Turning Point Research Highlights That Brits Still Discriminate Against People With Learning Disabilities

LONDON, July 14, 2010 /PRNewswire/ --

- Lack of Understanding Leading to Widespread Prejudice

Turning Point, one of the UK's leading health and social care providers, today launched research findings which highlight that the majority of Brits believe people living with a learning disability are the group most discriminated against in society.

The poll found nine out of ten people believe people with a learning disability still experience discrimination, with more than half (51%) thinking they are the most discriminated against group in society. This comes above other groups often perceived to experience discrimination including homosexuals (44%), overweight people (43%) and ethnic minorities (40%).

The research shows the true extent of discrimination that still exists in society, with a third of us thinking people with learning disabilities cannot live independently or undertake employment.

Nearly a quarter of people surveyed (23%) expect those with learning disabilities to be living in care homes, while nearly one in ten (8%) say they would expect them to be cared for in a secure hospital out of town.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, bearing in mind this level of discrimination, the survey also reveals a lack of knowledge about what constitutes a learning disability.

Just under a third (32%) wrongly identified mental illness as a learning disability, while almost a quarter (24%) classified dementia as one.

Adam Penwarden, Turning Point's Director of Learning Disability Services, believes this lack of understanding is contributing to widespread discrimination. He says:

"People often think individuals with a learning disability are 'different' and discriminate against them because of this. In fact, they can make a great contribution to society when given the right support. This includes working, living independently and playing an active role within the local community."

Leading learning disabilities champion and mother of a child with Down's Syndrome, Rosa Monckton, said it was also interesting that people with a learning disability are frequently stereotyped.

"When people were asked in the survey to describe a typical person with a learning disability they most frequently suggested negative characteristics such as having poor social skills, lack of confidence, shouting, being aggressive or slurred speech," she said.

"Positive characteristics, for example being warm, extrovert or funny, scored far lower, showing people have pre-conceived ideas about how a person with a learning disability will think and behave."

Ms Monckton said it was a great pity that despite advances in so many other areas of society, extreme prejudice still existed towards people with learning disabilities and that people don't understand what a learning disability is or how to relate to people who have one.

Rosa Monckton and Adam Penwarden are available for interview on Tuesday 13th / Wednesday 14th July

Interviews with Pat Sperry, whose daughter Esther has a learning disability and who has directly experienced discrimination, are also available on request

    Notes to Editors

    About the survey

    - The research for Turning Point was carried out online by
      Opinion Matters from 25- 29 June 2010 amongst a panel resulting in 1105
      UK adult respondents

    About learning disability

    - There are 1.5 million people with a learning disability in
      the UK
    - People with a learning disability find it harder than others to
      learn, understand and communicate. People with profound and multiple
      learning disabilities need full-time help with every aspect of their
      lives - including eating, drinking, washing, dressing and toileting
    - The law says people with a learning disability have the right to
      protection from hate crime - but there are no official statistics about
      how much hate crime towards people with a learning disability is
      happening
    - Turning Point has produced a special factsheet with information
      and advice about living with a learning disability. The factsheet can
      be downloaded from the website

http://www.turning-point.co.uk/News/Documents/Learning%20Disability%20

the%20facts.pdf

(Due to the length of this URL, it may be necessary to copy and paste this hyperlink into your Internet browser's URL address field. Remove the space if one exists.)

    About Turning Point

    - Turning Point is the country's leading health and social care
      organisation and provides mental health, employment, learning
      disability and substance misuse services
    - Turning Point supports people with a learning disability who have
      high needs, including profound and multiple learning disabilities,
      challenging behaviour or additional mental health problems. The range
      of services includes supported housing, residential care and day
      support
    - For more information visit http://www.turning-point.co.uk


    For further information or spokesperson interviews please contact:
    Nicky Blunt, +44-(0)20-7861-3107 / +44-(0)7939-269-396
    Kathryn Ager, +44-(0)20-7861-3116 / +44-(0)7834-321-404

SOURCE Turning Point