research blogs

Under the Human Rights Act we all have the right to private and family life and the right to marry and have a family. An entitlement to freedom of expression and to receive information, including information about sex and relationships, is also protected under law.

Autistic self-advocates claiming to speak for those with learning disabilities can cause “symbolic and substantive harms”, say parents of learning disabled children

Football changed James Parker’s life. Part of his childhood in a mainstream school was spent friendless and bullied. Darren Devine reports. 

Supporters say animal-assisted intervention for autism bolsters social skills and provides unconditional companionship. But what does scientific research reveal about the value of spending time with a furry friend? 

Darren Devine asks whether telecare compromises quality.

If a person who has a learning disability is banging their head, being silent, or laughing it is not always easy to understand what is happening with and to them. In this article, Jim Blair (Learning Disability Nursing Project Lead at the Royal College of Nursing and Clinical Advisor for Learning Disabilities at the Queens Nursing Institute) considers the ways people with learning disabilities can be supported to access the healthcare treatment they deserve but denied all too often.

Filmmaker Beth Richards conducted research into how the television industry can be made more accessible for actors with learning disabilities. In this blog, she tells Learning Disability Today how her research findings informed her short animated film 'The Audition' which is being shown at Oska Bright Film Festival. 

Women with learning disabilities and autism are almost four times less likely to go for cervical cancer screening tests. Here, Darren Devine looks at the efforts being made to reverse one of the most stark health inequalities affecting potentially vulnerable women.

Trials are underway for a wristband that monitors physiological changes that may precede aggression. Darren Devine discusses how such technology could change the lives of autistic people, their families, and their carers.

Darren Devine discusses the widespread nature of the use of restraint and seclusion in schools for learning disabled children, and speaks to those campaigning to change this. 

Tim Nicholls, Head of Policy at the National Autistic Society, discusses what the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act means for autistic people. 

Rashmi Becker discusses the role of the support worker in bridging the gap between learning disability policy and practice. 

Some councils still insist on seeing disability as a purely physical issue.

The problem for disabled professionals isn’t motivation - it’s practical solutions, argues Nancy Doyle.