Child Protection and Parents with a Learning Disability of related interest Parental Learning Disability and Children’s Needs Family Experiences and Effective Practice Hedy Cleaver and Don Nicholson ISBN 978 1 84310 632 6 eISBN 978 1 84642 744 2 A Practitioners’ Tool for Child Protection and the Assessment of Parents Jeff Fowler ISBN 978 1 84310 050 8 eISBN 978 1 84642 209 6 Mastering Whole Family Assessment in Social Work Balancing the Needs of Children, Adults and Their Families Fiona Mainstone ISBN 978 1 84905 240 5 eISBN 978 0 85700 484 0 Risk in Child Protection Assessment Challenges and Frameworks for Practice Martin C. Calder with Julie Archer ISBN 978 1 84905 479 9 eISBN 978 0 85700 858 9 The Child’s World The Comprehensive Guide to Assessing Children in Need Second Edition Edited by Jan Horwath ISBN 978 1 84310 568 8 eISBN 978 0 85700 183 2 Child Protection and Parents with a Learning Disability Good Practice for Assessing and Working with Adults Including Autism Spectrum Disorders and Borderline Learning Disability Penny Morgan Jessica Kingsley Publishers London and Philadelphia First published in 2017 by Jessica Kingsley Publishers 73 Collier Street London N1 9BE, UK and 400 Market Street, Suite 400 Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA www.jkp.com Copyright © Penny Morgan 2017 Front cover image source: © Mories602/iStock. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying, storing in any medium by electronic means or transmitting) without the written permission of the copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the law or under terms of a licence issued in the UK by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd. www.cla.co.uk or in overseas territories by the relevant reproduction rights organisation, for details see www.ifrro.org. Applications for the copyright owner’s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publisher. Warning: The doing of an unauthorised act in relation to a copyright work may result in both a civil claim for damages and criminal prosecution. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Names: Morgan, Penny (Clinical psychologist), author. Title: Child protection and parents with learning disability : good practice for assessing and working with adults--including autism spectrum disorders to borderline learning disability / Penny Morgan. Description: London ; Philadelphia : Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016008981 | ISBN 9781849056793 (alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Family social work--Great Britain. | Learning disabled--Family relationships--Great Britain. | Parents with mental disabilities--Services for--Great Britain. | Children of parents with disabilities--Services for--Great Britain. | Child welfare--Great Britain. Classification: LCC HV700.G7 M67 2017 | DDC 362.30941--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016008981 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 84905 679 3 eISBN 978 1 78450 186 0 This book is dedicated to the girls – Holly, Jess, Ellie, Cerys and Robyn. With thanks to Paul, Rose and Corrina for their help and advice. Contents Chapter 1 Introduction 7 Chapter 2 Mild Learning Disability and How it Affects Parenting 25 Chapter 3 Borderline Learning Disability and Parenting 46 Chapter 4 Mental Health and Learning Disabilities 65 Chapter 5 Autism Spectrum Disorder 91 Chapter 6 Parenting, Emotions and Attachment 110 Chapter 7 The Assessment Process 123 Chapter 8 Working with Families 135 Chapter 9 Conclusions 156 Resources 159 References 161 Subject Index 168 Author Index 173