Barriers to developing proactive support for people with autism
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Barriers to developing proactive support for people with autism
IRAS ID
201681
Contact name
Paraskevi Triantafyllopoulou
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Research Ethics & Governance Officer
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 5 months, 28 days
Research summary
The role of community learning disability teams is to support adults with learning disabilities and/or autism to live fulfilling lives in their local community. Anecdotal evidence suggests that there are gaps and barriers in support, but there is limited research in understanding the barriers to developing proactive strategies and services for adults with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in community learning disability teams. Lack of access to appropriate, required support is likely to have a detrimental impact on adults with autism, and research has shown that people with autism often develop serious mental health issues (National Autistic Society, 2015).
The purpose of the study is to identify barriers to developing proactive services to meet the needs of people with autism and IDD in community learning disabilities teams.
The research will aim to answer the following research questions:
1. What services are available for adults with autism and intellectual developmental disabilities and are the services available meeting the needs of adults with autism and IDD?
2. What barriers do adults with autism face when accessing community learning disability teams?
3. Are adults with autism falling through the gaps in support and if so, why?
4. What barriers have professionals within learning disability teams encountered in setting up services for adults with autism?
The research will be a qualitative study and will be divided in two parts. Three sites will be recruited to this study. At each site, interviews will be carried out with 10-15 adults who have a formal diagnosis of autism and IDD and are currently using a community learning disability team service, and a focus group will be carried out with 10-13 professionals who work within the community learning disability service.
REC name
London - Bromley Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/1756
Date of REC Opinion
3 Nov 2016
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion