Author
DAVIES Jill.
Title
First impressions: emotional and practical support for families of young children with a learning disability: a guide for practitioners and service commissioners.
Publisher
Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities, 2005
Summary
This project researched the emotional needs of families with a child with learning disabilities from the time of the diagnosis to the age of five years.
Context
The project recognised the fact that the way parents are told the news of their child's disability and the support they receive is crucial to the future of the whole family.
Method
This was achieved through conducting a literature review and a small study. The research involved in-depth interviews with twenty-two parents to find out how the diagnosis was given to them; what information they received immediately after the diagnosis and in the following couple of years; what support, both emotional and practical, they received from the time of birth to the age of five years; and what the impact of having a child with a disability was on the family.
Contents
A foreword by the Chair of the First Impressions Advisory Committee, the father of a child with Down's syndrome, gives a personal view of such needs. An introduction gives the background: 70,000 disabled children in the UK , a figure set to increase, and an increased number of support initiatives. The introduction also describes the research process. The first chapter covers sharing the news and information: the disclosure, families from different cultural backgrounds, learning later on, the information parents need, the next stage, and the Sharing Concerns Portage Parents project. Chapter two discusses emotional and practical support: emotional wellbeing, day-to-day practicalities, fathers, key workers and emotional support, flexibility, and the Bromley Early Support Programme. The impact on the family is the theme of Chapter 3: stress, housing, relationships, work opportunities, siblings, and extended family and friends. Siblings workshops at Sunfield School , Warwickshire, and Hernes House Sibling Social Support Group, Oxfordshire, are described. Case studies are given throughout. Appendices dicusss working through an interpreter and list useful organisations.
Conclusion
Key action points linked to examples of good practice are listed throughout. Chapter 4 gives additional practical and strategic recommendations that can improve emotional and practical support for families with a young disabled child, under the headings of information at diagnosis and during the early years, emotional and practical support, and impact on the family, and targeted at Government agencies, planners, local commissioners, paediatricians, midwives, health visitors and other healthcare professionals, social care, education and voluntary organisations, and research bodies.
39 references
ISBN 1 903645 65 4