The events at Winterbourne View assessment and treatment service, where the BBC Panorama programme uncovered systematic abuse of people with learning disabilities, has led to a serious case review written by Margaret Flynn and Vic Citarella. The review concluded that the services provided at Winterbourne View were not based on an understanding of the needs of the [read the full story…]
Previous work to consider the issue of older parents of adults with learning disabilities has identified that a significant proportion are lone carers, often with a wide range of health problems of their own, and reporting high levels of anxiety as a result of their caregiving responsibilities. The researchers in this study set out to [read the full story…]
Results from an analysis of the British Crime Survey suggest that 9 out of ten disabled people have been the victims of disability hate crime However, there appears to be still a lack of clarity and understanding as to what constitutes a disability hate crime and under reporting of such crimes. Mencap’s Don’t Stand By [read the full story…]
The psychological impact of abuse has been conceptualised as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but there has been little work on understanding whether this conceptualisation is appropriate and useful for adults with severe learning disabilities who may have limited communication skills. The researchers in this study set out to explore whether this established conceptual framework could [read the full story…]
The recent publication of Raising Our Sights, the DH report into support for people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities set out a challenge for everyone concerned with understanding and responding to people with such disabilities. A number of projects have produced practical guides for involving and engaging with people, for example, Mencap’s Involve Me [read the full story…]
The combination of family support and responsive services has been identified as critical to the development of a positive parenting context parents with learning disabilities. But the current evidence suggests that such parents are still likely to have their children permanently removed from their care. A recent Australian study suggested that for some learning disabled [read the full story…]
Information technology is a now a major part of the modern world and access to the internet is becoming more and more important to being a part of modern society. Access to the internet brings many benefits in terms of access to a broader community of friends, opportunities for learning and increasingly a number of [read the full story…]
The Mental Capacity Act 2005 came into force in England and Wales in 2007 to provide a legal framework for decision-making on behalf of people who cannot make decisions themselves. We have posted previously about the lack of practical knowledge of the working of the Act amongst learning disability community teams and pointed to articles [read the full story…]
Non-epileptic seizures can have a major impact on the quality of life of people affected. Those with an organic, physical cause may be relatively easy to diagnose, and if the underlying cause can be found, it may of course be amenable to treatment and if that treatment is successful, the seizures may stop. Some seizures [read the full story…]
Following the publication of the Winterborne View ‘concordat’ December 2012, it was agreed that the College of Social Work, in collaboration with other key groups and organisations, would produce guidance for social workers on good practice in working with people with learning disabilities who also have mental health conditions. The College of Social Work is [read the full story…]
