Case Study of Learning Disability Nursing

Jill (not her real name) is a 24 year old female who was sexually abused from age 10 by her father and was taken into care at age 14 when her behaviour became unmanageable in the home setting. When Jill was taken into care the abuse was disclosed. Jill has two older siblings, both female, neither of which suffered abuse, both have IQ’s appropriate their age and development. Jill has been assessed as having a mild learning disability. A mild learning disability as defined by British Institute of Learning Disabilities (BILD) 2004, is a person with an IQ of between 69 and 50.Case Study of Learning Disability Nursing

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines learning disabilities as ‘a state of arrested or incomplete development of mind’. Somebody with a learning disability is said also to have ‘significant impairment of intellectual functioning’ and ‘significant impairment of adaptive/social functioning’. Jill was admitted to this service provider due to her challenging behaviour and is detained under section 3 of the mental health act 1983. Challenging behaviour has been defined as culturally abnormal behaviours of such an intensity, frequency or duration that the physical safety of the person or others is likely to be placed in serious jeopardy, or behaviour which is likely to seriously limit use of, or result in the person being denied access to, ordinary community facilities (Emerson 2001). Jill’s challenging behaviours include physical and verbal aggression towards her peers and carers, destruction of property including her own, stripping and destruction of her clothes, refusal to engage in therapeutic interventions and self injurious behaviours (SIB) mainly cutting of her arms.