Deaf professionals, whom we term Deaf Language Specialists (DLS), are frequently employed to work with children and young people who have difficulties learning sign language, but there are few accounts of this work in the literature. Through questionnaires and focus groups, 23 DLSs described their work in this area. Deductive thematic analysis was…

Autistic people in England face worse health outcomes than non-autistic people. Autism-specific annual health checks have been proposed as one solution to this issue. This study identified strategies to incentivise primary care providers to offer autism-specific annual health checks, using a behavioural science approach. In phase 1, we conducted…

Background: We examined whether a series of variables were related to the number of psychiatric inpatients using publicly available data about English psychiatric bed utilisation and NHS workforce. Method: Using linear regression, with auto-regressive errors, we examined relationships between variables over time using data from December 2013 to…

Thirty-one participants engaged in this oral history research study aimed at exploring the lived experience of intellectual disability nurses and healthcare assistants' knowledge of the trajectory of intellectual disability nursing over the last 30 years in the Republic of Ireland and England. This paper documents some of these experiences…

The diagnosis of autism can be challenging, particularly if an individual coming for assessment is considered to be near the diagnostic threshold. It is important to understand the experiences and challenges of diagnosis from the perspective of clinicians. In this study, 21 in-depth interviews were conducted with clinicians working in specialist…

Background: Functional Communication Disorders (FCDs) are one specific presentation of Functional Neurological Disorder (FND). FND is characterised by neurological symptoms, such as sensory and motor symptoms, which are not explained by neurological disease. Speech and language therapists (SLTs) have expertise in managing communication disorders,…

Background: Despite emerging evidence for the effectiveness of school-based suicide prevention programmes worldwide, there are few being implemented in the United Kingdom, and their social validity (i.e., the feasibility, acceptability, and utility) is not yet known. Aims: We aimed to conduct a scoping study to determine: (1) the social validity…

Dementia is a major global concern, with 50 million people already affected worldwide in 2018, and this number is expected to triple by 2050. Healthcare practitioners, specifically occupational therapists, are responsible for providing care and ensuring the well-being of people with dementia. However, occupational therapy students may not always…

Recent literature has changed the ways in which occupational therapy is delivered in mainstream schools, but consideration of practice in specialist schools, where all students have special educational needs or disabilities, is limited. This study aimed to address this gap by exploring occupational therapy practice in specialist schools in…

Background: Early intervention is essential healthcare for stuttering, and the translation of research findings to community settings is a potential roadblock to it. Aims: This study was designed to replicate and extend the Lidcombe Program community translation findings of O'Brian et al. (2013) but with larger participant numbers, incorporating…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to generate an understanding of becoming an assistant practitioner (AP) through a work-based learning programme so that work-based learning programmes are designed and delivered to enable practitioners to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes to undertake new roles from within.…

Background: Speech and language therapists and nurses need to work together to keep patients with swallowing difficulties safe throughout their acute stroke admission. Speech and language therapists make recommendations for safe swallowing following assessment and nurses put recommendations into practice and monitor how patients cope. There has…

This research considered how school-based Occupational Therapists have delivered support for students with Special Educational Needs in two educational settings in England. The study focused on examining both working practices and any influencing factors. In two schools in the South West and the South East of England, respectively. The method…

Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel (1782-1852) yearned to promote and foster the harmonious and holistic development of young children through a combination of outdoor activities, songs and games. His Mother Songs, with games and exercises for mothers and their infants, aimed to encourage the use of senses, limbs and body to increase body awareness…

Objectives: The objectives of this mixed methods study are to (1) investigate the knowledge and skills of mainstream psychiatrists in managing patients with Intellectual Disability (ID) and comorbid mental health disorders, (2) assess their perception of the quality and accessibility of services for this population, and (3) establish the local…