Parents with Learning Disabilities in Birmingham

Introduction

What is a learning disability?

How is a learning disability different to a learning difficulty?

This microsite has been set up for people who have an interested in supporting parents who have a learning disability in Birmingham.

There is no specific service for parents with parents with learning disabilities in Birmingham. However, there are a number of interested professionals and organisations across the city who provide support.

The site has been set up following a busy 12 months of multi-agency and multi-disciplinary work including Professionals from Learning Disabilities Services from Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust, Midwifery Services, Children’s Services, Children’s Safeguarding Services, Health Visitors, School Nurses, and the Local Authority.

Several projects are now underway and we hope you will find the information here to be of use and we thank you for your interest.

Feedback has been positive following the four multi-agency hub meetings held between October and December 2010 and more are planned throughout 2011.

Following a review of the format of the hubs, it is hoped that several of the hub members will also incorporate presentations by a variety of professionals with experience in working with parents with learning disabilities.

The hub meetings planned for 2011 will take place in a variety of venues to make them more accessible to different professional groups across the city.  I hope you will be able to attend a session in 2011.

You are very welcome to bring any clinical issues relating to parents with learning disabilities in order to gain support for yourself and to find out about services which might supplement your work with parents with learning disabilities. 

Dates and venues for hub meetings will be available shortly.

Please contact Dr Alex O’Brien on 0121 465 8200 if you would like more information or you would like to be added to the circulation list.

A Screening Tool for identification of Parents with Learning Disabilities is now being piloted by Midwives from specific teams in South Birmingham and the Women’s Hospital and it is hoped that following a successful pilot the use of this tool will be rolled out across the city late in 2011.

A resource package is now available for use by Professionals working with Parents with Learning Disabilities, access to this pack is through People in Partnership Advocacy Service.

A targeted “Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities” parenting course for parents with learning disabilities is now taking place through Middlemore Family Centre, and it is hoped that more courses will follow, particularly if demand is great enough.

What is a learning disability?

• A significantly reduced ability to understand new or complex information, to learn new skills (impaired intelligence)

• A reduced ability to cope independently both socially and in adaptive skills (i.e. everyday skills such as travelling, budgeting, domestic skills etc).

• These difficulties started in early childhood and have a life long effect on development.

How is a learning disability different to a learning difficulty?

The terms learning disability and learning difficulty are often used interchangeably. To try to draw a distinction between the two, try to think of a learning disability as something that has a global effect on the person’s life and skills, whereas a learning difficulty has a specific effect on one area of a person’s life.

A learning difficulty refers to a specific difficulty in learning often given in an educational context e.g. dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and other linguistic difficulties.