People Living with Learning Disability - Literature review Example

This case study is going to focus on the issues developed from James’ life and his immediate environment. James is a 57 year old man who recently startedliving alone at Broseley Grove, Sydenham. He is considered to be a vulnerable individual since he has learning difficulties. James lives away from his immediate family and therefore does not have an immediate carer at his side. His disability makes it a challenge for him to effectively interact with both adults and children despite his friendly nature. He has also faced various social injustices including being bullied by neighbours in his previous place of residence by having his person belongings stolen from him. James hopes that by the help of a social support centre in his current neighbourhood he will be able to receive adequate support in finding work and overcome the challenges that come with his disability. He looks forward to building a future for himself and also has a life partner in the future. This case study is going to explore the various social and physical interactions in James’ surrounding and how they influence his lifestyle in general. The ecological system theory explains the development of an individual according to how one relates to the relationships they have formed around them. Thus each aspect of a person’s family or community surroundings and society expectations, directly or indirectly influences their views and developments (Bronfenbrenner, 1990). The developmental changes faced by vulnerable individuals like James require the society to be more open in understanding and accepting of these interactive changes (Amado et al., 2013). In evaluating James’ immediate environment, it is notable that social inclusion plays a key role on the outcomes of his new environment. Lippold and Burns (2009) argue that social inclusion and the application of the ecological theory are closely related. Social inclusion emphasizes on the interaction of the interpersonal relationships and community participation formed within and outside an individual’s life. The interaction between James and his family, policy makers and service providers, is critical since developmental disabilities such as his, is considered to be influenced by a person’s interpersonal, environment and social factors (Luckasson & Schalock, 2013). In promoting anti-oppressive practices and protect vulnerable individuals like James from being discriminated upon and being bullied, community involvement is important. Forrester-Jones et al. (2006), argue that building friendships and community involvement, provides those with and without development disabilities an opportunity to nurture their self-esteem and promote happiness. For instance, James currently lives in a neighborhood that has people from different ethnic communities which through community involvement will provide him and his neighbors an opportunity to foster a lasting relationship through the understanding of each other’s way of life. Human beings are considered to be self-organizing, therefore James and the people around him can overcome the challenges arising from his learning difficulties by implementing the various resources available to cope. James future well-being is highly attributed to how the adopted coping mechanism will be tailored to fit his current environment. Coping mechanisms developed as part of social inclusion, improves a person’s ability to function and respond to environmental variances (Bergman, 2008). Ecological conditions that are part of social inclusion may promote self-assurance, reliance and boost a person esteem through the practical understanding of an area, others and activities (Abbott & McConkey, 2006). Clarkson et al., (2009) affirm that positive ecological conditions in communities encourage a sense of belonging among individuals through an interactive mechanism. Coping resources for a person living with learning disabilities must include practice principles that emphasize on empowering one another. This ensures that all individuals in a society are able to have an open system in accepting human diversity, changing society values and challenging of abuse of the human anatomy and power. Through the various practice principles adopted by a society, families, the community and support systems from qualified care givers, James together with is family, care providers and friends will be able to have sustainable collaborative relationships and also embrace help for expertsMcConkey & Collins, (2010b). Anti-oppressive practices therefore require an ecological and social inclusion model that includes all individuals in a person with disability life as opposed to the affected individuals only. This will foster positive interpersonal relationship between James and others by promoting trust and respect among them. This way all affected parties are able to address the changes in time and social settings affects James learning difficulties as sensed in his behaviors and response to his immediate environment. Whitehouse et al. (2001) argues that the relationship of a person with a development disability and his environment, family, care givers and the society,must be positively maintained through community participation. As a result oppressive practices such as discrimination during social gatherings and at the work place can easily be overcome. Interpersonal relationships for persons with a developmental disability will easily attract negative events and impacts on their lifestyle and outlook to life (Ward, Bosek, & Trimble, 2010). This is evident in James’ life whereby people tend to take advantage of him and also lacks proper support from experts and family members. From the case study we learn that James lives quite far from his parents and siblings also the Citizen Advice Office in his area fails to offer services or support with his intellectual disability. Abuse form friends, family, service providers, care givers, colleagues and intimate partners are some of the negative outcomes evident in the lives of people with learning difficulties (Hall & Wilton, 2011). Social inclusion in the case of a person living in a new environment is easily related to independence and a sense of belonging. Quinn and Doyle (2012), argue that by promoting community involvement among people living with development disability contributes to independent living through social inclusion. The concept of social inclusion as associated with independent living, encourages those with and without disability to interact and participate in social gatherings, thus promoting the sense of belonging(Quinn and Doyle, 2012). Professional care service providers need to create awareness on the issues faced by individuals with learning disabilities to the public and the government as an anti-oppressive tactic (Gitterman and Heller, 2011). This can be conducted in the form of a formal network such as: social workers, care givers assistants and behavior support staff (McConkey & Collins, 2010a). Community settings such as accessibility to transport, suitable medical and services, provision of online and physical resources and accommodation directly impact the views of an individual with a disability and those within his or her environment (Power, 2008). Thus the society and professionals must be informed that our surroundings shape the community’s attitudes, culture and understanding of people with and those without a development disability. Informal networks such as family, friends, employers, social groups are also encouraged to support these individuals by offering daily assistance and showing understanding to them. Improved medical and community awareness among professionals and in the society will steer positive attitudes among care providers, family members and friends.People living with disability and their families may also be uninformed on the various benefits they are eligible to when it comes to receiving support from relevant institutions. Through creating awareness, contact among people with learning disability and those without as well as with care givers, contribute to the positive output and interaction of an individual with learning disability. According to Sharma et al. (2006), awareness foster positive outcomes associated with social inclusion resulting to less stereotyping. Professional must also understand by encouraging environments that favor the conditions of a person with development disability they foster social support (Green and Mc Dermott, 2010). Collective social support are much better as a coping mechanism for both the James and those affected indirectly by his condition. This way the perceptions of the affected parties are positively influenced in creating new relationships in the work place without discriminating. Duvdevaney & Arar (2004), argues that people with a disability are likely to be exposed to poor conditions. For instance, they are exposed to live in areas that face high risks of socio-economic deprivation, find it more challenging to find work or receive appropriate wages. In the case of James one is able to note that he lives in a section with his borough that is secluded and has abandoned building that is faced with high risks of insecurity. Through perceived and received social support James is likely to receive improved access to social services and support that are aligned to his needs as a person living with a learning disability. Integrating of conceptual and ecological models will contribute in implementing a sustainable and productive individual and communal behavioral revolution while interacting with a person having a learning disability. Sallis et al., (2008) argue that in organizations, communities and social and political scenarios, such interventions provide supportive and productive outcomes in a society and in an individual. As James looks forward to being employed and also be involved in an intimate relationship, conceptual interventions by professions will introduce a positive impact in his interactions. Professionals have the ability to foster improved environments for individuals like James through the community. Professionals are not only restricted in providing formal support to the affected person but also responsible in ensuring that this person is in a position of accepting perceived and received support from their immediate surroundings (Bigby, 2012b). By encouraging enabling conditions among these people, professionals play a role in fostering positive support to these individuals from their immediate environments. Thus they facilitate interactive and interpersonal relationships between a person with a learning disability and his or her immediate environment. It is also important to note that, professionals must be aware of the different cultural practices among people from different demographics and how this will influence their approach in creating awareness. Bigby (2012a) states that the beliefs of a given group of people influences the relationship between society groups and the care givers. However, previous researches have shown that professionals have neglected models that promote social inclusion despite the positive results exhibited by the community and the person living with a learning disability (Whitehouse et al., 2001). Duggan and Linehan (2013) argue that professionals still face a dilemma in coming up with sustainable measures that promote social inclusion as they still struggle to show the effective nature of the current models of intervention. It is therefore important that all stakeholders in this case are well equipped and informed so as to be able to provide a conclusive data on the performance of the association between ecological models and social inclusion (Duggan & Linehan, 2013). Nurses and doctors should closely work together with James to facilitate his hospital stay and coordinate frequent visits to James home as a way to monitor his progress. Effective and timely health care assistance is crucial to manage health inequalities among people living with a disability. The implementation of social inclusion activities that cater for the health care of people with learning disabilities must be tailored to meet the characteristics of the nature and challenges faced by these group of people and their families. People living with learning disabilities tend to experience deteriorating health and have a short life spun as opposed to other people. Statistics show that hospitals admit at least 26% of patients with annually which is compared to about 14% of the general population. Among the population of people living with a disability, only 5% of this population go for regular health checks (Lewisham JSNA, 2010). However the Public health England in partnership with The Lewisham Community Learning Disabilities team has introduced a health care outreach to ensure that people living with disabilities readily access regular health check procedures. The Photo-symbol technique employed by this team incorporates pictures to assist people with LD to synthesize and understand information (Lewisham JSNA, 2010). Professionals should involve people living with LD and encourage them to take charge of their own health as individuals, a community and a population. A community health network program should be an integral part of Sydenham neighbourhood. Professionals from the healthcare and social work sector need to initiate a program that engages and empowers individuals with LD to seek regular medical check-ups. The ambiguous nature of social inclusion introduces the various gaps and assumptions often made by others regarding the life of a person living with disabilities. For instance, James desires to be in an intimate relationship in the future, this kind of want sounds demanding for both James and potential future intimate partner. Hence may lead to the conclusion that social inclusion may only be applicable to some scenarios. Whereas this may appear to be ambiguous or demanding, this study reveals that the core competencies of life for a person living with a disability include the integration of interpersonal relationships and community involvement. Effective integration of these two through the ecological model, are viewed as critical aspects in contributing to a quality lifestyle for a person like James (Schalock et al., 2005). The ecological intervention of social inclusion in the society require sustainable organizational and community involvement in order to overcome the various challenges perceived by family members, the society, persons living with disabilities and professionals. According to Asselt-Goverts et al., (2013), ecological interventions tend to also contribute to negative outcomes when it comes to social inclusion. Examples of environmental conditions such as lack of appropriate skills among professionals, lack of efficient funding for support, social caregivers, families and the community, negative work place and residential surroundings, negative cultural practices and attitudes towards people living with learning disabilities all tend to restrain social inclusion(McConkey & Collins, 2010a). All these factors eventually intertwine with each other making it difficult for a person to thrive at their work place or communities. Conclusion It is important to note that every community tend to face different challenges when it comes to providing resources to cope with people living with a disability. James should consider registering in charity organizations such as PLUS. This is an organization within Sydenham that offers accommodation, leisure and employment support systems for adults living with learning disabilities in southeast London. Coping sources need to meet the various forms of a community in terms of its civil and religious acts, social, wellbeing and political practices as well as the employment settings.Thus James can start by volunteering at a communitycentre such as PLUS as an opportunity interact with the others like him and acquire a support system. This will present opportunities for him to explore new talents, meet a spouse and find employment through the various services offered. Additionally, PLUS provides medical and emotional support which are very important for James in his work and intimate life. By involving himself with PLUS James wellbeing and health is likely to improve since he will be able to access adequate health care that is being monitored by a specialist. In order for James to have a fulfilling life and evade the various challenges that come with his vulnerability, he must take charge of his life and involve himself with a support system. References Abbott, S., & McConkey, R. (2006). The barriers to social inclusion as perceived by people with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 10(3), 275– 287 Amado, A., Novak Stancliffe, R. J., McCarren, M., & McCallion, P. (2013). Social inclusion and community participation of individuals with intellectual/ developmental disabilities. 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Pre-service teachers’ attitudes, concerns and sentiments about inclusive education: An international comparison of the novice pre-service teachers. International Journal of Special Education, 21(2), 80–93 Ward, K. M., Bosek, R. L., & Trimble, E. L. (2010). Romantic relationships and interpersonal violence among adults with developmental disabilities. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 48(2), 89–98. Whitehouse, R., Chamberlain, P., & O’Brien, A. (2001). Increasing social interactions of people with more severe learning disabilities who have difficulty developing personal relationships. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 5(3), 209–220. Read More