Intellectual Disability Report

Introduction

An Intellectual Disability (ID) can be defined as a disability characterised by significant limitations in both intellectual performance and adaptive behaviour. This disability initiates before the age of eighteen (Shalock et al, 2010). Historically, people with ID did not have long life expectancies. The explanation for this is not definite, but it is thought that it was due to a lack of education to the general public and medical professionals in relation to health conditions (Mash et al, 2009). According to Coppus (2013) the life expectancy for a person with ID will continue to rise to the age of the general population. In 1930, the mean life expectancy for a person with ID was approximately nineteen years and in 1960, the mean

Within this assignment the writer will give a brief history of organisations which have been set up in order to advise Government on principles, policies and procedures in Ireland. The writer will then focus on the policy, procedure and principle changes that have occurred in residential care practice for people with ID within the previous ten years.

Brief History of Organisations set up to Advise Government Parties on Principles, Policies and Procedures in

This act proved to make a significant impact in the daily lives of people with ID. The Act placed a number of statutory obligations on public bodies to do three things. Those were to make public buildings easily accessible to people with disabilities, make public services and information accessible to people with disabilities example, Braille, compact discs and easy to read language and to ensure a minimum of 3% of the employees employed by the public body were people with disabilities. This Act also put obligations on residential areas for individual assessments of need (Personal Care Plan) and individual sector plans in residential areas (National University of Ireland Galway, 2010). The establishment of a Centre for Excellence in Universal Design was also a requirement made by the Disability Act 2005 and so in 2007, the centre was opened by the NDA. The Centre for Excellence in Universal Design has three main functions. They set standards, the provide education and professional development and they raise awareness of universal design on a national