Adults with severe learning disability also have a greater likelihood of having autism according to a new report published by the NHS Information Centre. The report combines data from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS) 2007 with findings from a new study based on a sample of people with learning disabilities living in private households [read the full story…]
This review of the literature looked at issues relating to the development of haptic exploratory strategies in children who have visual impairment and learning disabilities. Haptic perception refers to the recognition of objects through touch, involving the perception of patterns such as edges, curves and textures, whereby people can identify three-dimensional objects by moving their [read the full story…]
A number of studies have looked at difficulties with overweight and underweight in people with learning disabilities. An added challenge is the issue of dietary assessment, where getting accurate information about the diet of people with learning disabilities can be difficult. The researchers in this study wanted to look at whether the use of personal [read the full story…]
Older families, where people with learning disabilities live with parents, brothers or sisters over 65, may need more support as they get older. As life expectancy for people with learning disabilities is it may be that increasingly, siblings will assume responsibility for care. The researchers in this study were interested to look at what factors [read the full story…]
Ten years ago, the Mencap campaigns team produced a document setting out the lack of activity for many people with learning disabilities, A Life in the Day, Campaigns Team, Mencap, February 2002.) This continues to be a concern today for many. This US study responded to the concerns expressed by parents and professionals about the [read the full story…]
In recent years, the number of people training as learning disability nurses has been falling. This report presents some of the issues believed to be at the heart of this and presents some potential solutions. The report includes an analysis of: the difficulties in reliably identifying national supply and demand problems with numbers of student [read the full story…]
It is clearly important to pay close attention to the emotional needs of people with learning disabilities at a time of bereavement, but this can be especially difficult to do if the bereaved person has a limited understanding of the concept of death. The researchers in this study wanted to understand how people with learning [read the full story…]
Williams syndrome is genetic condition caused by gene deletion and is estimated to have a prevalence of 1 in 7,500 to 1 in 20,000 live births. Previous studies, which have relied mainly on the testimony of parents and carers, have suggested that people with Williams syndrome may have a disposition towards anxiety. The authors of [read the full story…]
Fragile X syndrome is a common cause of inherited learning disability and can affect one in 2000 males and one in 4000 females and is due to a mutation at an inherited fragile site on the X chromosome. The researchers in this study were interested in looking at the behavioural profile of people with fragile [read the full story…]
Our colleagues at the Mental Elf found this large cohort study from California which explored the risk of autism in children of families with one child already diagnosed with the condition. Previous research estimated the risk to be between 3-10%, but this evidence was always regarded as unreliable. This study looked siblings of children [read the full story…]
