In Partnership with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation

A wide range of services is available for people with learning disabilities and research involving these services is typically concerned with their impact on this specific group of individuals, and the support they provide to them. More or less by default therefore, the boundary of most research in its field is defined by the scope of services.

This report relates the experiences of those people with learning disabilities who are not using specialist services, and examines the range of ambiguities and complexities involved for people living their lives ‘on the edge’ of services.

The report also considers the practice and policy implications that stem from this research, raising many of these issues in a UK context, and setting them against impending policy reforms. 

It will be of interest to all those who are involved in providing and accessing the most appropriate support for people with learning disabilities, particularly those people who are increasingly being excluded from specialist services because of changing eligibility criteria.

Professionals within the social care sector are required to undertake Continuous Professional Development (CPD) by the General Social Care Council (GSCC). Those who use this resource will be able to gain CPD points.