An ‘Ordinary’ Life for People with Learning Disability and Severe Sensory Impairment?

Abstract

While life in small, ordinary type homes in the community is seen as desirable for the majority of people with learning disability, it may not serve the special needs of people with more complex impairment, such as those with additional severe sensory impairment. The case is made for retention and development of specialised residential provision for this group of people and for specialised service centres. This is on the condition that, firstly, such services see their function as the provision of intensive specialist help which equips people to make use of community services, as well as that of providing more permanent care for those whose severity of need requires it. Secondly, that they act as resource centres of ideas and practice which provide training for staff who work in a wide variety of situations with people with sensory impairment. Parallels are drawn between meeting children's special educational needs and the special needs of adults with learning disability. A flexible continuum of provision is seen as desirable to meet the diversity of need.