Children's Needs – Parenting Capacity - Digital Education Resource ...

34 Children’s Needs – Parenting Capacityparents with learning disabilities in contact with services’ (Department of Health andDepartment for Education and Skills 2007, p.36).People with a learning disability have greater physical and mental health needsand are more likely to have experienced childhood abuse or neglect than the rest ofthe population (McGaw et al. 2007). For example, in the United Kingdom researchindicates 25–40% of adults with a learning disability will experience a mental healthproblem at some point in their lives (MIND 2007). In particular, rates of schizophreniaare three times higher than in the general population, although there are few data onthe prevalence of other types of mental illness (Hassiotis et al. 2000).Parental learning disability: issues of gender, cultureand classMost reports and studies involving people with learning disabilities do notdifferentiate between men and women. As McCarthy (1999) explains ‘It is as ifhaving a learning disability overrides all other identities and it is, somewhat bizarrely, asif it is politically incorrect to draw attention to gender differences.’ Literature that doesdifferentiate between men and women with learning disabilities tends to focus onsexuality and sexual abuse. Studies focusing on men with a learning disability arealmost exclusively about their sexual behaviour, and those which focus on womenhighlight their sexual vulnerability (McCarthy 1999).In contrast, much research has drawn attention to the vulnerability of familieswhere one or more parent has a learning disability. Parents with learning disabilitieshave been found to be amongst the most socially and economically disadvantagedgroups. The financial difficulties faced by these families are illustrated in the figuresdrawn together by Mencap. The data show that less than one in five people withlearning disabilities are in work (compared with one in two disabled people generally)and that those who are working are mostly only working part time and are lowpaid. Just one in three people with learning disabilities take part in some form ofeducation or training (Mencap 2008).Prevalence of parental learning disability: childprotection studiesBecause parents with a learning disability account for a very small proportion of allparents, this group is rarely highlighted in large-scale studies of children referred tochildren’s social care services. However, some data are available. Re-analysis of the2,248 referrals to children’s social care (Cleaver and Walker with Meadows 2004)found parental learning disability had been recorded in less than 1% (0.8%) ofreferred cases. Of those referrals that progressed to an initial assessment, social workersidentified parental learning disability in 2.6% of cases. Hunt and colleagues’ (1999)