learning disabilities

V.I.P.s is a citizen leadership project committed to improving the health and wellbeing of people with learning disability and autism spectrum disorder by encouraging them to speak up for themselves and others.

This document is a Report for the Social Care Institute for Excellence. It was published by Norah Fry Research Centre at the University of Bristol in July 2008. ‘Listen to what I want’ (Jan-May 2008) was a short study of major decisions in the lives of 20 people with learning disabilities, from their point of view. The overall purpose was to learn more about the potential impact of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) with people with learning disabilities.

The Scottish Government asked inspection agencies to look at how well some areas were supporting people with a learning disability. A team of people visited four areas to check up on how good services were for people with a learning disability. The team included people with a learning disability and family carers.

This report is intended to inform the negotiations between service commissioners, clinicians and general managers of psychiatric services for children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities and their families. It aims to give an overview of the ways in which a service might be provided and the elements for a standard specification that might be adapted for local need.

Website of Moveable Feast which is an internationally renowned inclusive drama and training organisation. It harnesses the experiences and strengths of family members and people with learning disabilities to train, consult and present on cutting edge issues.

Moveable Feast has been providing high-profile, person-centred and community based day services for 10 years. It has been commissioned to create and present drama that gets messages across in an informative and enjoyable way, and believes that this is a good way of showing people of all abilities how they can work together.

This film explains how the Service User and Carer Group at Dundee University was established.

It explains how members help to influence Social Work Education and the impact carer's and service user involvement has on student development.

The UK Autism Foundation (UKAF) is a charitable organisation which began in 2008. It has launched a £10 million fundraising program to realise its aims to build the first ever state of the art Autism Centre in London, build an autism school and to launch initiatives to help families dealing with autism who are poor. The UKAF developed from the work of the Autism Awareness Campaign UK founded in 2000 by parents and carers. The site provides access to the newsletter, and brief information about autism.

This podcast is taken from the ‘Forgotten Citizens’ Conference held in Glasgow on the 17th June. It features Dorothy Atkinson and Mabel Cooper, who share their experiences of working alongside one another to find out about Mabel’s past in long stay institutions in England. They talk about the stories Mabel’s family had uncovered and also how Mabel feels about the institutions she had been in.

This resource is a guide for Connexions workers and staff working with young people in transition. Connexions is the government's support service for all young people aged 13 to 19 in England. It brings together all the services and support young people need during their teenage years offering differentiated and integrated support to young people through Personal Advisers (PAs).

Paper arguing that more people with learning disabilities could become financially independent if banks (and support staff) had a clearer idea of what capacity really means.