PROVISION OF SUPPORT
المؤلف:
APRIL HAMMOND
المصدر:
Caring for People with Learning Disabilities
الجزء والصفحة:
P168-C10
2025-10-29
52
PROVISION OF SUPPORT
A steadily increasing number of parents with learning disabilities are being referred to social and health services for support and advice in parenting skills, although there are no reliable estimates of the number of parents with learning disabilities residing in Britain (Booth & Booth 1998). Added to this, more people with learning disabilities are experiencing greater opportunities to choose how they wish to live, since it has been officially acknowledged that they have the same rights as others through the Human Rights Act 1998, The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the White Paper Valuing People (Department of Health 2001). However, the Law Commission (1995) reported that ‘Community living has exposed many vulnerable people to new or at least different dangers, when they are put at risk by being allowed to live their lives as they choose’.
It is still not known how effectively the principles and ethos underpinning Valuing People (Department of Health 2001) will work in a practical way in supporting people with learning disabilities to be valued citizens living in the community. What is known is that some adults with learning disabilities will choose not to be identified with the label ‘learning disabilities’ or ‘learning difficulties’ and attempt to live under ‘A cloak of competence’, as described by Edgerton (1997). Edgerton surveyed a group of people with learning dis abilities discharged from an institution in America and found that the majority of women wanted to marry ‘normal’ men and free themselves from any public discrimination associated with their past. Nunkoosing and John (1997) revealed similar views when they carried out a survey about relationships and feelings with a group of people with learning disabilities in England.
It may be understandable, considering the level of discrimination that people with learning disabilities have endured over the years, that some may choose not to look for support, for fear of discrimination and loss of control in their lives; furthermore, some parents with learning disabilities may equally fear that they will be discriminated against and their children will be removed and may be wary of asking for help, even if they would benefit from it.
The following case study illustrates how a mother tried to manage when the school reported that her daughter was not eating school dinners.
Case study
The family consisted of Mum, with moderate learning disabilities, Dad with borderline learning disabilities and a 7-year-old daughter who did not have a learning disability. They all lived in a neat and well kept two bedroomed house.
The family managed without outside support and did not normally mix with their neighbors, but, recently, Mum had been befriended by a lady who had just moved into the neighborhood. One day, Mum received a note from her daughter’s school, which normally she would ask her husband to read but as he was out, she asked her new friend and neighbor to read. The note raised concerns that her daughter was not eating her school dinners and wished her parents to be aware of the situation. After the note was read to her, Mum confessed to her friend that she was still spoon feeding her daughter at home and thought that the daughter might expect the teachers to do the same at school. She was not too concerned, as her daughter was not under-weight and she explained to the neighbor that her daughter would help herself to biscuits when she thought her mum and dad were not looking. Her neighbor reassured her that there was nothing to worry about and that it was likely the daughter would soon start eating independently, as she seemed a bright and happy child.
The neighbor then went straight home and reported the parents to the local authority, stating that she thought the mother was unfit to be a mother, due to her learning disabilities.
Consequently, the whole family were referred, via the local authority, to the Learning Disability Team. Whilst they were carrying out an assessment, they found out that the parents had never asked for or received any formal support in helping to raise their daughter, and they were very reluctant to engage with the team for fear that their daughter might be taken away.
The daughter remained with her parents and eventually they accepted the support of a carer provided by the team.
• What might have influenced the parents to fear that their daughter would be taken away?
• Was the local authority obliged to respond to the neighbor’s concerns?
• Was the neighbor acting in the best interests of the daughter or discriminating against the mother?
The Government has stated that ‘The rights of people with learning disabilities to have a family is at the heart of the strategy “Valuing People”’ (Department of Health 2001), yet it was noted by O’Hara and Martin (2003) that there are few integrated and coordinated services to meet their needs.
However, there is now some hope being offered to parents with learning disabilities through the Sure Start schemes that are being set up as part of the Government’s 10-year strategy for child care, which has intentions of closing:
‘The gap in outcomes between the disadvantaged and their peers, as well as promoting diversity and addressing social exclusion through the provision of support.’
(DfES & DWP 2004)
This report has further outlined how parents will be included in ensuring that the services meet their needs as well as the needs of their children. So, it is to be hoped that this will improve the services for parents who have learning disabilities. When services have been designed and implemented specifically for parents with learning disabilities, they have proved to be successful in promoting and improving parenting skills and reducing the number of children taken into care. Such services have provided support, information and a suitable environment in which to develop skills, given parents the right to show responsibility and demonstrate their own abilities, and provided further workshops for parents, parents-to-be and professionals (Brickley 2003; Woodhouse et al. 2001).
Parents with learning disabilities have also expressed being able to cope better if they are supported in a non-judgmental way and given specific help with tasks that they may feel unable to do themselves, such as helping their children with their school work (Atkinson et al. 2000), and by being supported in their own homes (Llewellyn et al. 2002). Parents with learning dis abilities have also felt more able to voice their fears and feelings if they believe that they will be listened to and not judged as being unsuited to being parents:
‘The best thing about being a parent is that you have a lot of fun out of them . . . you can play with them . . . tickle them and have a good conversation with them.’
(The views of a mother with learning disabilities, who was interviewed, Atkinson et al. 2000)
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