if not most, people with a learning disability will live at home with their parents and siblings rather than in a non-family residential setting such as a learning disability hospital or community home. Chapter 12 will focus on the experiences and needs of families who look after a person with a learning disability.
There has been a long and very sad and painful history of discrimination against those with a learning disability and their families. Following on from the previous chapter on the care and support of ‘informal carers’, Chapter 13 will focus on this history and the role of the nurse, HCA, social care staff and PAMs in combating such discrimination and prejudice.
Spirituality is not about ticking the ‘Church of England’ box on the service user’s assessment form or attention to the cultural and religious dimensions of diet, clothing and personal hygiene. Chapter 14 will focus on and explore a definition and applicability of spirituality to those with a learning disability.
The final chapter will look back and reflect in order to look forward, with a view to suggesting a small number of future developments in learning disability services and care. This chapter will also include a conversation between Hanif, Ziva, Thomas, Sally, Marcel and Jill.
The appendices comprise a brief glossary of learning disability terms and a short selection of resources on learning disability, those with a learning disability and practical suggestions on how to support those with a learning disability.
Ziva, being a university lecturer, may be an odd person to act as a guide in a book about learning disabilities as the inclusion of Asperger’s syndrome, or high-functioning autism as it is sometimes known, in the umbrella term of learning disability is debatable. However, Ziva says that she will delve into this issue in the next chapter. On the other hand, being Marcel’s sister, she is able to provide much useful information regarding life with a learning disability. The stories of Thomas, Marcel and Ziva will unfold over the coming pages and chapters, but at the moment they would just like to say “Hi”!
All that remains to be said here is welcome to this short book. I hope that you will enjoy reading it, that it will challenge how you think about and interact with those who have a learning disability and that it will be of use and benefit to you in your daily work.
REFERENCES
Barber, C. (2011) Autism and Asperger’s Conditions: a practical guide for nurses. London, Quay Books.
Clark, L. & Griffiths, P. (2008) Learning Disability and Other Intellectual Impairments. Chichester, John Wiley.
Department of Health (2001) Valuing People: a new strategy for learning disabilities for the 21st century. London, HMSO.
Jay Committee (1979) The Report of the Committee of Enquiry into Mental Handicap Nursing and Care. London, Department of Health/HMSO.
Jukes, M. (2009) Learning Disability Nursing Practice. London, Quay Books.
Lowthian, S. (2011) Strengthening the Learning Disability Workforce. RCN Bulletin.
Mencap (2007) Death by Indifference. London, Mencap. Available at: www.mencap.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/2008-03/DBIreport.pdf (last accessed 17 November 2014)
Nursing and Midwifery Council (2008) The Future of Pre-registration Nurse Education. London, NMC.
Peate, I. & Fearns, D. (2006) Caring for People with Learning Disabilities. Chichester, John Wiley.
Priest, H. & Gibbs, M. (2011) Mental Health Care for People with Learning Disabilities. Elsevier.
02
WHAT IS LEARNING DISABILITY?
AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES:
The aims of this chapter are to:
Present two ‘dictionary’ type definitions of ‘learning disability’
Discuss these two definitions
Highlight the identity of learning disability.
By the end of this chapter you will have gained:
A basic understanding of the definition and meaning of learning disability from a number of different standpoints
A basic understanding of how these meanings have changed over time.
Marcel, a 39-year-old man with Down’s syndrome is admitted, having had a stroke, onto the general medical ward on which Hanif works as part of a 2nd year student nurse placement. This is the first time that Hanif has had a patient with Down’s syndrome and he knows very little about learning disability in general and Down’s syndrome in particular. At the handover at the start of Hanif’s shift, he asks: ‘What is learning disability?’
PAUSE FOR THOUGHT 2.1
A nurse, who during a debate at RCN Congress said that he considers himself to have Asperger’s syndrome, was asked: ‘What is this disease called Asperger’s?’ Do you, the reader, consider learning disability to be a disease? Do you consider that learning disability is catching?
INTRODUCTION
What is learning disability? Hanif would be forgiven for asking this question, particularly as he has not previously worked with people who have a learning disability. Following on from this initial question, it may be appropriate that a number of further questions could be asked: What does it mean to have a learning disability? Indeed, to develop this further, what does it mean to be ‘learning disabled’?
A careful reading of the above questions seems to highlight three different issues:
A possible need for a basic, clear and factual definition of learning disability
A possible need for a discussion around learning disability as possession in much the same way as having or possessing a broken leg or a broken arm or having a headache
A possible need for a discussion around learning disability as personal identity.
These are all valid and perfectly reasonable questions to ask, particularly if Hanif has had very little if any previous knowledge or experience of, or exposure to learning disability as either an ‘abstract’ or a ‘physical’ concept or reality. Appropriate theoretical learning and clinical experience opportunities around learning disabilities may not always be available to Hanif.
Again, there could well be a perception that learning disability is a ‘childhood’ condition or there may well be some confusion as to ‘learning disabilities’ and ‘learning difficulties’, with some people thinking that these two terms refer to the same condition or phenomenon. Learning difficulties or specific learning difficulties usually refer to the specific conditions of dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia. Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs) affect the way information is learned and processed. They are neurological (rather than psychological), usually run in families and occur independently of intelligence. They can have significant impact on education and learning
