BJSW Advance Access originally published online on October 31, 2005
British Journal of Social Work 2006 36(4):597-616; doi:10.1093/bjsw/bch297
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Parents Whose Children with Learning Disabilities and Challenging Behaviour Attend 52-week Residential Schools: Their Perceptions of Services Received and Expectations of the Future
Peter McGill is Senior Lecturer in Learning Disability at the Tizard Centre. A clinical psychologist by training, he has previously held posts in the NHS, social services and the voluntary sector.
Alan Tennyson is a Programme Supervisor with the RehabCare Group. He carried out this research during postgraduate study at the Tizard Centre.
Vivien Cooper is the parent of a young man with severe learning disabilities and challenging behaviour and the founder of the Challenging Behaviour Foundation, an organization established to provide information and support to families and others. She is also a postgraduate student at the Tizard Centre.
Correspondence to Peter McGill, Tizard Centre, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, England CT2 9DG. E-mail: P.McGill{at}kent.ac.uk
This paper reports the findings of a survey of parents whose children attended 52-week residential schools. Seventy-three parents completed a postal questionnaire which asked questions about three main areas: support and services received prior to their child’s entry into residential education; perceptions of the quality of care and education provided by residential schools; and concerns for their child’s future care and welfare. Telephone interviews were conducted with 14 parents, to obtain additional information on the topics addressed by the questionnaire. Parents were critical of services and support received prior to their child’s entry into residential education and reported high rates of exclusion from local services. Residential schools were generally perceived as providing a good quality of service, though considerable concern was expressed about their geographical distance from the family home, and this had a significant impact on the frequency of visits. Parents expressed high levels of concern about the future care and support needs of their children. Further research is required to understand the relationship between the availability and quality of local services and the need for 52-week residential schools. The impact of distant residential education on parent–child relationships and on future demand for residential care is considered.
Keywords: Learning disabled children, residential schools, parental views, challenging behaviour