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AbstractBackgroundFathers with ID are likely to face many disadvantages when compared with non‐ID parents, such as social and financial challenges and emotional trauma, including trauma due to having their children removed from their care. Services are required to support fathers with ID and tailor their practices to be accessible to this group of parents. Despite recommendations, many services continue to struggle to provide this.AimsThere are very few studies exploring the experiences of fathers with ID whose children have been removed by English courts. The aim of this study was to provide insights into the experiences of these fathers in order to inform practice guidelines on how fathers with ID can be best supported.MethodsInterpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to analyze interviews with five fathers.ResultsIPA produced the following themes: The Court as Lion's Den, Fighting for my Role as a Father, and The Personal Cost of it All.ConclusionsThe findings highlight that fathers with ID find the experience of their children being taken into care overwhelmingly painful. The processes by which these decisions are made are seen as unfair. Recommendations for practice improvement are offered.

Background  Imagery rehearsal therapy for people who suffer from recurring nightmares has been shown to be a successful intervention. Very little research has been conducted on post‐traumatic nightmare sufferers with learning disabilities.Method  This paper presents two case studies to illustrate the application of an adapted form of imagery rehearsal therapy to adults with learning disabilities.Results  Both descriptive cases indicated that the intervention resulted in significant reductions in distress because of nightmares and provided some evidence that these positive results were generalized into waking life.Conclusions  As a short and simple method, imagery rehearsal therapy appears to be very suitable for people with learning disabilities.

Abstract  Thirty Social Services care staff, working in small group homes with people with mental handicaps, completed a questionnaire concerning their working conditions and their attitudes on work and training opportunities. It was found that most staff reported considerable job satisfaction as well as some job stress. Overall scores of satisfaction and stress were more extreme than when the various job components were rated separately. Two areas of work associated with high job satisfaction (teaching clients and outings with clients) also produced the highest stress ratings. Staff turnover was relatively low. The results are discussed in relation to the unique job demands of community care work.

Background  It has been repeatedly demonstrated that individuals with intellectual disabilities experience significant difficulties in recognizing facial expressions of emotion. The aim of this review was to address whether such skills can be enhanced amongst individuals with intellectual disabilities.Materials and Methods  The PsychInfo database on Dialog DataStar (1972–2006) was searched for all published journal articles investigating whether emotion recognition skills can be enhanced amongst individuals with intellectual disabilities.Results  Four relevant articles were identified. Training in emotion recognition skills resulted in improvements in all four studies, with one study maintaining improvements at 8‐month follow‐up.Conclusions  The four published studies identified that emotion recognition skills can be enhanced and maintained over time. Despite claims in the literature that training in emotion recognition skills will enhance the social skills of individuals with intellectual disabilities, none of the studies considered the impact of training upon everyday functioning, leaving the ultimate efficacy of such training open to question.

Background  Less than 10% of people with intellectual disabilities are employed. The aim of the present study was to investigate what psychological factors might predict employment outcome for people with intellectual disability who had received a placement in a supported employment service.Method  Sixty people were interviewed whilst they were in the supported employment preparation agency and where possible 3 and 9 months after leaving. The structured interview included a number of psychological measures. Those who subsequently gained employment were compared with those who did not.Results  Those who gained employment were significantly more motivated by status aspiration, and judged themselves significantly less happy than those who did not gain employment, at the first interview.Conclusions  It is possible that people who are more dissatisfied with their life might be more motivated to change their circumstances. Supported employment agencies might consider using a measure of motivation as an entry criterion or as a way of identifying who needs help with developing motivation.

Consumer views of public services are now recognised as an integral part of auditing. While previously consumers with an intellectual disability have been seen as passive recipients of services, a research literature is emerging which has modified this view. This paper aims to review the relevant literature and focuses on the methods used to gather consumer views of public services. Areas of application have included residential, day and therapeutic services. Most studies have found that given adequate opportunities and effective interview methods, people with intellectual disabilities can be informative, critical and reliable service evaluators. Some recommendations for optimising valid and reliable consumer views are given.

In order to investigate the conceptualisation of dreams in adults with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities, the paradigm introduced by Woolley & Wellman (1992) was employed in addition to a number of open‐ended questions. Fifty‐four people participated in the study and it was found that 40% of their replies in answer to questions regarding the non‐physical, private nature of dreams were incorrect and that less than a third of the sample (N= 16) were confident that individuals cannot share the same dream. Furthermore, a large proportion of the sample did not consider it possible to dream about fictional entities. The results are discussed in the context of the benefits and barriers for therapists who wish to incorporate clients' reported dreams and nightmares into their therapeutic interactions.

This study investigated the ability of people with an intellectual disability to consent to psychological research. The criteria employed were based on the three elements of informed consent: information, competence and voluntariness. Participants were 40 people with an intellectual disability who had agreed to take part in a larger research study investigating their ability to consent to behavioural or medical treatment. A brief questionnaire consisting of six questions was administered to each participant to discover the extent of their ability to consent to take part in the larger study. A scoring protocol was developed to determine whether participants had answered each question satisfactorily. People appeared to understand the nature of the research, but had a limited understanding of the risks and benefits involved or of their right to refuse to participate or to drop out of the study. It is concluded that researchers must carefully assess the ability of people with an intellectual disability to consent before recruiting them to research studies and must be aware of the potential for this client group to agree to participate without fully understanding the implications.

AimThe current qualitative study was funded by the Judith Trust to investigate service users', support staff and community team members' views of the services currently provided to adults with intellectual disabilities and mental health problems and what they consider to be desirable qualities for staff to possess.MethodIn the first stage of the study, two focus groups were conducted with service users who have intellectual disabilities and mental health problems in addition to two focus groups with a variety of staff, all of who had recent experience of intellectual disabilities services. In the second stage, individual interviews were conducted with staff members employed in residential and community intellectual disabilities services. The number of participants totalled 54 (16 service users and 38 staff). A qualitative analysis (IPA) was adopted to identify dominant themes in the discourse of these stakeholder groups.ResultsThe analysis produced a number of themes that include: 'being interested', 'communication', 'competence‐promoting support', 'past/present/future links', 'prevention', 'reviews and liaison', 'working with carers', 'looking after staff', 'staff training/supervision' and 'interface between services'.ConclusionA number of suggestions for improving services are identified and discussed in the context of current service policies and procedures.

Background  Historically, adults with intellectual disabilities have had little access to individual psychotherapy. Over the last 20 years an increasing body of literature has described psychotherapy with this client group and reported methods for adapting traditional psychotherapeutic techniques.Method  The current review identified the frequency of adaptations suggested by Hurley et al. (1998) [Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, vol. 10, pp. 365–386] within cognitive behavioural and psychodynamic studies with adults with intellectual disabilities. Twenty‐five studies were reviewed, 10 cognitive–behavioural and 15 psychodynamic.Results  A total of 94 adaptations were identified. Within cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) studies, flexibility in method was the most frequently considered adaptation whilst transference and countertransference issues were most frequently considered within psychodynamic studies. Across the two approaches, disability and rehabilitation issues were given the least consideration.Conclusions  Implications for practitioners and services are highlighted along with recommendations for future research.

AimTo explore the experience of 'lay therapists' of a group‐based cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) anger management intervention.BackgroundStaff employed in daytime opportunity services for adults with intellectual disabilities took on the role of 'lay therapist' to facilitate CBT groups.MethodsThey were trained and supervised by clinical psychologists and interviewed 2–6 weeks after the last group session. Their experiences were explored by means of a qualitative approach, interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).ResultsSeveral key themes emerged from the interview data such as 'hopes and fears', 'having a framework', 'making it work', 'observing progress', 'ingredients of success', 'the therapist role' and 'taking the group forward'.ConclusionsThese themes indicate that participants' experiences had been perceived as positive for themselves, the service users as well as the relevant organization although initially the therapist role had appeared daunting.

AbstractBackgroundThe recent COVID‐19 pandemic led to widespread international restrictions, severely impacting on health and social care services. For many individuals with an intellectual disability (ID) this meant reduced access to services and support for them and their carers.AimThe aim of this study was to gain insight into the ways parents of adults with ID coped during the first 2020 lockdown period.MethodsEight parents of adults with ID were interviewed. The recordings of these interviews were subjected to a thematic analysis.ResultsFour main themes were identified: powerless and unappreciated; coping under lockdown; support; and the impact of lockdown on well‐being.ConclusionsThe parents of adults with ID who made up our sample reported that they received little support from services and experienced a sense of powerlessness. Nevertheless, they were open to accepting support from family and friends and showed remarkable resilience. These findings are discussed in the light of the Willner et al. (2020) survey results on parental mental health and coping, and suggestions for future service provision during pandemic conditions are proposed.