Background: Children and young people (CYP) with severe or profound and multiple learning disabilities are more likely to experience difficulties engaging for long periods. Finding ways to facilitate their engagement is crucial in promoting their social and emotional development and their mental well-being, particularly as they are more vulnerable…

Background: Persons with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) risk exclusion, both in research and as members of society. Because of their embodied communication, they face the challenges in being understood. Oftentimes, others speak on their behalf making inferences on what their perspective might be. Methods: Empathy is suggested…

Background: The last decade has seen developments in collaborative multi-sensory theatre and dramatic performance involving individuals with profound and multiple learning disabilities. The current study investigated co-development processes used by a multi-sensory theatre company that employed four artists with profound and multiple learning…

Background: Interactive engagement, specifically attention and initiation, are considered important skills for facilitating development and learning in students with severe/profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. Prior research has suggested that music therapy and multisensory storytelling are two promising interventions for supporting…

Background: The objective of this study is to explore experiences of Czech mothers caring for children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. Methods: Semistructured interviews combined with biographical narration of mothers of children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities and a short questionnaire for demographic…

Background: Inclusive research advocates for the involvement of people with intellectual disabilities to be more than passive participants within the research process. Methods: This study used a participatory design with proxies to consult with 13 people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities, on their musical preferences. Four…

Background: For almost two decades, students with intellectual, developmental and multiple disabilities have attended undergraduate classes at the University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg, Canada as part-time auditing students. They are supported by the Campus Life program. Campus Life employs graduate and undergraduate university students as academic…

Background: All children have the right to express their views about matters affecting them and participate in decision-making for their future irrespective of their intellectual ability. This study explores the adult role in understanding the views of children with profound and multiple learning difficulties who are not using a formal…

Background: This small study explores the lived experience of four UK-based fathers (one black British, one white Polish and two white British) caring for at least one child with a dual diagnosis of learning disability and autism. The key aim was to get as close as possible to understanding the experience of these fathers in their role as carers.…

Background: It is now expected that projects addressing the lives of people with learning disabilities include people with learning disabilities in the research process. In the past, such research often excluded people with learning disabilities, favouring the opinions of family members, carers and professionals. The inclusion of the voices of…

This paper describes the current challenges facing nurses and other professionals who care for people with profound and multiple intellectual disabilities. This particularly vulnerable group of service users often rely on a repertoire of non-verbal behaviours to communicate their needs and wishes. These challenges include the requirements of…

Although there is increasing interest in service user involvement in research, such involvement rarely extends to people with profound and multiple learning disabilities. New developments in visual methodologies offer the potential for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities to be included in research. At the same time, however,…

Chronic constipation is a common problem in people with learning disabilities. Treatment often involves dietary changes or long-term laxative use. The participants were five children with profound learning disabilities and additional physical difficulties. Their long-standing idiopathic constipation was managed by laxatives. Intervention lasted up…

Raising children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities is considered to be extremely difficult for parents, but figures on the content and amount of time needed for the caring task of parents is lacking. Data on what the caring task actually means (in terms of amount of time and type of task) is needed to be able to understand the…

This paper describes the use of a new project, "from the inside looking out" (FILO) (N. Richardson Unpublished data), to develop communication, interaction and emotional literacy skills with people with profound and multiple learning disabilities. The authors utilized tools derived from Intensive Interaction Therapy [D. Hewett & M. Nind (1994)…