The Royal Mencap Society has many publications, which can be accessed through their website www.mencap.org.uk
Of particular relevance are:
Day services should be a key factor in enabling people with a learning disability to learn and develop skills, to expand their abilities and to develop the lifestyle they want. Day services are also of critical importance to carers, as they provide an opportunity for a break from the caring role and enable carers to pursue their own lives and hold down a job.
'A Life in the Day' looks at what modernised day services could achieve for people with a learning disability, their families and carers. It has been produced in light of the White Paper 'Valuing People' which proposes major changes to day services for people with a learning disability.
Both the full report and an accessible version are available from the Mencap website.
Local authorities are failing to meet the housing needs of thousands of people
with a learning disability who live with parents aged over 70.
Elderly parents live with the constant fear of where their son or daughter will
live when they are unable to care for them or after they die. 'The Housing Timebomb'
estimates that only one in four local authorities are planning to meet their
needs and that it will take 30 years to deal with the backlog of cases. The
report makes a number of recommendations to ensure that the situation does not
worsen as people with a learning disability live longer.
Both the full report and an accessible version are available from the Mencap website.
No Ordinary Life reveals a shocking lack of support for the parents of children and adults with profound and multiple learning disabilities. It finds that parents who look after sons or daughters at home regularly devote over 18 hours to care through the day and night, while receiving an average of just 20 minutes of outside help.
Parents are providing constant support with daily tasks, such as eating, drinking, washing and managing incontinence. Many have to use life-saving technology, such as oxygen cylinders, suction equipment or tube feeding.
The report publishes the results of research into the caring role of parents
and other family members, and makes a variety of recommendations to improve
support for them.
The full report is available from the Mencap
website.
Mencap's report 'Behind Closed Doors' shows the extent of abuse against people with a learning disability, and calls for new legislation to protect vulnerable adults.
People with a learning disability have the same right as other people to have sexual relationships. However, disabled people are four times more likely than others to experience sexual abuse and people with a learning disability are most at risk.
We are asking the Government to bring in new legislation to help prevent this
kind of abuse happening and deliver justice to people with a learning disability
when abuse occurs.
The full report is available from the Mencap website.
Three guides (for parents and carers, employers, and people with a learning disability) that aim to increase the number of people with a learning disability in employment are available from the Mencap website.
Mencap believes that anyone who wants to work should have the opportunities, training and support to get a job that suits their skills and abilities.
Work brings independence, a role in the community, self-esteem and a sense of achievement. Increasingly, people with a learning disability want to work. Those who do work demonstrate a real commitment to their jobs. Businesses have found real advantages in employing people with a learning disability in a wide range of jobs.
In spite of this, the vast majority of people with a learning disability are unemployed. Most employers have no experience of working with employees who have a learning disability and discrimination by some employers is a continuing problem.
All the above reports, and more, are available for download from the Royal Mencap Society site. Click the links to go straight to the relevant page.
Members of Middlesbrough Mencap Society may borrow the above publications from the office.