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Disability and discourse: analysing inclusive conversation with people with intellectual disabilities
- Author:
- WILLIAMS Val
- Publisher:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Publication year:
- 2011
- Pagination:
- 257p.
- Place of publication:
- Chichester
This book applies and explains Conversation Analysis (CA), an established methodology for studying communication, to explore what happens during the everyday encounters of people with intellectual disabilities and the other people with whom they interact. It explores conversations and encounters from the lives of people with intellectual disabilities, and introduces the established methodology of Conversation Analysis, making it accessible and useful to a wide range of students, researchers and practitioners. The book adopts a discursive approach which looks at how people with intellectual disabilities use talk in real-life situations, while showing how such talk can be supported and developed, and follows people into the meetings and discussions that take place in self-advocacy and research contexts. It then offers insights into how people with learning disabilities can have a voice in their own affairs, in policy-making, and in research.
Inclusion and healthcare choices: the experiences of adults with learning disabilities
- Authors:
- FERGUSON Morag, JARRETT Dominic, TERRAS Melody
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39(1), March 2011, pp.73-83.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Those with learning disabilities have fewer decision-making opportunities than the general population. This study investigated the decision-making experiences of two groups of individuals with a learning disability. Group 1 included irregular attenders who had opted out of healthcare appointments for avoidable reasons, and group 2 included regular attenders who had attended all appointments or not attended for unavoidable reasons. Interviews were carried out with 4 people with learning disabilities and/or their 13 primary carers. In addition to these interviews, physiotherapy staff participated in a focus group. Those with learning disabilities described experiences of and opportunities for making everyday decisions but mostly identified others as being responsible for making their health care choices. Overall, the paper concluded that a greater understanding of the health care expectations and experiences of individuals with learning disabilities, and those that support them, is required to enable people with learning disabilities as participants in their own health care decision-making processes.
‘Our Journey Through Time’: an oral history project carried out by young people with learning disabilities
- Authors:
- BENTLEY Sarah, et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39(4), December 2011, pp.302-305.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This article describes an oral history project to find out about long-stay hospitals in their local area carried out by a group of young people with learning disabilities. It details how they went about the project and made a film, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, and what they learnt through doing it. The article, written by five young people with learning disabilities, explores the history of hospitals for people with learning disabilities in their area. It shows how, 30 years ago, people with learning disabilities would be placed in long-stay hospitals, and, prior to that, in workhouses. The article presents the views of the authors as to the conditions that were present compared to now. They suggest that “It was very different to our lives; we have more choice, more freedom and more opportunities”. Overall, the project taught them how to ask questions, to listen, to record information and to produce a film.
What does vulnerability mean?
- Author:
- PARLEY Fiona F.
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39(4), December 2011, pp.266-276.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The protection of vulnerable adults has, over the last decade, received increasing attention. This paper investigated the views of 20 Scottish care staff relating to vulnerability and abuse of adults with learning disability. Using semi-structured interview informants perspectives were explored. Whilst the precise definition of vulnerability was hard to determine, the results revealed that most informants felt that people with learning disabilities were all vulnerable and that this definition gave staff the authority to take protective measures to ensure their safety. This desire to introduce protective measures however may result in people with learning disabilities being denied the right to self-determination, thereby limiting their enjoyment of some life experiences and lessening the excitement of life that others take for granted. The article concludes that a more consistent definition of vulnerability, across policy and practice would be beneficial.
Following through to the end: the use of inclusive strategies to analyse and interpret data in participatory action research with individuals with intellectual disabilities
- Authors:
- KRAMER Jessica M., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 24(3), May 2011, pp.263-273.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Scholars have called for research approaches that actively include and are driven by people with intellectual disabilities. However, the actual procedures and key strategies used by researchers and people with intellectual disabilities to access, analyse and interpret research data have been scarcely documented in the literature. This paper presents a detailed example from a participatory action research (PAR) project to demonstrate how people with intellectual disabilities can be included in the process of data analysis and interpretation. The PAR project comprised collaboration between university researchers and a self-advocacy organisation called People First and aimed to increase the group’s capacity for self-advocacy. The university researchers presented numerical data in 3 visual formats for analysis. Seventeen People First members analysed and interpreted the data using a modified focus group approach. All members participated in data analysis, but not all members participated in data interpretation. Members’ interpretations suggest that the group felt an increased sense of empowerment and heightened awareness as a result of their increased capacity to run a meeting and involvement in the PAR cycle of action and reflection. The findings suggest that strategies such as visual representation of data, group analysis, and familiarity with data collection tools foster an inclusive process of analysis and interpretation.
Next steps: a user-led model of self-direction, self-advocacy and fulfillment
- Author:
- VOICEABILITY
- Publisher:
- Voiceability
- Publication year:
- 2011
- Pagination:
- 54p.
- Place of publication:
- Cambridge
The Next Steps project, provided by the UK advocacy charity VoiceAbility, is an empowerment and self advocacy project for adults and young people with learning disabilities. It aims to support people with learning disabilities to develop their life skills, increase their confidence, make choices about their own lives, and create a lifestyle in the community based on their aspirations, interests, skills and needs. This report provides an overview of the Next Steps model, covering the context, value base and key approaches. It describes how to set up a Next Steps project, including initial planning, setting up, running the project, and monitoring and assessment. It also discusses challenges in the Next Steps approach and the support available.
Attempting to break cultures of silence through collaborative actions
- Authors:
- SCOTT Hannah, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Learning Disability Today, May 2011, pp.26-28.
- Publisher:
- Pavilion
- Place of publication:
- Hove
The voices of students with learning disabilities are seldom heard in education. In an attempt to change this, one north west further education college, set up a study to explore how students might be more actively included and more empowered in their own learning. The co-operative inquiry included five student co-researchers, four practice co-researches and a PhD student co-researcher. This article looks at the practice of process of the study and methods used. Recommendations are provided to help others carrying out student voice work to create valuable collaborative experiences.
Shared Care Scotland inspiring breaks programme
- Author:
- SHARED CARE SCOTLAND
- Publisher:
- Shared Care Scotland
- Publication year:
- 2011
- Pagination:
- 15p.
- Place of publication:
- Dunfermline
Shared Care Scotland embarked on a Scotland-wide programme of local Inspiring Breaks workshops to help individuals with support needs and unpaid carers to be more actively involved in shaping the short break and respite care services they receive. One goal of the workshops was to provide service users and carers with the information, skills and confidence they need to work with health and social care to determine the short break support they want. The workshops were delivered with the involvement of Peer Facilitators who were themselves living with a long term condition, or caring for someone with one. Nineteen workshops were delivered to a total of 240 people between October 2010 and June 2011, including one workshop specifically for carers of people with mental health problems and one for young carers. This report describes the process of delivering the Inspiring Breaks programme, learning from the programme, feedback from both participants and peer-facilitators, and ideas for the future. The feedback from participants and peer-facilitators demonstrates that the workshops were on the whole a valuable experience for those involved. Involving local authorities in the programme has encouraged them to think more broadly about how they can open up more flexible short break opportunities. Future plans, building on the findings of these workshops, are discussed.
Supporting people with learning disabilities in health and social care
- Author:
- BROUSSINE Eric
- Publisher:
- Sage
- Publication year:
- 2011
- Pagination:
- 232p.
- Place of publication:
- London
This text book aims to provide students and professionals working with people with learning disabilities in primary, secondary and specialist healthcare settings, with the knowledge and skills they need for effective practice. The chapters, which are each written by leading academics and practitioners in their field, examine core issues. A multi-professional, case-study approach consolidates the theory and this practical approach is reinforced by the inclusion of service-user and practitioner 'voices'. Reflective exercises and opportunities for self-audit of learning are included throughout. Chapters include: the history and context of learning disability, families' perspectives; enabling people with learning disabilities to be valued citizens; empowered and/or vulnerable?; living with a learning disability; enabling families; building positive relationships with people with learning disabilities; promoting effective communication; health and well-being; meeting specific health needs of people with learning disabilities; meeting the mental health needs of people with learning disabilities; people with learning disabilities in the criminal justice system; professional practice and people with learning disabilities; and improving practice.
Learning difficulties and sexual vulnerability: a social approach
- Author:
- HOLLOMOTZ Andrea
- Publisher:
- Jessica Kingsley
- Publication year:
- 2011
- Pagination:
- 176p.
- Place of publication:
- London
People with learning difficulties are said to be considerably more likely to experience sexual violence than those without, and for this reason they are often described as 'vulnerable'. However, the author believes that the use of this label can in fact increase risk. She argues that the act of treating adults with learning difficulties as 'vulnerable' and in need of protection strips them of their autonomy and leaves them with fewer of the skills they need to protect themselves from harm. Actions, such as segregation and over-protection, can increase 'vulnerability'. The book examines a range of social processes, including sex education, self-determination, friendships, sexual relationships and social inclusion, and examines the risks and benefits associated with each. Drawing on the everyday experiences of 29 adults, the author illustrates how people with learning difficulties can be capable of safeguarding themselves from harm. Suggestions are included for enabling them to become better equipped at managing risk themselves. The book is aimed at practitioners working with people with learning difficulties, as well as students and academics in the fields of disability and social work.