Background: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience a range of severity levels characterised as levels of support they need for everyday functioning. By this definition, greater levels of severity should warrant greater use of services and supports among children with ASD. In previous studies, Latino children with ASD in the USA…

Background: For many adults with an intellectual disability (ID), mealtimes carry significant health risks. While research and allied clinical guidance has focused mainly on dysphagia, adults with a range of physical and behavioural difficulties require mealtime support to ensure safety and adequate nutrition. The extent of need for and nature of…

Background: The changed societal views of persons with disabilities are reflected in the 2006 United Nations "Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities". However, what is not specified in the Convention is how to operationalise and measure the Articles composing the Convention, and how to use that information to further…

Background: Families with parental intellectual disabilities (ID) are likely to need support in achieving a decent family life. In order to accurately plan for such support services, society needs data regarding the occurrence of those parents and their children. The aim of this study was to investigate the 5-year incidence of children born to…

Background: Recent literature on professionalism describes the hybridisation of professional practices because of the pressures of neo-liberal managerialism. While the general opinion appears to be that this development was inevitable given the task of service organisations to operate on the market, this paper questions that blurring the…

Background: Evaluative studies have shown that special units for people with intellectual disabilities (ID) who have challenging behaviour have advantages and disadvantages. There has been no survey of their number or characteristics for nearly 20 years. Methods: A questionnaire was sent to all National Health Service trusts that had ID inpatient…

Background: Variations in reported prevalence of challenging behaviour indicate the need for further epidemiological research to support accurate planning of future service provision. Methods: All services providing for people with learning disabilities across seven unitary authorities, with a total population of 1.2 million, were screened to…

Background: The social climate of inpatient facilities is thought to be an important contributor to treatment outcome. However, little research has focused on this construct within secure forensic services for people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the social climate of two different…

Background: Information on the numbers of adult persons (aged 20 years and over) with intellectual disability (ID) is rarely collated at a national level. This is an impediment to service planning especially for a changing population. Methods: A database of all persons in receipt of ID services has been operating in the Republic of Ireland since…

Background: Actual practice in the Netherlands has shown the need of an instrument to evaluate the quality of support plans. This article describes the development of an instrument for such evaluation. Method: The concept of quality of life (QOL) domains were used to develop an instrument to evaluate the quality of support plans within a QOL…