Love Attachment And Intellectual Disability

This book came about from the authors' experience working together in clinical learning disabilities services, and their work to move the focus away from the management of challenging behaviour and towards a trauma-informed, attachment-based approach to caring. It will introduce some of the key theories that have informed our understanding of the emotional development of people with intellectual disabilities and the importance of receiving love from an attachment figure from a young age, followed by case studies that focus on the lives of particular individuals - sometimes presented as individual therapy sessions and sometimes an overview of progress across many sessions. Whilst it describes work done by a psychology team in community health services, it is relevant to all health and social care professionals who help people with intellectual disabilities, as well as useful for advocates, service commissioners, families and healthcare generalists.

Attachment in Intellectual and Developmental Disability: A Clinician’s Guide to Practice and Research is the first book to explore the clinical difficulties associated with attachment relationships in people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Draws together knowledge from disparate sources in a definitive new resource for clinicians working in this area A growing body of evidence-based approaches in this area are underpinned by attachment theory, including direct intervention and the use of attachment theory to understand interactions and relationships Presents and integrates cutting-edge models and approaches that have previously been available only to specialists Written by mainstream practitioners who are active in clinical work and research; focused on real-world applications, with illustrative case examples throughout

Attachment in Intellectual and Developmental Disability “Skillfully introduced and edited by Helen Fletcher and her colleagues, this long-needed collection of excellent chapters on attachment and disability reveals the vast wellspring of resilience that persons with disability possess – or can be helped to achieve. Readers will discover how best to support a family member, client or friend with a ‘disability’. A definitive resource for multiple disciplines, this book is surely required reading for all those working in the health professions aimed at addressing the needs of those with severe physical, mental or emotional impairments.” Professor Howard Steele, New School for Social Research “This informative, comprehensive text is unique, and is destined to become an invaluable national and international resource on attachment issues in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities. Given the breadth and depth of this book, practitioners can use it both as a guide in practice and as a resource for research purposes. Both the editors and contributors are to be congratulated for introducing attachment theory to a wider audience, who will all, I am sure, appreciate the centrality and importance of this theoretical framework to their everyday practice.” Professor Bob Gates, University of West London This title in The Wiley Series in Clinical Psychology is the first to explore the role of attachment theory in understanding and helping children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). There is a growing evidence base of interventions for IDD underpinned by attachment theory, including direct intervention and the application of attachment theory to understand the interactions and relationships that occur between individuals with IDD and those who support them. Attachment in Intellectual and Developmental Disability brings together leading clinicians and researchers to present and integrate cutting-edge models and approaches that have previously been accessible only to specialists. They discuss the role of attachment theory in clinical practice when working across the lifespan of people with IDD, the theoretical basis of attachment difficulties, and how these difficulties are presented. They also discuss practical approaches to assessment and intervention, using clear case studies to illustrate the applications of attachment theory to clinical work.

Understanding Intellectual Disability: A Guide for Professionals and Parents supports professionals and parents in understanding critical concepts, correct assessment procedures, delicate and science-infused communication practices and treatment methods concerning children with intellectual disabilities. From a professional perspective, this book relies on developmental neuropsychology and psychiatry to describe relevant measures and qualitative observations when making a diagnosis and explores the importance of involving parents in the reconstruction of a child’s developmental history. From a parent’s perspective, the book shows how enriched environments can empower children’s learning processes, and how working with patients, families, and organizations providing care and treatment services can be effectively integrated with attachment theory. Throughout seven chapters, the book offers an exploration of diagnostic procedures, new insights on the concept of intelligence and the role of communication and secure attachment in the mind’s construction. With expertise from noteworthy scholars in the field, the reader is given an overview of in-depth assessment and intervention practices illustrated by several case studies and examples, as well as a lifespan perspective from a Human Rights Model of disability. Understanding Intellectual Disability is an accessible guide offering an up-to-date vision of intellectual disability and is essential for psychologists, health care professionals, special educators, students in clinical psychology, and parents. Things are connected through invisible bonds: you cannot pluck a flower without unsettling a star. Galileo Galilei

This book gathers together recent international research in intellectual disability (ID), examining the diverse modes of existence that characterise living with intellectual disabilities in the 21st century. Ranging from people with no speech and little mobility who need 24-hour care, to people who marry or hold down jobs, this book moves beyond the typical person with ID imagined by public policy: healthy, with mild ID and a supportive family, and living in a welcoming community. The book is divided into three sections. The first, ‘A richer picture of people and relationships’, expands our understanding of different people and lifestyles associated with ID. The second section, ‘Where current policies fall short’, finds that Supported Living provides just as 'mediocre' a form of care as group homes, and concludes that services for people with challenging behaviour are unrelated to need. The contributors’ research identifies no effective employment support strategies, as well as technological and legal changes that prevent organisations from employing people with ID. With nearly a quarter of this population in poor health, the contributors reflect on whether ‘social model’ approaches should be allowed to trump medical considerations. The third section, ‘New thinking about well-being’, reveals that being old, poor, and living alone increases health risk, and that medication administration is significantly more complex for people with ID. Moving beyond 20th century certainties surrounding intellectual disability, this book will be of interest to those studying contemporary issues facing those living with ID, as well as those studying public health policy more widely. The chapters in this book were originally published in issues of the Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability.

Troubled children need special parenting to build attachments and heal from trauma. This book provides a parenting model that parents and carers can follow to incorporate love, play, acceptance, curiosity and empathy into their parenting. These elements are vital to a child's development and will help children to feel confident, secure and happy.

Though the tremendous amount of recently-emerged developmentally-oriented research has produced much progress in understanding the personality, social, and emotional characteristics of persons with intellectual disabilities (ID), there is still much we don't know, and the vast task of precisely charting functioning in all these areas, while also identifying the associated fine-tuned, complex, and intertwined questions that crop up along the way, seems daunting and insurmountable. The goal of The Oxford Handbook of Intellectual Disability and Development is to update the field with new, precise research and sophisticated theory regarding individuals with ID provided by seasoned developmental theorists who have made original conceptual contributions to the field. This volume is divided into five general sections (ID and its connection to genetics, relationships, cognitive development, socio-emotional development, and development of language), with each focused on a domain of functioning or aspect of life that is inherent to an integrated, transactional perspective of development. While developmental approaches to understanding persons with intellectual disability will continue to emerge, this comprehensive volume is a must-read for specialists and developmental psychologists who must have the conceptual foundations for examining the developmental trajectories across persons with any of the many different ID etiologies.

Who are the people we describe as having learning or intellectual disability? Many clinical psychologists working in a mental health setting are now encountering people with learning disabilities, in some cases for the first time. This book provides the background information and understanding required to provide a basis for a truly inclusive and effective service for people with learning disability. In A Guide to Psychological Understanding of People with Learning Disabilities, Jenny Webb argues that we need a new, clinically-based definition of learning disability and an approach which integrates scientific rigour with humanistic concern for this group of people, who are so often vulnerable to misunderstanding and marginalisation. Psychological approaches need to be grounded in an understanding of historical, theoretical and ethical influences as well as a body of knowledge from other disciplines. The Eight Domains is a simple but holistic method for information gathering, while The Three Stories is an integrative model of formulation for use in relation for those people whose needs do not fit neatly into any one theory. Divided into three sections, the book explores: Understanding the context Understanding the person: eight domains Making sense: three stories. This book provides an invaluable guide for trainee clinical psychologists and their supervisors and tutors, working with adults with learning disability. It will also be valuable for clinical psychologists working in mainstream settings who may now be receiving referrals for people with learning disability and want to update their skills.