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Learning Disability Alliance Scotland Highlight text with your mouse and click the speaker to hear it said aloud

Healthy Eating

Do you have a few minutes to spare to fill out a brief questionnaire online? It is about your child’s eating.

Click on: https://www.survey.ed.ac.uk/menus4mitespart1

You will be helping a Trainee Clinical Psychologist to carry out research as part of training. Many thanks 

 You should read this before completing the survey.

Good Information

Support for parents with learning disabilities

The Parenting Network was established over three years ago to improve understanding and professional practice in families where a parent has a learning disability.  We are the Scottish component of a UK wide initiative established at the Nora Fry Research Institute of Bristol University.  The network is now about to move on to a new phase of work and I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know what we have been doing and to ask whether you might consider joining the network yourself.

 The network comprises of parents with learning disabilities, social workers, psychologists, a representative from the Children’s Panel, advocacy workers and representatives of voluntary organisations.  The secretariat in the organisation of the network is carried out by the Scottish Consortium for Learning Disability.

 Our first and overriding priority from the outset has been to learn more about the families in whom a parent has a learning disability and to use that learning to assist parents themselves and those who work with them.  The network has developed:

 ·         a bank of good practice ideas

·         a list of resources which can assist families and those working with them

·         compiled an overview of research

·         commissioned an overview of legislation and procedure in Scotland.

 All of this has been brought together in the guidelines which we published in 2009 for professionals working with parents with learning disabilities.  These have been followed by easy read guidelines for parents themselves.  We have also publicised the issues for families partly through contacts with different professional and policy groups and partly through the launch of a publication telling the stories of some families “Fair Deal for Families”.  It was presented at the Scottish Parliament in October 2008.  One of our most active members, People First, have established two self-help groups for parents and representatives of those groups are regular attenders at our meetings and have provided invaluable advice.

 Members of the network feel that we have achieved our initial goals and that we now wish to move on to widening the opportunities that the network provides for further learning.  We now plan to have to two seminar style meetings a year which will provide opportunities for discussion, debate and learning for everyone who works or may work with parents with learning disabilities and for parents themselves.  All network members would be invited to attend these events.  Those who wish might also want to join some of our sub-groups who are working on specific initiatives, though this is not a preconditioned being of joining us.  The programme of work our groups are currently engaged in comprises:

 ·         establishing action learning sets for professionals

·         examining and influencing child protection systems

·         producing a DVD to prepare parents for attendance at children’s hearings

·         providing training for the Children’s Panel members

·         further developing self-help groups for parents and providing those groups with information and training

·         setting up a discussion forum on SCLD’s website.

 We are gratified that our work so far, particularly our guidelines, have been so well received.  Indeed, many have commented to us that the work we are doing has relevance for any family in difficulty, not least in improving accessibility of information which can help parents.

 I do hope that you will consider joining the network and helping us develop our learning and practice as we believe is beginning to be of real benefit to some of the most vulnerable families in our community.

People with Learning Disabilities in Prison

The Cross Party Group on Learning Disability on November 2^nd heard from Gary Docherty who a Nurse working in Greenock Prison.  He was trained as a learning disability nurse and is concerned about the treatment of people with learning disabilities in prisons. 

 There are 8,000 prisoners in Scottish jails and the annual cost of maintaining each prisoner was £31,703 in the last financial year. 

For prisoners serving less than 6 months 72%

For prisoners serving more than 2 years 43%

 The Prison Reform Trust has estimated that

7% of all UK prisoners have an IQ of less than 70 – (this is still the official definition of a learning disability)

25% of all UK prisoners have an IQ of less than 80 –

 There are only 14 learning disability nurses employed by the Scottish Prison Service but all are employed in  a general capacity. 

3 are at Barlinnie

2 at Cortonvale

 With 17 prisons in total it means that many have no input.

Read more: People with Learning Disabilities in Prison