This book provides a unique insight into the challenges faced by people with learning disabilities trying to access mainstream health and social services and by the professionals who are trying to provide them. The combination of professional perspectives and viewpoints of people with learning disabilities themselves creates an authoritative explanation of why this group of people face the barriers they do. The contributors critique these barriers and also offer potential solutions to overcoming them. Personal reflections written by people with learning disablities on their experiences of accessing health and social care services Comprehensive coverage of policy in the four UK countries Comprehensive analysis by subject experts of practice in a range of areas, from acute health care through mental health to leisure and housing provision Accessible summaries at the end of each chapter including text for people with learning disablities

This book provides a unique insight into the challenges faced by people with learning disabilities trying to access mainstream health and social services and by the professionals who are trying to provide them. The combination of professional perspectives and viewpoints of people with learning disabilities themselves creates an authoritative explanation of why this group of people face the barriers they do. The contributors critique these barriers and also offer potential solutions to overcoming them. Personal reflections written by people with learning disablities on their experiences of accessing health and social care services Comprehensive coverage of policy in the four UK countries Comprehensive analysis by subject experts of practice in a range of areas, from acute health care through mental health to leisure and housing provision Accessible summaries at the end of each chapter including text for people with learning disablities

As a social justice endeavor, one of the goals of inclusive education is to bolster the education of all students by promoting equal opportunities for all, and investing sufficient support, curriculum and pedagogy that cultivates high self-concepts, emphasizes students’ strengths rather than weaknesses, and assists students to reach their optimal potential to make a contribution to society. Dedicated to the identification of international strategies to achieve this goal, Inclusive Education for Students with Intellectual Disabilities presents examples of theory, research, policy, and practice that will advance our understanding of how best to educate and more generally structure educational environments to promote social justice and equity. Importantly, this discussion transcends research methodology, context, and geographical locations and may lead to far-reaching applications. As such, the focus is placed on research-derived educational and psycho-educative practices that seed success for students with intellectual disabilities in inclusive educational settings and the volume showcases new directions in theory, research, and practice that may inform the education and psychosocial development of students with intellectual disabilities globally. The chapter contributors in this volume consist of 31 scholars from ten different countries, and they come from a great variety of research areas (i.e., teacher education, educational psychology, special education and disability policy, special needs and inclusive education, health sciences). This volume, with a series of subsections, offers insights and useful strategies to promote meaningful advances for students with intellectual disabilities globally.

This leading textbook (previously known as Learning Disabilities) aims to further the practice of professionals and agencies who support people with intellectual disabilities. It emphasizes the strengths rather than deficits of people with intellectual disabilities, highlights the crucial role of family and friends, and places individuals firmly at the heart of everything that impacts them. Intellectual Disabilities: Toward Inclusion centres on the concepts of respecting the personhood of people with intellectual disabilities, and their rights to holistic health and to live their best lives. Most of the 27 chapters are co-authored by respected international authors, and the content has been fully updated to reflect contemporary policy, legislation and service configuration. This unique text will challenge and reframe typically held views, and provides an international focus that recognizes we have much to learn from the experiences and perspectives of other nations around the world. Comprehensive overview of the field – relevant to contemporary practice Content organized around three central themes: Who am I?; Maximizing my health; Living my best life Well-written and accessible Artwork and perspectives of people with intellectual disabilities bring content to life Authors from a range of professional backgrounds representing Australia, Austria, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain, the UK, and the United States Activities, case studies, diagrams and useful web links Additional material in an online resource complements reader activities found throughout the text

What happens when a group traditionally defined as lacking the necessary capacities of citizenship is targeted by government programs that have made 'citizenship inclusion' their main goal? Combining theoretical perspectives of political philosophy, social theory, and disability studies, this book untangles the current state of Western intellectual disability politics following the replacement of state institutionalisation by independent and supported living, individual rights, and self-determination. Taking its cue from Foucault's conception of 'biopolitics', denoting the government of the individuals and the totality of the population, its overarching argument is that the ambiguous positioning of people with intellectual disabilities with respect to the ideals of citizenship results in a regime of government that simultaneously includes and excludes people of this group. On the one hand, its members are projected to become ideal-citizens via the cultivation of citizenship capacities. On the other, the right to live independently and by their own choices is curtailed as soon as they are seen as failing with respect to the ideals of reason and rationality. Therefore, coercion, restraints, and paternalism, which were all supposed to end with deinstitutionalisation, are still ingrained in services targeting the group. In equal parts a theoretical work, advancing debates of critical disability theory, social theory, and post-structural philosophy, as well as an empirical engagement with the history of intellectual disability politics and the ways in which present day politics target the group, this book will be of interest to all students and scholars of disability studies, disability politics, and political theory.

"This book has an unusual format, and its intentions and underlying constructions are stimulating. This is a critical text that should be required reading for all students of health, disability, social medicine, therapy and nursing programmes. At the price, currently £19.99, it represents excellent value for money and is affordable for individual students to purchase." Learning Disability Practice "This could have been a triumphant book; instead it is a sober one, and far more useful for it … Based on an around-the-world tour of countries where the concepts of normalization and Social Role Valorization have been influential, the book offers a comparative account of the ways these ideas have worked out in seven different national contexts more than thirty years after their introduction." From the Foreword by John O’Brien, The Centre on Human Policy, Syracuse University, USA "In addition to its useful comparative approach this text demystifies and clarifies a number of complex issues." Iain Carson, University of Manchester, UK How do services in different countries vary across the lifespan? What lessons can the different countries learn from one another? Based on the author’s own experience from over thirty years in the field, this thought-provoking book offers a comparative study of services for people with intellectual disabilities in seven countries: England, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the USA. Through the author’s discussions with people with intellectual disabilities, parents and families, and those involved with services at a professional and academic level, the book provides a critical reflection on intellectual disability services across the lifespan. Each chapter contains the following key features: A brief ‘Instant Impacts’ reflection of an incident or a person encountered in the country concerned A short history of services in the country and a summary of the current service system A detailed look at services through the age range, including issues around screening and pre-birth Drawing on the author’s own experience of being a parent of a child with intellectual disabilities, ‘Adam’s World Tour’ boxes include a summary of the author’s views on the likely services Adam might receive in the country concerned Intellectual Disability is key reading for students of social work, learning disability nursing, social policy and community work, as well as those training to work with people with intellectual disabilities in health and social care services. Because of its unique approach, however, it is as relevant to families of people with intellectual disabilities as it is to professionally qualified practitioners and policy makers.