly causes confusion and fear. The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 ensured “reasonable” adjustments must be made to environments and buildings so they are accessible to all. However, DDA legislation remains a predominately physical access issue with great attention focused on the built environment and little attention given to the experience of place or external environments. Researchers argue that it is attitudes and interactions in the person-environment relationship that have allowed our “disablist” society to label and segregate members of its community as “disabled”. The research comprised a longitudinal study working with PWLD participants at two sites in Yorkshire and in the northeast of England. This paper examines the resulting visual communication toolkit, able to unlock the experience of public open spaces by PWLD and, when used in context, to aid greater social participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the gap between policy goals and practice in residential services for people with learning disabilities. Drawing on a nine month ethnographic study of three residential services, it outlines a range of obstacles to the promotion of choice and control that were routinely observed in the culture and working practices of the services. Issues discussed include conflicting service values and agendas, inspection regimes, an attention to the bigger decisions in a person's life when empowerment could more quickly and effectively be promoted at the level of everyday practice, problems of communication and interpretation and the pervasiveness of teaching. We offer a range of suggestions as to how these obstacles might be tackled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive representations of illness have been identified as a determinant of therapeutic outcomes in a variety of health care settings. This paper describes the development of a Likert-type questionnaire to assess how the concept of challenging behaviour is cognitively represented in staff working with adults with learning disabilities. The Challenging Behaviour Representation Questionnaire (CBRQ) was theoretically derived, drawing on two existing measures: the Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ) and the Challenging Behaviour Attributions Scale (CHABA). Items for the questionnaire were generated from responses by 300 direct care staff. The questionnaire shows acceptable levels of internal and external reliability. The questionnaire has face validity and a measure of concurrent validity. There is evidence that challenging behaviour is cognitively represented in care staff in a multi-dimensional way, consistent with other studies in health psychology. This has implications for future staff training in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the development of a community-based sex offender treatment programme for learning disabled clients (CB-SOTP-LD), the Keep Safe Programme (KSP), by the Learning Disabilities Team of County Durham and Darlington Priority Services (CDDPS) NHS Trust. The aim of this paper, by the treatment lead, is to share experiences of successfully setting up CB-SOTP-LD and to offer suggestions to those undertaking similar tasks in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People with learning difficulties, like all disabled people, face social oppression. Much recent policy and practice are underpinned by at least some understanding of this oppression, and the social model of disability has been influential in discussions of services and supports for people with learning difficulties. However, in the area of mental health, the picture is somewhat different. This paper argues that the medical model has predominated in discussions of mental health support for people with learning difficulties, and that a social model approach could have much to offer. The paper draws on an ongoing action research study in which service providers, families and young people with learning difficulties are working together to articulate what is needed, in order to find routes to improve the support offered to young people with learning difficulties and mental health support needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we examined whether early, supplemental strategy instruction in planning helped ameliorate writing difficulties. Second-grade students experiencing difficulty learning to write were taught a strategy for planning and writing stories. Learning to use the strategy had a positive effect on writing, as students' stories became more complete and, with the exception of 1 student, qualitatively better. Collateral improvements in an uninstructed genre, personal narratives, also occurred for all but 1 student. These positive effects were generally maintained over time and in some instances exceeded posttreatment effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will look at different ways of enabling people with learning difficulties to engage in leisure opportunities: the Support Model and the Access Model. These models will be put in their social context and then critiqued. The support model will be be contextualised in the theory of normalisation, access in disability theory. The support worker role will be shown to be useful in motivating people with learning difficlties into new activities, as well as having a protecting element, and unwittingly, disguise the level of discrimination people with learning difficulties are subject to. The access worker role will be shown to have strengths in understanding discrimination. With this analysis, it has the potential to dismantle disabling practices. However, the needs of people with learning difficulties have ramifications for disability theory. In practice, that means that ideas of self-advocacy need to be taken on board. Through interviews with sports personnel, social workers and people with learning difficulties, the implications of creating fully comprehensive access will be examined. I will conclude that both effective support and comprehensive access must be in place before people with learning difficulties are able to make a meaningful choice as to how they are enabled to participate in sports. It is only at that point of choice that the two models become complementary rather than competing discourses of provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In mid-nineteenth century north Wales, and indeed in Wales generally, community care of persons with learning disabilities aided by the Poor Law survived longer than in England, where institutionalisation in the workhouse or asylum became the norm. This prehistory of community care has been largely unexplored, largely because of the difficulties of obtaining data. After discussing the methodology, and discussing the Lunacy and Poor Law documents used as sources, this paper seeks to advance understanding by using longitudinal histories of individuals with learning disability to explore their varied experiences in the community. It examines the attitudes of officialdom, and the role of family and community, and concludes by suggesting key factors in determining individual life stories included the presence of family, the ability to work, the degree of difficulty or dangerousness they presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spontaneity of communication has frequently been identified as a problem for individuals with high support needs. This paper considers several possible explanations that might account for this observation. These include (a) the possibility that limited spontaneity is an inherent characteristic of individuals with high support needs, (b) that it is a product of aspects of highly structured teaching programs, (c) that it is a form of learned helplessness, and finally, (d) that deficits are a product of a failure to systematically and actively program for spontaneity. Each of these possible explanations is critically evaluated with consideration of relevant research evidence. At this point, discussion of causative factors remains speculative and further research may be regarded as of significant importance. A greater understanding of processes involved in low communicative spontaneity may eventually assist in the development of more effective approaches to intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]