Emerging research suggests autistic people are disproportionately represented in homeless populations. Less is known about how autistic people experience homelessness and what prevents them from exiting homelessness. This article presents findings from a narrative enquiry investigating the link between autism and homelessness. Ten autistic adults consented to participate in narrative interviews which explored their life histories and pathways through homelessness. This article considers how participants experienced rough sleeping and sofa surfing before attempting to access hostels. It then examines how participants navigated support systems, arguing that barriers to accessing services perpetuated homelessness. Because of these barriers, some participants disengaged with services, preferring to sleep rough. The extent to which participants could be said to have ‘chosen’ homelessness is balanced with consideration of the lack of autonomy autistic adults are able to exercise over their lives. This article concludes with discussion of practical implications for services and policy in England. Lay Abstract Recent research suggests many autistic people experience homelessness. However, little is known about the types of homelessness autistic people experience and what barriers autistic people face when trying to exit homelessness. This study involved gathering life stories of autistic people who had experienced homelessness. Ten autistic participants talked about their pathways through homelessness and the difficulties they had in accessing support. After first becoming homeless, participants tended to experience rough sleeping and sofa surfing. When participants approached housing and homelessness services, they were often told they were not eligible for support. This could happen when support workers were not aware of autism, or when autism was not considered ‘severe’ enough. Overcrowding, confrontation and lack of control over routine and environment were particular issues for participants when they entered homelessness hostels. Some participants chose to sleep on the streets rather than stay in environments which increased social anxiety and sensory difficulties. This study discusses ways in which homelessness and housing services can increase accessibility and improve engagement for autistic people. It is important to increase awareness of autism while understanding that autistic people who experience homelessness may have complex needs. In addition, services need to listen to autistic people with lived experience of homelessness to decide what changes will have the most impact.

Background Emotional distress has received less attention as an explanatory factor for self-injury in people with intellectual disabilities, with research and practice primarily focusing on biobehavioural factors. This systematic review examines the self-reported explanations for self-injury by people with mild or moderate intellectual disabilities, and discusses how the findings contrast with those from self-reported studies of people within the general population who self-harm. Methods Five databases (PsychINFO, IBSS, CINAHL, Web of Science and Medline) were systematically searched to find qualitative, empirical research since 2000 about self-reported reasons for self-injury. Results Four studies were found which conducted research with people with intellectual disabilities. Three primary themes are discussed: relief from overwhelming emotions; trauma and loss; and difficulty in articulating emotions. Conclusion This review found a paucity of research asking people with intellectual disabilities about their own self-injury. However, the research available suggests that explanatory factors for self-injury typically reported in the general population should be considered for those with mild or moderate intellectual disabilities.

It is increasingly recognized that people living with dementia should be included in qualitative research that foregrounds their voices, but traditional research approaches can leave less room for flexibility than is necessary. This article builds on others who have examined the challenges and rewards of the qualitative research process with people living with dementia. With reference to a specific project on communication and dementia, the research design adaptations needed at each step to turn a "misfit" into a "fit" are examined. Misfitting, as a concept related to social practice theories, is used to argue the need for a coproduced and flexible approach to research design and data collection. Recommendations include being willing to adapt research methods, data collection locations, and aims of the project to fit participants' competencies, preferences, and realities; spending sufficient time getting to get to know staff and potential participants to build relationships; working round care practices and routines to minimize disruption; and using observational/visual methods can help include people living with dementia at each stage. People with dementia require researchers in the field to be creative in their methods, reflexive in their approach, and person-centered in their goals. Those adaptations can fundamentally change the ways in which the social practice of research is shaped.

BACKGROUND:This article is about interactions that occur when someone with intellectual disabilities is engaged in everyday activities with a personal assistant (PA) or a support worker.METHOD:We examine the detail of nine hours of naturally occurring video-recorded interactions, to explore how "relational autonomy" is done in practice. Nine people with ID and seven staff took part in the research, which took place in England from 2016-17.RESULTS:We selected six extracts to illustrate different types of joint decision-making. Informed by inclusive research with a drama group of people with intellectual disabilities, we focus on the ways in which (a) future plans are discussed; (b) choices are offered during an activity; (c) people reflect on their decisions.CONCLUSION:The article concludes with discussion about the teaching and learning content of choice-making, on relational autonomy, and the practice learning for PAs, support workers and for people with intellectual disabilities.

PurposeThis study aims to identify the impact of the Special Olympics’ Unified Sports program on the personal development of its participants.MethodsA qualitative method was used, which included gathering data by interviewing individual athletes and unified teams, by collecting individual personal histories and by use of connection charts from five European countries that participate in the Unified Sports program. A total of 221 data samples were recorded.ResultsAthletes reported improvements in their abilities on the field as well as increased fitness and technical ability. They emphasized the importance of team-work and trust between athletes. Improvements in confidence, self-esteem and communication skills were also reported by athletes. Partners also reported a positive change in attitude towards people with intellectual disabilities. Friendships were a central and vital aspect of taking part in the teams. Friendships developed between athletes and partners. Athletes reported increased access to community “places” such as sports facilities and social venues.ConclusionsUnified Sports is an exciting initiative that holds much promise in transforming the life experiences of young athletes with intellectual disabilities. The impact of the Unified Sports program on the personal development of participants applies to all areas of human functioning – physical, mental and social. Our evaluation suggests that its concepts and modes of operations transcend national boundaries and cultures at least within a European context.

While the numbers of young people who become parents in their teenage years is declining, there remains a stigma associated with young parenthood. Young parents disrupt socially constructed ideas of the family and challenge ideals of childhood. It is common for young parents to have experienced social exclusion and poverty as well as to have relatively low educational achievement prior to parenthood. Less common, though, is the idea that becoming a parent in late teenage years may enable the development of aspiration, promote maturity and responsibility, and potentially lead to enhanced life chances for these young people. This article draws on interview data with 10 young women and 5 young men who were parents and aged between 16 and 19, along with findings from interviews carried out with a range of professionals working in the field of teenage pregnancy. Young people describe the transformative effect of parenthood on their young lives, and challenge accepted views of the negative impact of becoming a young parent.

This paper reports the findings of a scoping review designed to identify research which has explored the relationship between cognitive impairment and homelessness. A systematic search of databases for articles published between 2007 and 2017 was conducted using keywords relating to cognitive impairments and homelessness. Sources were expanded using manual searches of citations and grey literature. Forty studies represented in 45 papers were selected for review using predefined inclusion criteria. Sources were subject to quality appraisal and data were extracted in line with review questions. Prevalence studies were over-represented in the review, while qualitative data were lacking. Aetiology of impairments was delineated by acquired and developmental causes. A variety of measures were employed by studies which were not validated in homeless populations. Studies did not give sufficient consideration to co-occurring disorders and overlapping symptoms between aetiologies. Because of these factors, it was difficult to conclude that all studies had accurately measured what they set out to; however, the evidence suggested that cognitive impairment was disproportionately over-represented in homeless populations. Cognitive impairment was found to be both a risk factor to and perpetuator of homelessness. Risk factors for homelessness were similar to those of the general population, though exaggerated by sequelae of certain cognitive impairments. The results of this review suggest that more attention needs to be paid to the underlying socioeconomic disadvantages, persons with cognitive impairments face which may lead to homelessness. Further research should prioritise the voice of homeless persons with cognitive impairments, to better understand both causes of homelessness and effective methods of rehabilitation.

This article aims to explore how epistemic status is negotiated during talk about the life memories of one speaker. Direct questions which foreground ‘remembering’ can lead to troubled sequences of talk. However, interlocutors sometimes frame their first parts as ‘co-rememberings’, and the sequential positioning of these can be crucial to the outcome of the talk. We draw on almost 10 hours of video data from dementia settings, where memory is a talked-about matter. Our focus is on 30 sequences which are initiated with a question or other first part taking a K-stance, selecting one person as next speaker, and topically relating to the recipient’s past life. We show how type 2 knowables can be used alongside markers of tentativeness, to jointly construct the recipient’s epistemic primacy.

This paper seeks to explore the moral accounts of young people’s own interpretation of their choice of parenthood, the new meanings in their lives brought about by the responsibility of parenthood, and the transformative experience that this responsibility generated. Drawing on a study of young parents in South West London this paper considers how the participants’ moral understanding is fundamentally shaped by the social construction of the 'good' parent. This study employs an interpretative methodology with in-depth interviews and focused on their choice to become a parent at a young age. Fifteen young people were interviewed aged 16-19; of these six were young mothers, five young fathers, and four currently pregnant. A narrative method to analyse the data was employed because moral sense-making and self-interpretation take a narrative form. In the worlds in which these young parents live they negotiated their own narratives of the child and adult divide; and they positioned themselves as moral agents by accounting for their parenthood choices and through the exercise of moral autonomy. They affirmed their moral adult identity through making themselves accountable for the imperative of becoming responsible adults. The empirical findings in this study may be corrective to public discourses about teenaged parents.

This chapter talks about a case study of Oliver who has obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and a mild learning disabilities (LD), with a full-scale IQ of 56. Adjustments should be made, where possible, to help people with LD access mainstream care, rather than expecting them to attend 'special' services. Unfortunately, general adult wards can be frightening and overwhelming places, magnifying communication or functional difficulties, and making people seem less capable than usual. Oliver's mild LD is easier to overlook than more severe forms: he's likely to be mobile, have no obvious chromosomal/genetic syndromes, and may appear to understand, when he's actually struggling. His ASD may disable him more than you'd expect from his IQ score alone. Offering extra care and attention to patients with disabilities isn't only kind, but a legal obligation under the Equality Act 2010. All the usual NICE guidelines apply to treatment.