Press Release

Learning disabilities in the UK: families tell their personal stories

11 October 2005

Researchers at the Open University’s School of Health and Social Care have captured the personal voices and stories of families caring for those with learning disabilities, with a collection of poignant and revealing oral histories spanning the last 100 years.
Dr Sheena Rolph and Professor Dorothy Atkinson are two of the editors of a new book, Witnesses to Change: Families, Learning Difficulties and History.

Dr Rolph said the stories in the book shed a different and fresh light on the history of people with learning disabilities across the UK, and specifically focused on the testimonies of their families and carers.

“This is a comparatively neglected area of study of which little is known or has been recorded,” said Dr Rolph.

“Looking at the history of learning disabilities from a personal family perspective rather than from a policy point of view is very revealing. We believe that these narratives hold key insights into people’s experiences and throw light on changing social patterns generally, and changes in family life in particular.”

Dr Rolph said these stories from the past also remind us how the attitudes and practices of some professionals haven’t changed over the decades, even though it’s clear much has changed for the better since the 1920s and 30s. “Importantly these stories can help us learn from past mistakes and abuses.”

Witnesses to Change shows how learning disabilities have impacted on family life and relationships and how this has varied across the country. It also reveals how public attitudes have shifted considerably from one in which learning disabilities were seen as a “mental deficiency” to a more enlightened attitude which recognised that people with learning disabilities have rights.

The life-history methodology used for the book has been pioneered by the Social History of Learning Disability Research Group at the OU. The group has previously written, supported and edited three other books which developed this approach to learning disability history.
“Great strides have been made in the last 10 years in uncovering the history of learning disability using oral sources. What shines through in the stories we’ve gathered is the enormous pride families and friends take in their children,” said Dr Rolph.

The contribution that individual families made towards changing society attitudes to learning disabilities is reflected in many of the oral histories. One parent, writing in the 1960s, introduced the idea of a mutual support group for parents of children with learning disabilities. “There was a coming together of parents with the aim of helping ourselves and each other. How wonderful it was to meet them and to know we were not alone,” she wrote.

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