This week my blog concerns a journal editorial that I was sent quite recently (thanks Jan) that focused on the abuse suffered by people with learning disabilities at Winterbourne View - Crash: what went wrong at Winterbourne
View? in the Journal of Intellectual Disabilities (2012), Issue 16(3) by Peter Oakes from the University of Hull.
The author states that ‘Despite significant investment of expertise and resources, it has remained remarkably difficult to maintain basic standards of good practice in many of the specialist services' ... and then across the rest of the article he repeatedly restates a profoundly troubling refrain that, for people with learning disabilities: 'You are never to be beautiful, and certainly must not become powerful'.
This editorial piece sets out the journey for a 'powerless' service user from home, through repeated residential placements, and finally then on to more medicalised and geographically distant 'independent' hospital care. He sees the 'crash' of Winterbourne View (repeated more recently at Whorlton Hall) as being sadly inevitable.
‘The journey to the crash actually begins at home where your family is coming to terms with learning that their son, daughter, brother or sister is disabled, different, other. They are told through the media and the medical establishment that something has gone wrong, mistakes have been made and you are not as you should be. You are indeed something other, some form of loss, a burden perhaps. News is broken and sympathy expressed. You are never to be beautiful and certainly must not become powerful.’
‘At the new local service we meet more new people who work in the new service. There are quite a lot of them. They work ‘shifts’ and you must learn that they are not allowed to be your friend. The people who are paid to look after the powerless ones are called ‘staff’ and are often almost as powerless as the people they support; many do an amazing job.’
‘A ‘referral’ is made to one of the teams of health experts … You need help! Well, it is never as simple as that of course. You don’t need help: you need evidence-based interventions. Invariably they will do an assessment and explain that you, the powerless one, have needs and they, the powerful ones, know what they are. It will probably be called a ‘treatment’ or an ‘intervention’. This all takes time and it is often difficult for any solution other than medication to actually be implemented.’ (my bold-ing and underlining for emphasis)
‘The journey continues and you continue to express what it feels like when you are powerless and no one thinks you are beautiful or wants to be with you. They call your distress ‘challenging behaviour' but you don’t feel very challenging … Sometimes, the powerful ones in a local NHS service will step in and offer a bed. The language has now moved firmly into the medical arena and the possibility of straightforward ordinary health care is lost.’
‘The vast majority of people involved in the lead up to this crash wanted to make things better ...There will be tens of thousands of pages written to review and recommend. Working parties will meet, strategy groups will form, steering groups will have delivery subgroups, and something will be done – or perhaps not’ (again my bold-ing and underlining for emphasis).
This insightful and compelling editorial left me asking myself three questions:
1. How then do we create at least some power for such people? (the answer obviously being, in part, by the consistent and effective use of Intensive Interaction that is the most 'person-centred' social communication approach that there is ... and it is there, a whole page on it, in 'Valuing People Now' (DoH, p.37, para 1.6 & all of p.38)) ...
2. How do we start to acknowledge their beauty as individual human beings? (the answer obviously being, in part, by the consistent and effective use of Intensive Interaction that acknowledges the beauty of a person's essential 'self' and inner humanity... and it is there, a whole page on it, in 'Valuing People Now' (DoH, p.37, para 1.6 & all of p.38)) and ...
3. Why is Intensive Interaction still not included in every other relevant Government and NGO published report, guidelines document, recommendation and/or review that defines the care for people with learning disabilities who are essentially beautiful and should be powerful? ... Hmmm sorry, for this one I really don't know the answer.
This editorial piece sets out the journey for a 'powerless' service user from home, through repeated residential placements, and finally then on to more medicalised and geographically distant 'independent' hospital care. He sees the 'crash' of Winterbourne View (repeated more recently at Whorlton Hall) as being sadly inevitable.
‘The journey to the crash actually begins at home where your family is coming to terms with learning that their son, daughter, brother or sister is disabled, different, other. They are told through the media and the medical establishment that something has gone wrong, mistakes have been made and you are not as you should be. You are indeed something other, some form of loss, a burden perhaps. News is broken and sympathy expressed. You are never to be beautiful and certainly must not become powerful.’
‘At the new local service we meet more new people who work in the new service. There are quite a lot of them. They work ‘shifts’ and you must learn that they are not allowed to be your friend. The people who are paid to look after the powerless ones are called ‘staff’ and are often almost as powerless as the people they support; many do an amazing job.’
‘A ‘referral’ is made to one of the teams of health experts … You need help! Well, it is never as simple as that of course. You don’t need help: you need evidence-based interventions. Invariably they will do an assessment and explain that you, the powerless one, have needs and they, the powerful ones, know what they are. It will probably be called a ‘treatment’ or an ‘intervention’. This all takes time and it is often difficult for any solution other than medication to actually be implemented.’ (my bold-ing and underlining for emphasis)
‘The journey continues and you continue to express what it feels like when you are powerless and no one thinks you are beautiful or wants to be with you. They call your distress ‘challenging behaviour' but you don’t feel very challenging … Sometimes, the powerful ones in a local NHS service will step in and offer a bed. The language has now moved firmly into the medical arena and the possibility of straightforward ordinary health care is lost.’
‘The vast majority of people involved in the lead up to this crash wanted to make things better ...There will be tens of thousands of pages written to review and recommend. Working parties will meet, strategy groups will form, steering groups will have delivery subgroups, and something will be done – or perhaps not’ (again my bold-ing and underlining for emphasis).
This insightful and compelling editorial left me asking myself three questions:
1. How then do we create at least some power for such people? (the answer obviously being, in part, by the consistent and effective use of Intensive Interaction that is the most 'person-centred' social communication approach that there is ... and it is there, a whole page on it, in 'Valuing People Now' (DoH, p.37, para 1.6 & all of p.38)) ...
2. How do we start to acknowledge their beauty as individual human beings? (the answer obviously being, in part, by the consistent and effective use of Intensive Interaction that acknowledges the beauty of a person's essential 'self' and inner humanity... and it is there, a whole page on it, in 'Valuing People Now' (DoH, p.37, para 1.6 & all of p.38)) and ...
3. Why is Intensive Interaction still not included in every other relevant Government and NGO published report, guidelines document, recommendation and/or review that defines the care for people with learning disabilities who are essentially beautiful and should be powerful? ... Hmmm sorry, for this one I really don't know the answer.
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