This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Shaw, S. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Shaw, S. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Problems, problems

You are such a problem!

University of Huddersfield, UK, s.a.shaw{at}hud.ac.uk

A learning disability discourse has developed over time and is driven by social policy and professional power. Landmark legislation such as the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 has promoted public accessibility for disabled and disenfranchised people. The social construction of difference and disability contributes to the ways people with learning disability are seen and described by others. Many professionals tell stories about their experiences of working with people who are learning disabled. Some stories construct the people with learning disabilities as heroic and tragic, but most construct them as problems to be solved. This qualitative study demonstrates that learning disability constructions in practice-based stories are not merely postcards from the past but indicators of the present and are a demonstration of the issues facing learning disability nurses. I argue that there are tensions in the way learning disability is constructed and ultimately communicated by learning disability nurses.

Key Words: intellectual disability • learning disability • learning disability nursing • qualitative • social construction • stories

Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, Vol. 13, No. 2, 99-112 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1744629509336484


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?