Learning Disability

The original National Development Team (NDT) started its life in the 1970’s as part of government, aiming to close the old mental handicap institutions. Since, then, the organisation has always been at the forefront of the progressive learning disability agenda. For example, we took the lead in bringing supported living and supported employment to the UK in the early 1990’s.

Nowadays, we continue to press for radical action that will help people to live lives as equal citizens. Whilst supporting much of the current policy in all part of the United Kingdom, we also believe there is a need to keep on challenging its boundaries and ensure that equal citizenship is at the heart of its delivery as well as the words of intent.

Other parts of the website describe our learning disability work in full – including policy advice, development consultancy, training and research and evaluation. Some specific current learning disability NDTi initiatives are:

  • The housing and social inclusion project – identifying what works in terms of using the move from residential care to real tenancies in terms of promoting community inclusion
  • A specific learning disability and employment initiative, including strategies for reviewing the effectiveness of current investment in employment programmes and redirecting resources to achieve greater outcomes i.e. people in paid work
  • Work with the Cabinet Office and Office of Disability Issues to introduce Project Search to the UK as one way of  supporting people with learning disabilities into real, paid jobs
  • A joint initiative with HSA around the transition to adulthood and the use of person centred approaches
  • Local Services for Local People – an initiative with the Valuing People Team in England to explore how providers of private hospitals can be supported to modernize their services
  • A framework to help PCT’s and NHS Trusts review their deliver of mainstream healthcare to people with learning disabilities

To find out more about our work on Learning Disability, please see the attached leaflet (Read more). This leaflet is also available in the easier to read format (Read more).

For more information contact Bill Love.