New UK report: Raising our Sights

See new report by Jim Mansell on services for people with PIMD.
To find out more and link to the report click here.

Intensive Interaction ‘DownUnder’ 2

Sharing this information...
Intensive Interaction ‘DownUnder’ 2
Friday 4 & Saturday 5 March 2011
Adelaide, South Australia
Our first conference in Brisbane 2008 heard presentations about a broad range of practice and celebrated the many interesting journeys which had led to excellent beginnings and practices in schools and other settings.
However all practitioners know that following the initial surge of response and interactive exploration that is associated with their learners’ early encounters with Intensive Interaction, at some time reaches a plateau. The plateau often begins to open up as the learner begins to explore the familiar structure of established interactions. A similar plateau occurs in the practitioners’ certainty about the direction they are travelling and their own confidence While we are sure many delegates will still be interested to hear accounts of how your interactive seeds have sprouted and your cultures are growing, the theme for the conference in 2011
Australasian Conference on Intensive Interaction in Adelaide is "Exploring the Plateau"
We welcome your contributions about the interactive paths your learners have explored and how you have accompanied them the measures you have taken to embed Intensive Interaction into the ethos of your workplace the good practices and organisational structures you have identified as the most useful to give you the freedom to practice Intensive Interaction in your context. We welcome submissions and contributions from special educators, therapists, administrators, carers
and parents using the approach with learners who experience profound intellectual and multiple disabilities, or those learners whose severe-profound intellectual disabilities are augmented by autistic spectrum disorders.
Building on the momentum that is accumulating in Australia and New Zealand, our conference will again present a forum to reflect on and refine the uses of evidence based practice in a variety of settings, including schools, home and workplaces and provide an opportunity to develop the professional networks which are emerging across the region.
For more information go to http://www.ammp.com.au/iid2/

Upcoming Workshop in Victoria - Armchair travel

The following workshop is being conducted by Communication Resource Centre - I have no connection with it - but it looks great!
This workshop will provide:
Information about
• the concept of armchair travel
• the role of the senses and the impact of sensory processing disorders on the ability to participate in everyday activities
• sensory assessments
• Armchair travel resources

and strategies for
• enhancing sensory performance
• formatting armchair travel experiences
• developing other sensory-focused activities

The practical component of this workshop provides you with the opportunity to develop an armchair travel experience for someone you support.

Prerequisites:
An interest in developing individualised supports to engage people with PIMD in activities in ways that are meaningful to them.

Target audience:
Direct support staff, teachers and others who support people with PIMD.

Date: Monday - March 29th 2010
Time: 9.30am – 4.00pm
Venue: Whitehorse Library – Meeting room 1
Cost: $187.00 (Includes GST)

To register for this workshop you will need to complete an application form. See attachment
OR Telephone 03 9843 2000 OR Email crc@scopevic.org.au
Communication Resource Centre, Scope, 830 Whitehorse Rd, Box Hill 3128

Intensive Interaction in Australia

Just realised I hadn't said much about Intensive Interaction in Australia. Mark Barber is doing an amazing job spearheading the development of it in schools in Australia. He and Karryn Bowen has released a new DVD illustrating the technique and some of the use in schools. Give Mark a buzz if you want to find out more about the regular training that he offers. This is a technique with accumulating evidence for how it helps children and adults with PIMD develop fundamental communication skills. http://drmarkbarber.co.uk

handy online resource accross issues

In 2001 Judith Samuel and Marie Pritchard from Oxfordshire UK wrote an article called the The Ignored Minority: Meeting the Needs of People with Profound Learning Disability, in which they outlined the development of a specialist service focusing on the needs of people with PIMD. Nearly ten years later I thought I'd look at where the service is at. It was great to see that they appear to be going strong and have published some of their tools online (e.g. pre hearing screening, continence audit, comfort assessment, and intensive interaction work). Very handy.http://www.oldt.nhs.uk/aboutus/ourservices/community/MDRTResourceCentre.aspx

Learning from mistakes abroad

Toward the end of last year Beverly Dawkins published the following article: Dawkins, B. (2009). Valuing Tom: will Valuing People Now change the lives of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities? Tizard Learning Disability Review, 14(4), 3-12.
It is a response to the UK Valuing People Now policy shift and its impact on people with PIMD in the UK. It highlights the many ways in which the current policy has let down people with PIMD:
- decreased access to day services
- poor planning
- continued discrimination in health context leading to uneccessary pain and, at times, death
- continued inadequate access to advocacy
- ...
New initiatives attempting to improve the lives of people with PIMD in the UK are highlighted: Emerson's demographic study, Mencap's various studies...
Although this is based in the UK, I believe this is highly relevent in the Australian context, both in terms of current and future issues.

Paradigms and pragmatics

I'm busily working on my thesis. Read this quote, which I thought was worth sharing.
“Although issues such as community-based supports, quality of life, and normalization remain equally important to nonambulatory persons with PMR [profound mental retardation], a failure to plan for their day-to-day needs can result in decreased access to appropriate health-care services, deterioration in functioning, and overreliance upon a group of poorly trained and isolate caregivers”
- Kobe, F. H., Mulick, J. A., Rash, T. A., & Martin, J. (1994). Nonambulatory persons with profound mental retardation: Physical, developmental, and behavioral characteristics. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 15(6), 413-423. doi: 10.1016/0891-4222(94)90026-4

The Argo Trust

At the recent ASSID conference in Hobart I had the pleasure of hearing about a great organisation called the Argo Trust. Dayna and Leigh talked about the history and culture of this single house organisation. The essential role of families in the establishment and ongoing success of the organisation was evident. I was particularly inspired with how the organisation appeared to stand up to funding bodies to say "no, that requirement is not meaningful and appropriate for us" and stand strong to have their voices heard. Images of the community of Argo provided evidence of respect, and the voices of staff and families caried love.
The service is in New Zealand. You can find out more throught their website www.argo.org.nz and blog http://argotrust.blogspot.com/

Deafblindness in people with PIMD

This article may be of interest
Fellinger, J., Holzinger, D., Dirmhirn, A., Dijk, J. v., & Goldberg, D. (2009). Failure to detect deaf-blindness in a population of people with intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 53(10), 874-881. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2788.2009.01205.x

Abstract
Background Early identification of deaf-blindness is essential to ensure appropriate management. Previous studies indicate that deaf-blindness is often missed.We aim to discover the extent to which deaf-blindness in people with intellectual disability (ID) is undiagnosed.
Method A survey was made of the 253 residents of an institute offering residential and occupational facilities for people with IDs. Data are included for the 224 individuals who were able to complete both auditory and visual assessments. Otoacoustic emissions were used to screen for hearing impairment; those who did not pass were assessed by behavioural
audiometry. Visual acuity was assessed with one of the following: EH-Optotypes, LH-Optotypes,
Teller Acuity Cards, Cardiff Acuity Cards or the Stycar Ball Vision Test.
Results Prior to the study hearing impairment had been diagnosed in 12.5% of the 224 subjects, and visual impairment in 17%. Upon completion of the study these figures rose to 46% and 38.4% respectively. Deaf-blindness was diagnosed in 3.6% of the subjects before, and in 21.4% after, the study. Most (87.5%) of the deaf-blind individuals had profound ID.
Conclusion Deaf-blindness is most often not identified either by standard medical screening or by care staff. Individuals with this disability, however, require provision of special kinds of care. Four categories of deaf-blindness are proposed, according to the severity of sensory impairment in each modality. The tests used in this study are non-invasive and are appropriate for individuals with ID and children.
Early and periodic screening for visual and hearing impairment in individuals with ID is
recommended.

New Report from UK on Numbers of people with PMLD

Thanks Alex for forwarding me this report.
Eric Emerson has completed a report entitled "Estimating future numbers of adults with profound multiple learning disabilities in England" for the Centre for Disability Research at Lancaster University.
The brief report highlights an estimated sustained and growing number of adults with PMLD in England. He estimates that in the 'average' area in England with a population of 250,000, the number of adults with PMLD receiving support services will rise from 78 in 2009 to 105 in 2026.
I encourage you to read this report, which for me highlights the need for focus on people with PIMD, ensuring services that are appropriate for this group.
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_103201