Search results

This research looked at the TATE [Through Assistive Technology to Employment] Project and its delivery of ICT/AT to people with learning disabilities. It tested whether the Project affected the independence, skills, choice and control exercised by people with learning disabilities, and if staff attitudes and skills were changed. A purposive sample of 29 people with learning disabilities were selected, and keyworkers were surveyed with a postal questionnaire at two time periods. Questionnaires covered AT/ICT received and any outcomes in: independence; skills; choice and control. Staff were asked about changes in their skills and attitudes. Questionnaires were transcribed and organised into common themes. Staff became supportive of assistive technology and developed ICT skills. Service users used ICT, and developed ‘life stories’ using Powerpoint. A variety of AT was also installed leading to increased independence, confidence and skills. AT/ICT can improve independence and services by putting people with a learning disability at the centre of a well planned and resourced strategy.

Governmental policy identifies choice as a central theme for support services to people with learning disabilities. The expansion of options about where to live, what to do and with whom to socialise is seen as a critical benchmark in achieving the vision of full lives for people with learning disabilities. Services are obligated to ensure that people's wants as well as abilities govern decisions on all important issues. As a consequence, young people with learning disabilities in transition are being offered career development options during transition review meetings. The paper will focus on the issues relating to choice during this post‐education transition.The paper will argue that the processes necessary to sustain the capacity of the young person with learning disabilities to choose are not well understood. It will focus on the career choices for young people with learning disabilities during transition and will maintain that the availability of options is only one consideration. The capacity to choose and the types of support that are most effective in facilitating the capacity to choose are equally important. Some conceptual considerations will assist in identifying the shortcomings of current policy and practice.

This study used vignettes to examine the understanding and application of the concept of duty of care by health and social care staff working in learning disability services, and the relationship of this to promoting client choice. The study found that health care staff had a significantly broader understanding of the concept of duty of care than social care staff, and were significantly more likely to emphasise client safety. Implications of the findings are discussed.

This paper aims to endorse and elaborate on the recommendations put forward by the Sharland Foundation Developmental Disabilities Applied Behavioural Research and Impact Network (SF-DDARIN), emphasising their significance in the field of developmental disabilities.

This paper outlines a specific point of view. The first section focuses on integrating developmental theory and advanced technology in interventions for developmental disabilities. Subsequently, the commentary explores virtual reality (VR) and generative artificial intelligence (AI) for enhancing social skills and personalising support. Finally, the piece highlights innovations like SocialWise VR and Custom Generative Pre-Trained Transformers in aligning interventions with developmental stages.

Technologies like VR and generative AI hold vast potential to revolutionise how clinicians provide timely and relevant knowledge to individuals with developmental disabilities.

This is strictly a commentary.

Availability of technology.

Both VR and generative AI will impact service delivery in a meaningful way.

The paper advocates for incorporating these technologies into SF-DDARIN's approach, emphasising their potential to revolutionise evidence-based interventions in developmental disabilities.

Community‐based treatment programmes serving people with learning/intellectual disabilities face the problem of deciding how and when and under what conditions those in treatment will be able to independently access the community. Given the fact that people with disabilities have difficulties in generalization, knowing that they can practice skills in therapeutic sessions does not mean that they will be able to use these skills in real life situations. A Community Trust programme was first described theoretically in 1996 and this paper aims to present how that programme will work in practice.

From the moment treatment begins, data is collected with an eye to the future wherein individuals will be able to access the community and wherein agencies and therapists will be able to make decisions on that access, based on data not opinion. Two case examples demonstrate the principles of the trust programme.

Community trust for individuals who have engaged in serious, dangerous, or criminal behaviours is a serious issue and therefore must be a well thought out process. It also needs to be data based and decisions must be made not on “opinion” but on objective measures.

The paper demonstrates how community‐based treatment programmes, such as the example considered, give individuals “real life” opportunities to practice skills and thus transfer what is learned in therapeutic sessions to practical application.

Pupils with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) face many challenges to achieving their educational potential, including difficulties with social interaction, communication, flexibility of thought and anxiety management. Handheld interactive technologies such as iDevices (iPods, iPhones and iPads) could offer a non‐stigmatising tool that could be used to complement or replace existing support strategies. This study aims to investigate how iDevices could be used by teaching assistants (TAs) to support pupils with ASD in a mainstream secondary school.

The project used an action research approach. Six TAs used the iDevices and selected applications (apps) in their work with pupils with ASD. The TAs commented on how the iDevices supported their role and the usefulness of different apps and features by using daily diary sheets. The apps supported pupils in the following ways: curriculum support, visual structure, organisation, communication, social interaction, anxiety reduction, relaxation, reward, and motivation.

A thematic analysis of the diary sheets showed that the most frequent uses of the iDevices were to develop communication, practise key skills, increase independence and to offer alternative activities. Quantitative analysis showed that TAs considered the iDevices to be very useful or useful on the overwhelming majority of occasions.

Future considerations of implementing interactive technological interventions in schools include the provision of training, IT support and individual planning to ensure iDevices are best utilised to address individual pupil needs.

The paper shows some of the ways that TAs can use this increasingly popular technology to support ASD pupils in mainstream schools.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the main reasons for low uptake of robots in special education (SE), obtained from an analysis of previous studies that used robots in the area, and from interviewing SE teachers about the topic.

An analysis of 18 studies that used robots in SE was performed, and the conclusions were complemented and compared with the feedback from interviewing 13 SE teachers from Spain and the UK about the reasons they believed caused the low uptake of robots in SE classrooms.

Five main reasons why SE schools do not normally use robots in their classrooms were identified: the inability to acquire the system due to its price or availability; its difficulty of use; the low range of activities offered; the limited ways of interaction offered; and the inability to use different robots with the same software.

Previous studies focussed on exploring the advantages of using robots to help children with autism spectrum conditions and learning disabilities. This study takes a step further and looks into the reasons why, despite the benefits shown, robots are rarely used in real-life settings after the relevant study ends. The authors also present a potential solution to the issues found: involving end users in the design and development of new systems using a user-centred design approach for all the components, including methods of interaction, learning activities and the most suitable type of robots.

We describe the results of a qualitative study that explored the knowledge and views 20 adults with learning disabilities and their carers had of medication prescribed for behaviour problems. We found that the adults with mild and moderate learning disabilities can provide sensible, consistent and valuable information about their thoughts and experiences of medication prescribed when questions are asked in an open‐ended format. We also found that few people with learning disabilities were fully informed about their treatment. Nevertheless, the prescribing of such medication emerged as a positive experience, in keeping with the wishes of the majority of participants interviewed who expressed satisfaction with the medication based on perceived benefit. For the minority of participants who expressed dissatisfaction with medication, the reasons related mainly to their perceived lack of role in the treatment decision, their experience of adverse effects, a perceived lack of efficacy and a ‘desire to lead a normal life’. Alternatives to medication were discussed by both adults with learning disabilities and their carers, and the relevance of these findings to clinical practice is addressed in the paper.

Describes the importance of training and summarizes learning theory. Details the top ten learning methods: videotapes, lectures, one‐on‐one instruction, role plays, games/simulation, case studies, slides, computer‐based training, audiotapes and films. Discusses the factors to consider when selecting a training method or combination of methods. Emphasizes the importance of post‐training evaluation.