Search results for ‘Subject term:"learning disabilities"’ Sort:
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Calling the shots
- Author:
- BALDWIN Michele
- Journal article citation:
- Learning Disability Today, 9(5), July 2009, pp.26-27.
- Publisher:
- Pavilion
- Place of publication:
- Hove
A three year project run by the Association for Real Change (ARC) has trained 12 people with learning disabilities to become trainers. The article summarises the training and learning points from the project.
A guide to implementing assistive technology for people with learning disabilities
- Authors:
- BEYER Stephen, PERRY Jonathan, MEEK Andrea
- Publisher:
- Home Farm Trust
- Publication year:
- 2009
- Pagination:
- 50p.
- Place of publication:
- Bristol
This handbook has been produced for for organisations and families who wish to implement person centred technology. The guide expertly lays out the case for assistive technology and telecare, putting it in context - how and why it should exist alongside existing services - and provides a clear guide to implementation.
Care about racism
- Authors:
- PALMER-SMITH Ali, (Producer)
- Publisher:
- Advance
- Publication year:
- 2009
- Pagination:
- DVD,
- Place of publication:
- Witney
This DVD had been produced to tell people with learning disabilities about racism. The DVD was created by service users and staff from Advance Support services in Oxford who provided the narration and act in scenes throughout the 10-minute film. A set of flash cards explaining the context of each scene, and information about racism and the law are also included. Professionals working with people with learning disabilites who need to discuss the topics of prejudice and discrimination amongst service users would find this resource useful.
A review of assistive technology and its impact
- Authors:
- BYE Gary, GIBSON Mark
- Publisher:
- Life Path Trust
- Publication year:
- 2009
- Pagination:
- 13p.
- Place of publication:
- Coventry
This report, by the charitable company Life Plan Trust, reviews the assistive technology they have installed into the homes of people with learning disabilities in Coventry since 2007. The assistive technology comprised a control panel connected to a mains supply and telephone landline along with wireless sensors which when activated signalled the control panel which dialled a pre-programmed number, a call centre or a carer. The charity supported service users for a few hours a week or more, but some needed support staff 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Examples of sensors are personal alarm triggers, bogus caller alarms, bed occupancy mats, epilepsy mats and flood detectors, all fitted with failsafe systems and excepting the personal alarm were passive and required no input from the users. Life Path Trust staff responded by talking through the control panel to clients and were with them within 30 minutes or the emergency services were contacted if necessary. A number of case studies illustrate how this technology promoted independence without intrusion and resulted in assistance and reassurance for the user, their family and friends when needed. Detailed analysis of the financial benefits is appended and considered in the context of taking control of personalised budgets.
Defining 'sexualized challenging behavior' in adults with intellectual disabilities
- Authors:
- LOCKHART Karen, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 6(4), December 2009, pp.293-301.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Given their connotations of criminal intent or insight, the terms "sexual offending" and "abuse" are problematic in their applicability to people with learning disabilities. The authors propose adopting the term "sexualised challenging behaviour" and define it by using empirical methods. Using a qualitative methodology, they examined a six-month sample of service-based documentation reporting problem sexual behaviours. They also conducted semi-structured interviews with a staff-based sample and explored their views in relation to sexual behaviour. Common themes emerged across both documentation and staff interviews regarding the nature and characteristics of such behaviours. Their proposed definition encompasses a continuum of self- and other-directed behaviours related to touch, exposure, and communication, which they view as distinct from sexual offending. The findings further suggest that sexualised challenging behaviours have distinct characteristics that differentiate them from nonsexualised challenging behaviours. The authors conclude that sexualised challenging behaviours can be defined as a distinct class of behaviours that require further study among a broader cohort of adults with learning disabilities.
A positive approach to risk: safeguarding through personalisation
- Author:
- CLOSE Louise
- Journal article citation:
- Community Connecting, 20, May 2009, pp.8-13.
- Publisher:
- Community Connecting
A common concern in relation to the personalisation agenda is that employing personal assistants as part of self-directed support will leave people with learning disabilities more open to abuse. In this article the author explores counter arguments to explain how, when people are truly enabled to self direct their support, and when that support is delivered in a truly person centred way, those people are at less risk of abuse than they are under the current system of care management. The author draws on the Keys to Citizenship model and provides six potential points at which to check for safeguarding and risk issues.
Copying letters to service users with learning disabilities: opinions of service users, carers and professionals working within learning disability services
- Authors:
- HOVEY Toni, CHESWICK Claire
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 37(1), March 2009, pp.50-55.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The government has made a commitment that patients should be able to receive copies of clinicians' letters about them as a right in order to improve communication and enable patients to participate in their care. In South Gloucestershire, the opinions of local service users with learning disabilities, their carers, and professionals working within learning disability services about this issue were sought using questionnaires and focus groups in order to identify and then develop good practice. A number of practice issues were identified: protocols for developing individualised accessible information are needed, involvement of service users in the management of their information and maintenance of its confidentiality, and involvement of carers in the sharing of information, if this is appropriate. A communication strategy needs to be developed by services working with people with learning disabilities, in conjunction with service users and carers. The resource and training implications of this area of service development need to be considered.
‘USNAVY’
- Author:
- DE SANTIS Carla
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Critical Psychology Counselling and Psychotherapy, 10(1), March 2009, pp.1-11.
This paper discusses the ethical importance of the contextual, professional and service user perspectives in the process of diagnosing a patient as having learning disabilities, by using a case study of a young Venezuelan girl, with the fictional name of ‘Usnavy’. In addition, as a piece of self-reflection, this personal account of the author’s experiences in the field of psychology critically argues the legitimate right of psychologists to diagnose, or label, a human being, in the context of the impact it may, or may not, have, on the rest of, especially children’s, lives. Under sections entitled, ‘cultural practices’, ‘what is diagnosis?’, ‘western practices’, ‘Usnavy’s story’, ‘ethics and politics’ and ‘the missing individual’, the author gives international definitions and discrepancies between terminologies, and an account of key experiences since graduating which have shaped her periods of employment in clinical psychology, in the USA and Venezuela. She concludes by questioning the need for a formal diagnosis at the beginning of the assessment and intervention period.
Barriers to user involvement in mental health services for people with learning disability
- Authors:
- CHAPLIN Eddie, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Advances in Mental Health and Learning Disabilities, 3(3), September 2009, pp.28-33.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
This paper explores some of the issues and barriers to service user involvement for people with learning disability in mental health settings. The barriers can include staff perceptions and their moral and religious beliefs, and can also include the culture and policies of the mental health organisation. Service users may also not welcome involvement in their own care. The issues of getting users involved in their own assessment and treatment is addressed, as is also getting them involved with services and the wider health community. Examples of good practice, such as service user groups, are provided.
What should community services provide for adults with psychosis and learning disabilities? A comparison of the views of service users, carers and professionals
- Authors:
- HEMMINGS Colin, UNDERWOOD Lisa, BOURAS Nick
- Journal article citation:
- Advances in Mental Health and Learning Disabilities, 3(3), September 2009, pp.22-27.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Three separate focus groups were set up to discuss community services for adults with psychosis and learning disabilities. One group comprised 6 service users, another 5 carers, and the third 5 specialist health professionals. The participants were asked which staff, treatments or interventions, and methods of working or style of service organisation make a significant contribution to helping people with psychosis and learning disabilities. Also discussed were the characteristics of service users who need more intensive services, and what form this intensive service might take. The results showed that, although there were few direct contradictions between the 3 groups, the priorities of service users, carers, and professionals often differed. The authors conclude that it is essential that service users and carers, as well as clinicians, contribute to the planning, delivery and evaluation of services in the community for adults with psychosis and learning disabilities.