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Distress in children with learning disabilities at a respite unit: perspectives on their experiences
Author(s) -
Radcliffe Jonathan J. L.,
Turk Vicky
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
british journal of learning disabilities
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.633
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1468-3156
pISSN - 1354-4187
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-3156.2007.00469.x
Subject(s) - respite care , distress , learning disability , psychology , developmental psychology , unit (ring theory) , medicine , nursing , clinical psychology , mathematics education
Accessible summary• This research was done in London with children who went to a respite unit. • All the children had learning disabilities. • Children go to respite units to give their parents a rest. • Some children like going to respite. Other children get very unhappy at respite and miss their home badly. • It can be difficult to tell if children do not like going when they cannot talk very much. • Teachers, respite staff and parents had different opinions about whether the children like going. • We think it is very important to try to find out whether the children get very unhappy so people can try to make things better for them.Summary Numerous studies have investigated the benefits of respite to families with a disabled child. Far fewer have examined the effects on the child and none have systematically compared information about this from different sources. Reports of behavioural reactions and views on distress were gathered from parents, teachers and respite staff. Children were also asked for their views. Over half the children (54%) were reported to show medium or strong negative reactions lasting for 1 or more days by a parent or teacher. Reported reactions varied widely between home and school and no concordance was found between parents, teachers and respite staff groups regarding distress. Some children’s views differed from those of their parent or teacher. The findings highlight the extent of differences in perspectives and suggest the need for greater awareness of the possible distress to children attending respite. This is discussed in relation to factors such as the potential conflict of interests between parents and children, communication and behavioural difficulties, and the context in which the child is observed.