Helping to keep safe
| Date | 16 November 2012 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/20441281211285928 |
| Published date | 16 November 2012 |
| Pages | 291-292 |
| Author | Peter Cronin,Liam Peyton |
| Subject Matter | Education,Health & social care |
Helping to keep safe
Peter Cronin and Liam Peyton
Abstract
Purpose – Theaim of this paper is to consider riskfrom the perspectiveof people with learning disabilities.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper explores the thoughts and experiences of two people
with learning disabilities around two different areas of potential risk and their participation in a mental
health promotion group which has helped.
Findings – People with learning disabilities encounter many risks in their lives but with the right support
these risks can be managed.
Originality/value – The paper adds valuable insight into the life of people with learning disabilities and
the risks they face.
Keywords Abscond, Escape, Leave, Risk assessment, Relational security, Learning disabilities,
Mental illness, Risk management
Paper type Case study
We are two men with a mild learning disability who went to school together and are still friends.
We are both members of the Tuesday group which helps people to understand about good
mental health and staying well. We are both independent although we do need some support
from outreach or staff visiting our houses. One of the problems we have experienced and
a common experience for other people with learning disabilities, is being bothered by people
we do not know or want to talk to. This is not people being friendly or saying hello but
something unwanted that can be threatening and cause anxiety.Sometimes this can be nasty,
one of us has been mugged and we both have experiences of hurtful comments from school
kids on the bus and people pestering and begging for money.These experiences are not nice
and can lead to panic attacks and not wanting to go out. Sometimes people are hurtful either
physically or emotionally and these arehate crimes because people pick us out because they
think we are differentin a bad way and stupid. Even people who are friendly can sometimes be
hurtful when they use old fashioned words to describe people with learning disabilities.
In this article we would like to tell people about some of the things we have done and the
topics we have discussed in the Tuesday group to deal with the problem and reduce the risk
of unwanted attention and to keep safe when we are going out.
In the Tuesday group there aretwo people from the local mental health services who help to
run and organise the group and anything from three to eight members. At the group we have
made our rules on how we treat each other like listening and taking turns. Also we choose what
we want to do with our sessions which last for two hours with a short break and sandwiches
and a drink after where we chat. Because many of us have had the problem of being picked on
and this had made some people upset and not wanting to go out we decided that we wanted to
keep safe. This was done over a period of time some weeks we would have a break and talk
about other things and to keep things different we also invites a number of people to
come and talk to us to see if they could help. Below is a list of sessions we did and a little bit
about it.
DOI 10.1108/20441281211285928 VOL. 6 NO. 6 2012, pp. 291-292, QEmerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2044-1282
j
ADVANCES IN MENTALHEALTH AND INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES
j
PAGE 291
Peter Cronin and
Liam Peyton are
based at The Estia Centre,
London, UK.
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