E D I T O R I A L

Dorothy Atkinson and Jan Walmsley

This edition of the journal juxtaposes the life and work of a

leading light in the national and international self-advocacy

movement – Eve Rank-Petruzziello – with a collection of

papers written by researchers/practitioners for an audience

of researchers/practitioners. In that sense, the journal flies

in the face of the message conveyed by the report to which

Eve and her colleagues in the National Forum contributed:

‘nothing about us without us’. The papers here are ‘about’

people with learning disabilities but they are written ‘without’

their direct involvement in the research or the writing – or as

potential journal readers. This is not to target the papers in

this collection, as they have interesting and relevant things

to say, and their publication is welcomed. It is to reflect,

however, on what Jan Walmsley called the ‘schism’ between

academia and self-advocacy in the editorial in the previous

issue, and to consider what might be done to reduce it.

There are two ways in particular that the journal can aim to

make research – both the process and the findings – more

respectful of, and accessible to, people with learning dis-

abilities. One way is to ensure that high ethical standards are

followed in the conduct of the research and in the written

account that appears in the journal. A second way is to im-

prove research practice through asking authors to consider

other forms of dissemination that would make their findings

accessible to people with learning disabilities. Revised guid-

ance for authors and referees on both these points is in

preparation.

There are six papers in this edition. The four papers at the

centre are on the theme of interventions and treatments;

reports of approaches to working with people with learning

disabilities that aim to improve the quality of their lives. The

first and last papers take a different tack. It is interesting to

note the contrast between Eve Rank-Petruzziello’s interview,

where her life is now defined by her work and roles, and the

labels that define the people appearing in the research

accounts.

The first paper echoes much of In Conversation’s themes of

choice and self-determination. The authors, Jane Seale and

Rebecca Pockney, explore the use of the Internet by people

with learning disabilities (in this case, adults with Down’s

syndrome) to produce personal home pages. In a small but

fascinating study of 20 examples, the authors look at the

ways in which the home pages are used to portray the

person – especially the person’s social networks – and

consider how new technology provides a means of both

maintaining friendships and extending them.

The second paper in this collection offers a way for people

with learning disabilities to be empowered and in control,

rather than continue to be seen as vulnerable and potential

victims. The authors, Glynis Harper, Peter Hopkinson and

John McAfee, report on their use of ‘protective behaviours’,

an approach devised in relation to social work with children

but now successfully used with adults with learning dis-

abilities. Taking people’s ‘right to feel safe’ as their starting

point, the authors describe how people can identify their

own early warning signs of feeling unsafe and develop

strategies to deal effectively with the danger.

In a further take on the theme of empowerment, Elizabeth

Mendel and Jane Hipkins (‘Motivating learning disabled

offenders with alcohol-related problems’) explore the use

of ‘motivational interviewing’ with men in a medium secure

residential unit. The approach was intended to empower the

men to accept responsibility for changing their drinking

behaviour. The authors describe the measures they used

to track motivation and ‘self efficacy’, and address important

ethical concerns related to their study.

The following two papers look at the effectiveness of

stimulating and potentially enjoyable activities in improving

levels of interaction and engagement for people with very

severe learning disabilities. The paper by Jillian Mitchell

and Anna van der Gaag (‘Through the eye of the Cyclops’)

looks at the effectiveness of Odyssey Now, a multisensory

programme that includes the use of stories, drama and

poetry to increase engagement and responsiveness. In a

similar vein, Jeff Hooper (‘Using music to develop peer

interaction’) explores the potential use of music activity

therapy to provide an alternative, and non-threatening,

means of communication for people who rarely interact

positively with their peers.

In the final paper in this issue, the focus is on a small group

of community-based practitioners, social workers and

nurses, who work with men with learning disabilities who

sexually offend. The authors, John Robertson and Jennifer

Clegg, describe how they looked at the risk assessments

made by the practitioners of the men they worked with,

including the information on which the appraisals were

based and the confidence the workers showed in their risk

judgement skills.

# 2002 BILD Publications, British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 30, 139 139