Search results for ‘Subject term:"learning disabilities"’ Sort:
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Futures of adults with intellectual disability: staff expectations
- Authors:
- CUSKELLY Monica, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 46(4), 2021, pp.319-328.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Background: The study reported here investigated the views of staff who worked with adults with intellectual disability regarding the likely future of such adults. Method: Staff were provided with a short vignette portraying an adult with intellectual disability and asked to describe that individual’s future in five years and then to indicate the likelihood of the individual’s participation in aspects of adult life reflecting life as typically experienced by age peers in the general population. Results: Responses suggested that staff did not expect the adults with intellectual disability to have the same experiences as their peers, although responses to direct questions about participation were more positive than those to the vignette. Conclusions: While choice was seen to be an important determinant of future activity by some staff, others did not see the individual with intellectual disability having a great deal of agency in determining the direction of their life. (Edited publisher abstract)
Dedifferentiation and people with intellectual disabilities in the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme: bringing research, politics and policy together
- Author:
- BIGBY Christine
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 45(4), 2020, pp.309-319.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Background: Dedifferentiated policy treats adults with intellectual disabilities as part of the larger group of people with disabilities. The implications of the dedifferentiated National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for adults with intellectual disabilities are explored. Methods: Analysis of peer reviewed and grey literature between 2014 and 2020 about design of the NDIS and outcomes. Results: Many participants experienced problems with NDIS implementation. Outcomes for adults with intellectual disabilities compared poorly to other groups. They were disadvantaged by standardised planning processes relying on self-expressed needs and omission of supported decision making. As the NDIS matures, it is becoming more differentiated but issues relevant to adults with intellectual disability remain largely invisible. Conclusions: Further shifts towards standardised planning and functional assessment may be disadvantageous for adults with intellectual disabilities for whom support needs are dependent on social and contextual factors, and exercise of choice on support for decision making. (Edited publisher abstract)
Barriers to sexual health provision for people with intellectual disability: a disability service provider and clinician perspective
- Authors:
- THOMPSON Vanessa R., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 39(2), 2014, pp.137-146.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Background: Sexual health remains one of the most overlooked areas of life for people with intellectual disability. In recent years there has been an increasing expectation that this issue will be addressed by disability service providers. In this paper the authors examine the barriers to sexual health provision of people with intellectual disability as experienced by disability service providers and clinicians. Method: This research uses a constructionist grounded theory approach. It was conducted in 2 phases using semistructured qualitative interviews to collect data from disability service managers and clinicians working with people with intellectual disability in New South Wales, Australia. Findings and Discussion: Key themes within the interviews – including funding shortages and a lack of policy guidelines – were identified as significant administrative barriers to sexual health provision. Myths about the sexual health of people with intellectual disability, family attitudes, and lack of staff training were also identified as barriers. (Edited publisher abstract)
Complex support needs profile of an adult cohort with intellectual disability transitioning from state-based service provision to NDIS-funded residential support
- Authors:
- WILSON Nathan J., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 45(4), 2020, pp.355-364.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Background: People with intellectual disability and chronic and complex support needs often require unique models of care that are intensive and expensive. How these supports can be continued within a rapidly changing policy and funding context in Australia, has not been fully determined. Method: This descriptive study utilised a retrospective electronic case-file audit design. Demographic details, chronic health conditions, medications, behaviours of concern, and overall support needs profile were mapped for 41 participants. Results: The profile is one of an ageing cohort, with high levels of chronicity and polypharmacy that requires a specialised workforce to fully meet their support needs. Conclusion: As the people with ID in this cohort age, the training needs of the current and future workforce will need to adapt as different issues become more prominent. How the national disability health and policy settings can best accommodate these support needs remains unclear. (Edited publisher abstract)
Providing support for decision making to adults with intellectual disability: perspectives of family members and workers in disability support services
- Authors:
- BIGBY Christine, WHITESIDE Mary, DOUGLAS Jacinta
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 44(4), 2019, pp.396-409.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Background: Supporting people with intellectual disability to make decisions is an important issue for policy implementation yet there is little evidence about the practice of providing support. Method: This study aimed to understand the experiences of family members and disability support workers in providing support to adults with intellectual disability in Victoria, Australia. Twenty-three people drawn from these two groups participated in individual or focus group interviews. Results: Three major themes emerged from inductive thematic analysis: their ideas about decision support, approaches to support, and challenges they faced. Overall these revolved around juggling rights, practicalities, and risks. Conclusions: This study identified some of the challenges and practical strategies for providing decision support that can be used to inform practice and capacity building resources for supporters. (Publisher abstract)
Predictors of challenging behaviour in adults with intellectual disability
- Authors:
- KORITSAS Stella, IACONO Teresa
- Journal article citation:
- Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, 9(6), 2015, pp.312-326.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent to which mental health, physical health, communication, learned function of the behaviour(s), severity of disability, living arrangement, age, and gender, alone or in combination, predicted challenging behaviours in adults with intellectual disability. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 74 adults with intellectual disability and their paid carers were recruited into the study from adult disability services in Victoria, Australia. Paid carers provided information about participants with intellectual disability on a range of measures targeting each variable of interest. Findings: Based on principle components analyses of three challenging behaviour measures, two topographies of challenging behaviour emerged: contact and non-contact behaviours. Multiple regression analysis revealed that contact behaviours were predicted by anxiety scores and severity of disability. In addition to severity of disability and anxiety scores, non-contact behaviours were also predicted by sensory scores. Practical implications: The results of the current study indicate that contact and non-contact behaviours were determined by multiple factors. Clinicians and others who work with people who display challenging behaviour may, therefore, find it helpful to utilise the biopsychosocial model in their formulations of possible reasons that motivate a person to engage in challenging behaviour. Originality/value: These results contribute to the evidence base available to clinicians and researchers to guide future assessment for challenging behaviour. Expansion of functional assessment methods to explore factors not traditionally included, such as mental health and severity of intellectual disability, as causes of challenging behaviour, may prove helpful. (Publisher abstract)
The availability of normative data for the Developmental Behaviour Checklist for Adults
- Authors:
- MOHR Caroline, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 37(1), March 2012, pp.61-64.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The Developmental Behaviour Checklist (DBC) is a teacher and carer-completed screening checklist of emotional and behavioural disturbance which is available in several forms which cater for all age levels of people with intellectual disability and developmental disorders. An important component of checklist development is the provision of standardised normative data that can be used by clinicians, researchers, and service providers. The purpose of this article is to alert readers to the availability of new normative data for the adult version of the DBC (DBC-A). This data was obtained from the use of the DBC-A in a large-scale Australian study of emotional and behavioural disturbance. The population sample for this study comprised 1,538 adults aged 18 to 85 years of which 35.0% had mild intellectual disability, 29.5% had moderate intellectual disability, and 35.6% had severe intellectual disability. Normative data for the DBC-A is available for 3 age groups and 3 levels of intellectual disability. A condensed version of DBC-A normative data is presented in the article, and more detailed information can be obtained from the authors.
A preliminary investigation of the utility of the "Behavior Support Plan Quality Evaluation Guide II" for use in Australia
- Authors:
- WEBBER Lynne S., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 36(4), December 2011, pp.273-277.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
In Victoria, Australia, the Disability Act 2006 specifies that all people receiving a government-funded disability service and who are subject to a restrictive intervention (such as a chemical or mechanical restraint) must have a behaviour support plan. The quality of behaviour support plans can be an important influence on the quality of the support provided to people with disability who show challenging behaviours. The Behavior Support Plan Quality Evaluation Guide II has been used to assess behaviour support plans to support children in schools in the United States. This study examined its usefulness for assessing behaviour support plans designed for adults with an intellectual disability in community support services in Australia. The researchers surveyed experienced practitioners about the relevance of the evaluation guide components, and an audit was conducted of randomly selected behaviour support plans submitted as a statutory requirement. The findings showed evidence of acceptable validity and reliability, and evidence of the need for substantial improvement in the quality of behaviour support plans. The authors conclude that the findings support the utility of the Behavior Support Plan Quality Evaluation Guide II to inform and evaluate service planning in supporting adults with intellectual disability who show challenging behaviour.
Vulnerability to loneliness in people with intellectual disability: an explanatory model
- Authors:
- GILMORE Linda, CUSKELLY Monica
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 11(3), 2014, p.192–199.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Research with typically developing groups has identified loneliness as a significant predictor of a range of physical and mental health problems. This paper reviews research about loneliness in children and adults with intellectual disability. Although a considerable body of evidence has highlighted the difficulties individuals with intellectual disability have with friendships, there is a relative scarcity of research focused explicitly on loneliness. The available evidence suggests that up to half of persons with intellectual disability are chronically lonely, compared with around 15–30% of people in the general population. The cognitive, physical, and mental health problems already associated with intellectual disability are likely to be compounded by experiences of chronic loneliness. We argue that people with intellectual disability are highly vulnerable to loneliness and present a theoretical model of vulnerability that comprises three reciprocally influencing domains: social attitudes and expectations; opportunities and experiences; and skill deficits associated with intellectual disability. We propose that societal views that have traditionally devalued and stigmatized persons with intellectual disability limit their opportunities for experiencing social and emotional connectedness with others. Individual skill deficits in areas such as communication, self-regulation, and social understanding, as well as functional difficulties associated with intellectual disability, also potentially influence the opportunities and experiences of people with intellectual disability, both directly and via multiple layers of the social context. In turn, limited opportunities will entrench particular skill deficits and reinforce negative attitudes toward intellectual disability. The model proposed in this paper provides a starting point for developing a more sophisticated understanding of the experience of loneliness for individuals with intellectual disability. (Publisher abstract)
Anna's story of life in prison
- Authors:
- BOODLE Anna, ELLEM Kathy, CHENOWETH Lesley
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 42(2), 2014, pp.117-124.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
People with an intellectual disability in prison can be at increased risk of victimisation, segregation and isolation (Mullen ). Prison systems usually have very few resources to cater to this group's particular needs, and many people may re-enter the community with little or no rehabilitation, poor social connections, poor mental health and little chance in finding employment and living a crime-free life (Baldry et al. ). Gathering the lived expertise of ex-prisoners with an intellectual disability can help others to better understand these experiences. This article is about Anna Boodle's story of imprisonment in Queensland, Australia. Anna participated in a larger PhD study on the life stories of ex-prisoners with an intellectual disability. It is apparent from her story, and the other stories in the study, that there is a need for more humane responses to people with an intellectual disability who offend. Anna's story is a tale of hope to others that a good life is possible after imprisonment. (Publisher abstract)