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This paper is about my job as a research supporter. I was part of a team, with three people with learning difficulties. They had paid jobs as researchers. The project was at a People First organisation, and it was about direct payments.These are the things I tried to do in my job:It is not always easy to do these things. The supporter needs to learn how to step back, and find ways for researchers with learning difficulties to do things for themselves.It is important that people with learning difficulties know how powerful they can be when they are doing research.People First organisations need to decide for themselves about the research they may want to do.Thank you to CHANGE for the use of pictures from their PictureBank. In a previous article [Brit J Learn Disabil27: 48–51], entitled‘Researching Together’, I described the process by which a team of People First researchers and myself worked together on a small-scale project in Bristol. The project was started by self advocates, and followed their own ideas, although they had support. Walmsley refers to it [Disabil Soc16: 198] as a‘team approach, rather than one where the people with learning disabilities are in charge’, admitting that the title‘Researching Together’ led her to this conclusion. My basic aim in writing this sequel, then, is to consider the notion of‘together’. Is the equation of togetherness about equal roles, or does it automatically imply that one partner is more powerful than the others? This is a practice paper, which offers some analysis of our own experiences in a large-scale, funded research project, in which the self advocates had paid employment as researchers. All members of the team can contribute to this kind of reflexivity. The article concludes that inclusive research is something new, with its own hallmarks and styles. The research supporter has to remain aware of the potential power in her own role, and to be prepared to divest herself of that power and to step back, so that People First members take control of the process of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessible summary Older people with learning disabilities who develop memory problems are likely to feel sad., There is much information showing how people with learning disabilities can learn new behaviours which help them to think differently and feel better., This is the story of how I helped one older man with learning disabilities and memory problems to change how he was behaving and feel happier., Abstract Background: There is a considerable body of evidence to suggest that behavioural activation for depression is an equally effective but less complex treatment than cognitive behavioural therapy. It may therefore be more suitable for those who are cognitively impaired (i.e. early-stage dementia or mild cognitive impairment) or have a learning disability. Materials and Methods: A case study is presented that outlines how a behavioural approach was used to support an older adult with a learning disability and mild cognitive impairment who was depressed. It was delivered by the carer liaison practitioner employed by a memory service. Results: The client's score on the GDS- LD reduced from 23 to 5 and on the GAS- ID from 19 to 11 indicating a clinically significant improvement in his symptoms of depression and anxiety at post-treatment. Mood ratings on the Ottawa Mood Scales rose from 2/10 to 7/10. Increased engagement in activities and an improvement in the client's problem-solving abilities were evident. Conclusions: The case study demonstrates the clinical utility of behavioural activation as a treatment for depression in an older adult with a learning disability and mild cognitive impairment. This matches the findings of other studies of behavioural activation as an intervention to treat depression in older adults. However, the client did not have a formal diagnosis of learning disability and may therefore be atypical. More comprehensive studies, including randomised controlled trials, are needed to confirm these findings and more thoroughly test the effectiveness of behavioural interventions with this client group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is about a training project run by Central England People First (CEPF). CEPF has been doing workshops, conferences and other training for over 10 years. It seemed like a good idea to help other people with learning difficulties to learn how to be trainers. This would help them to speak out about their lives and the services they want. CEPF asked the Department of Health for some money to design a ‘training for trainers’ programme, and try it out. The Department of Health agreed, and CEPF set up the National User Training Development Project. The training team designed a 2-day programme, and asked people in different parts of the country to try it out. Eight organizations agreed, including a care village, another People First group and two social services departments. Eighty people with learning difficulties and support people took part. The project team told them about what training is for, and how to organize it. They also had the chance to try out their own ideas. They practiced ‘role plays’, ‘speaking up’, doing quizzes and using video recorders. At the end, the people who took part filled in evaluation sheets, so that the team could find out if the training was useful. Most people said that they had enjoyed it, and that they had learned something. At the end of this project, we think we have learnt two things: 1. People with learning difficulties can be good trainers, because they are experts about services and the things that are important in their lives. 2. Using training can be a good way of helping people with learning difficulties to speak out about how they want to be treated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the growing trend for the development of befriending services, there is a paucity of research about the views of people involved with these services and the effectiveness of service provision. This article describes some of the views and experiences of paid workers, volunteer befrienders, service users (befriendees) and family carers involved with seven befriending services for children and/or adults with learning difficulties in England. Although each of the befriending services shared the broad purpose of increasing the friendship circles of the befriendees, their aims and the ways in which they worked, differed considerably. The focus of the article is on some of the key issues that the befriending services faced, factors that were found to contribute to good practice within befriending services and recommendations for good practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article shows why people with learning difficulties need to do research about learning difficulties. The authors' research group has been running for about 4 years. It has eight members. About 6 years ago the Adult Training Centre in Carlisle, England started closing down. The authors went in to ask people with learning difficulties what they thought and felt about it. The first People First group came about in October 1984 after some people went to a conference on self-advocacy in the U.S. It was called People First of London and Thames. Since then it is thought there are about 1200 self-advocacy type groups in Great Britain for people with learning difficulties.