Perspectives on Ageing with a Learning Disability.

Cally Ward

Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2012

The author of this paper gathered views from a range of people with learning disabilities, who often have high levels of unmet health needs as a result of the inequalities they have experienced in the health system.

Contributors talk about:

• Coming to later life with their own unique life experiences and hopes and fears for the future.
• The work of the Growing Older with a Learning Disability (GOLD) group and older families from the Sharing Caring Project.
• Valuing the opportunity to speak for themselves, having someone spend time with them and listen to what they had to say. This is especially difficult if people have communication difficulties.
• The fact that independence has brought new risks – people with learning disabilities are often exposed to bullying and hate crime.

This paper is part of a series from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The other Perspectives on Ageing papers are on: Gypsy families, lesbians, gay men and bisexuals, dementia, and south Asian families. They are accessible via links on the same page as this paper.

The briefings are issued as part of the Foundation’s A Better Life: Old Age, New Thoughts project.