Pregnancy and childbirth outcomes in women with intellectual disabilities between 1970 and 1989

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Michelle Gregory looks at an analysis of an archival dataset, which wet out to investigate differences in pregnancy and childbirth outcomes for mothers with and without learning disabilities.

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Impacts of special care unit for older adults with learning disabilities and dementia evaluated over three years

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People with learning disability may be more likely to develop dementia than other people.

Here Ros Hithersay looks at the findings of a three year evaluation of a special care unit for people with dementia.

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Risk factors for self-injurious behaviour in adolescents with ASD

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Self-injurious behaviour can have significant consequences for individuals, their families and carers.

Here, Rachel Allen looks at a study, which focused in particular on adolescents, and considered that the severity of autism symptoms were related to the incidence of self injurious behaviour during adolescence.

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A Suitable Person: An insider perspective finds conflict between parent-carers and practitioners

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Earlier this year, we posted about a study which showed positive outcomes being achieved by suitable persons for individuals lacking capacity to consent to direct payments.

Here Alex Leeder, who blogged about this study, looks at the views of parent-carers who have fulfilled the role of ‘suitable person’ – an ‘insider’ perspective.

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Evaluating the quality of information on autism-related websites: ensuring informed decision making

This review highlights the lack of evidence about the best way to prevent cognitive decline in later life

The internet is now a major source of information and advice and a significant proportion of parents who have just received a diagnosis of autism for their child will visit websites looking for information. But how far is the quality of that information assured?

Here, Emma Langley looks at an evaluation of autism related website which set out to answer that question.

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An evaluation of a community living initiative in Ireland

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The move away from long stay hospital settings to community settings is long established in the UK.

Here, Victoria Smillie looks at an evaluation of a community living initiative from the Republic of Ireland which set out to chart the experiences of those who took part in the move.

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Differences in staff attitudes toward people with intellectual disabilities in Japan and the United States

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Support staff can play a key role for some people with learning disabilities in connecting people with their communities – so how much do staff attitudes impact on this and are there differences in attitudes between countries?

Here Fawn Harrad looks at a study which compared attitudes of staff in Japan and the U.S.

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Understanding research – what does it mean for me? Accessible research findings for people with learning disabilities

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Last week we posted about accessible websites. This week we thought we would consider the reflections published recently on the Plain Facts project, which ran for many many years, offering access to research findings on topics of interest to people with learning disabilities

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People with Down syndrome experience higher incidence of depression than other people with learning disabilities according to findings of systematic review

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People with learning disabilities have an increased risk of experiencing mental health problems but we need to understand more about the prevalence and presentation of these issues to help clinicians offering appropriate and effective treatments.

Here Angela Henderson looks at a systematic review of the literature on uni-polar depression in people with Down syndrome.

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