Four challenges people face living with learning disabilities
Healthwatch England’s recent research has identified the four common challenges that people living with learning disabilities face accessing support.
Moving between services
Every year, thousands of children transition from children to adult learning disability services. The transition is challenging for young people and their families or carers as they often struggle to access support when they turn 18.
We heard from parents about the lack of support for their children to develop vocational skills – preventing them from becoming more independent, the difficulty of people finding information about support in their area and the need for guidance to complete official paperwork, including financial support for their housing.
Services closing
Factors, such as pressures on local authority budgets, has led to the decline in the number of people benefiting from respite. Finding respite care, including carer’s breaks, is difficult, with professionals highlighting the shortage of services and the impact that it has had on the lives of the parents and carers they work with.
Social life
Severe mental health conditions are 8.4 times more common in patients with a learning disability. That’s why it’s essential for people with learning disabilities to have a form of social interaction and feel connected to their community.
We heard about the importance of having accessible leisure activities, including sessions at leisure centres specifically for people with learning disabilities. Parents and carers also told us their concerns about the impact that bullying can have on people’s ability to socialise and highlighted that more should be done to increase awareness and acceptance of people with learning disabilities.
Accessible communication and inclusive healthcare
Our previous work showed that 28% of people with hearing, sight or learning disabilities said they had been refused help when requesting accessible information from the NHS.
People shared their frustrations about the lack of hospital staff with Makaton training – a language programme that combines signs, symbols and speech to give different options for people to communicate, which left people without a method of communication. When staff had basic Makaton training, we heard how this helped people relax in their appointments.
Support for autistic and learning-disabled people in Westminster
The Learning Disability Network London (LDN London) charity has received funding from Westminster Council to expand its current community programme to Victoria, giving advice and running workshops at a second Hub at Victoria Library.
LDN London currently runs a community centre, the Enablement Hub, on the Harrow Road in Westminster to help learning disabled and autistic people who get little or no support to manage their lives. They take part in workshops about life skills, including health and relationships, finance, and safety, make friends, and join in activities and events.
As part of this programme, LDN London will recruit five new team members, including two autistic or learning-disabled apprentices, and a community engagement worker to lead on initiatives for autistic people.
The charity will also hire two community outreach workers to give up to 25 hours one-to-one help, supporting people with managing bills, going to health appointments, and completing forms.
