Parental Learning Disability
"Working Together to Safeguard Children" has advice to offer in paragraphs 9.20 to 9.25 inclusive (Pages 187/188).
The main points are:
- Learning disability must not be generalised to mean poor parenting capacity, it is often the additional stressors associated with the condition that are most likely to lead to concerns about levels of care
- There are risks of inherited learning disability, the child's assumed responsibility of care for the parent and of being targeted to obtain access to children for abusive reasons
- Specialist Assessments are recommended in order to provide the fullest information
- Co-operation with Adults and Community Well-being is absolutely necessary
- Long term support for parents is likely and may require both group education and home based services