Description:
People with learning disabilities, in Scotland and across the UK as a whole, have been the target of considerable legislative and policy change over the last five years. A key theme relates to the inclusion of people with learning disabilities in the community - in education, in training and employment and in relation to accessing health, housing and leisure services. This is perhaps best exemplified by the review of learning disability services, The Same as You?, published by the Scottish Executive in 2000 and the parallel document in England, Valuing People, which was published in 2001. As a result of these initiatives people with learning disabilities, their families, service providers, policy makers and other professionals working alongside them have to navigate their way through a very complex array of regulation and provision.

Gillian McIntyre acknowledges and addresses this complexity by mapping and reviewing critically these relevant policy developments in Scotland and across the UK as a whole. Drawing on the available research evidence, the author adopts a life cycle approach, tracing the journey taken by young adults with learning disabilities upon leaving school and making the transition to adulthood and beyond. Focusing on the major areas identified in The Same As You? she identifies key messages in the fields of education, training and employment, health and social work. The book thus contributes an inter-professional perspective to the field of learning disability and provides essential reading for professionals working within the field as well as for students of social policy, disability studies and other related disciplines.

Gillian MacIntyre is a lecturer in the Glasgow School of Social Work, a joint school of the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde. This book is based on research conducted as part of her doctoral thesis which looked at the transition from childhood to adulthood for young people with learning disabilities. Her research interests are in the areas of learning disability, mental health and social work education.