If we want to hear the voices of people who have ID then we need appropriate ways to do this. Qualitative methods are playing an increasing role in bringing the unknown about people who have ID into the known. The approach plays a valuable role in informing us about the experiences and lives of people who have ID. However, we have identified many methodological issues which will need to be further explored. At the same time, we need to develop methods to enable increased participation of people who have ID in some aspects of research. The participatory paradigm is more established in qualitative approaches as it lends itself to participation in generating research questions, developing interview questions, conducting interviews and even stages of the analysis. There are clearly areas that need to be addressed by trained researchers and the whole process will need some facilitation and support. Writing up for journals is one aspect that could be very problematic: so other forms of dissemination need to be explored.

Introduction  People with intellectual disabilities are now acknowledged to be susceptible to the full range of mental health disorders. This acknowledgement has resulted in the need to develop and evaluate instruments for the assessment and detection of mental health problems. This research evaluates the use of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) with 200 people with mild intellectual disabilities representing community, clinical and forensic populations. Results and conclusions  Results illustrate the reliability of the BSI for each of the groups and demonstrates how the Positive Symptom Total (PST) index effectively discriminates between study groups. Case rates for each group are provided. The study illustrates that the BSI could be employed as a brief multitrait assessment instrument and as a treatment outcome measure with people with an intellectual disability.

We found out that it is important for people with a learning disability to have good things in their lives, but it is also important to be enabled to access these good things.

Carers struggled to cope with both the environmental and interpersonal impacts of the hoarding. Lacking both formal and informal networks of support, carers are in need of information and treatment options for themselves and their families. Possible avenues for future clinical and theoretical research are suggested.

Background Despite repeated calls for research on the efficacy and effectiveness of psychotherapy with people with intellectual disabilities there has been little progress in this area. This paper reports a naturalistic study of the effectiveness of individual psychodynamic psychotherapy provided in routine clinical practice. Method The study was an open trial design with a 3-month follow-up period. Widely available and used psychotherapy outcome measures were adopted, but administered in an assisted completion format at intake, outcome and follow-up. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA. Effect sizes were also computed. ResultsThe results show statistically significant reductions in recipients' levels of psychological distress and

Background Research into self-harm among people with intellectual disabilities has focused predominantly on high frequency internally maladaptive behaviour among people whose disability is severe or profound. Research into different forms of self-harm, such as cutting or burning the skin, found in those with mild intellectual disabilities; especially those living in secure accommodation, has largely been neglected, although there has been recognition of its impact on individuals and staff working in this field. This study aimed to address this issue through exploration of the experiences and understanding of self-harm among people with intellectual disabilities living in secure accommodation. A second aim was to explore experiences of interventions associated with this behaviour. Method and Results Semi-structured interviews were carried out with nine people who self harm, have intellectual disabilities and had been placed in secure accommodation. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis yielded three master themes. The first related to the interpersonal context of self-harm and included sub themes relating to past experiences of abuse and loss, and current issues of control and protection. The second master theme related to the emotional experience of self-harm, which varied throughout the process of selfharm and was characterized by anger, frustration, hopelessness, relief, guilt and regret. The third master theme related to the management of self-harm. Participants had experience of helpful individual and collaborative strategies, as well as interventions that were experienced as controlling, unhelpful or ridiculing. Conclusion Emerging themes are considered in relation to the wider-self-harm literature and current psychotherapeutic models. A number of limitations to the study are noted and the use of this methodology with people with intellectual disabilities was discussed.

The development, usage and clinical utility of psychometric tests for the assessment of mental health problems experienced by people with an intellectual disability has only recently become a clinical issue and subject of methodological debate. In general there are a paucity of measures, little consideration for reliability/validity issues and lack of intellectual disability group norms. In this paper we describe the application of the Symptom Checklist (SCL‐90‐R) with people with intellectual disabilities. Results suggest that the measure has high reliability and validity with this population and that the SCL‐90‐R effectively indexes mental health concerns. Significant differences were observed across symptom dimensions and global indices between community and clinical groups. Preliminary norms on the SCL‐90‐R for intellectually disabled people are provided. The data are discussed in terms of the potential for the SCL‐90‐R to be used as an outcome measure for intellectually disabled people with mental health problems regardless of the mode of intervention. Guidance is provided for applying the measure with intellectually disabled individuals.

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