Mutual Support, a model of peer support by and for people with learning difficulties, was constructed through a participatory research process. The research focussed on individual narratives from people with learning difficulties. These narratives were then brought together to form a collective model of support. This paper outlines the detailed…

This article describes research undertaken between 2004 and 2006 about the issues faced by 15 young people with a wide range of learning difficulties in out-of-area residential schools and colleges at transition. The process of transition planning was hampered by the distance between the school/college and the "home authority" of the young person;…

Mothers with learning difficulties are often isolated within their local communities. They also report low levels of social support. Social disconnection is associated with high levels of stress and poorer mental health, and in turn, adverse parenting and child outcomes. In the study reported here, a multi-site, intervention group only, repeated…

By means of documentary evidence and six in-depth interviews, this paper traces policy and practice relating to the education of visually impaired children with learning difficulties from 1900 to 1970. It reveals that if visually impaired children with learning difficulties were given an education at all, their needs were not usually met and they…

In 2005, the Royal College of Psychiatry Faculty of Learning Disability's three judges unanimously awarded the inaugural Medical Student Essay Prize to Ian Harwood, a mature medical student at Barts & The London School of Medicine. This reflective piece records an undergraduate's contact with an adolescent suffering from advanced Sanfillipo…

The prevalence of offenders with learning difficulties and learning disabilities is not agreed upon. What is clear, however, is that, regardless of actual numbers, many offenders have learning difficulties that reduce their ability to cope within the criminal justice system, for example, not understanding fully what is happening to them in court…

Maintaining therapeutic programmes for people with learning disabilities over long periods of time presents a major challenge to care systems as the limited and slow pace of client behavioural change is often insufficient to sustain staff behaviour. In this study, a 17-year-old young man with profound learning difficulties was successfully…

This paper presents the stories of three mothers with learning difficulties whose children have been involved in care proceedings. Drawing on the example of the legendary interviewer, Studs Terkel, the authors let the mothers describe their experiences of the child protection system in their own words. From out of their intensely personal accounts…

This article is about Emma's experience of living with learning difficulties. Emma expresses a lot of anger, and talks about feelings of loss. This article is interesting to people with learning disabilities because they can see if their experience is like Emma's in any way. This paper presents Emma's story: her experience of living with learning…

This is the story of Marie, a woman with "learning difficulties" who lives in Belgium. It is told by Marie and her advocate, Griet. In 2002, Marie was told she had to have a sterilization. This is the story of what happened: The professionals told Marie and her mother the operation was essential. Marie did not know what the operation was because…

This paper uses oral history and documentary materials to develop a cross-cultural comparison of the experiences of two self-advocates who spent significant parts of their lives in learning difficulty institutions in England and Iceland. Anne Lewthwaite and Eyglo Ebba Hreinsdottir, born in the same era (1948-1950), were linked through the Open…

In Japan, there is a growing network of self-advocacy groups. Some groups are involved in campaigning. Other groups are involved in social events and education. The age of de-institutionalization is gradually arriving and community living for people with learning difficulties is becoming an urgent political issue. Self-advocacy groups can help…

Many people with learning difficulties want to tell the stories of their life and have done so in collaboration with academic researchers. Life histories of people with learning difficulties are a good way to learn about self-advocacy. Life histories can tell us about how self-advocacy began and the support people need to be self-advocates. Tom…

This article tells us about the history of self-advocacy in Denmark. It also gives some information about how services for people with learning difficulties in Denmark have changed over the past 100 years. In this article, I talk about "movements" of self-advocacy, which means the different types of self-advocacy groups that have grown in Denmark.…

This paper looks at the history of self advocacy in England. Self advocacy has helped many people with learning difficulties to speak up and gain more confidence. But now it is associated with Government policy. After Valuing People, people expect self advocacy organizations to speak up for everyone with learning difficulties. This might mean…