Either through direct intervention or facilitation services, ELDP is likely to be able to support people with learning disabilities in the following areas:

• Behaviour that challenges
• Mental health needs
• Issues associated with Autism with concurrent LD
• Dementia
• Physical health needs
• Epilepsy

Our ELDP Learning Disability Community Teams have two main roles.

The first of these is to support service users to access other primary and secondary care services, including health facilitation and ensuring that reasonable adjustments are in place.

The second of these main roles is to deliver direct support for people and their families when their needs cannot be met by mainstream services alone. Our work in this area would include assessment and formulation of needs to inform support plans, planned, evidenced based interventions including a variety of treatments and therapy, and support to service providers and families who care for people with a learning disability who have complex and continuing health needs. We are also able to offer emergency mental health support where this is required.

Essex Learning Disability Partnership will accept referrals for the following:

• Adults (18yrs+) who have a learning disability, with or without Autism, who are registered with an Essex GP, who require support in relation to their physical and or mental health and wellbeing. In addition to being ‘eligible’, the person referred would be expected to have health needs arising from their learning disability to a degree that input from our service is appropriate because the person’s needs cannot be met by mainstream services alone. We believe that many people with a learning disability should be able to access mainstream mental and physical health services and this should be the preferred option.

• Young people with learning disabilities with or without Autism, registered with an Essex GP who are in transition into adulthood and adult services where there is a specialist need. It is not expected that ELDP will provide support to people who have a learning disability as they transition into adult services unless there is a specific need such as those detailed previously.

• Adults and Young People with ADHD diagnosis only, in the absence of a Learning Disability.
• Autism diagnostic services where the person does not have a co-existing learning disability.
• People who have a learning difficulty, in the absence of a Learning Disability.

Sometimes there is confusion about the difference between a learning disability and a learning difficulty. ELDP is commissioned to support people who have a learning disability rather than a learning difficulty. According to the Department of Health (DH) learning disability includes the presence of:

• a significantly reduced ability to understand new or complex information, to learn new skills (impaired intelligence), with;

• a reduced ability to cope independently (impaired social functioning);

• which started before adulthood, with a lasting effect on development.

A learning difficulty can be described as a problem which influences specific areas of cognitive ability rather than learning and functioning across all areas of life.. Unlike a learning disability, a learning difficulty does not affect general intelligence (IQ). Common types of learning difficulties are dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD and an individual may have more than one type. As mentioned above, the ELDP service is not commissioned to work with people with learning difficulties, where their overall IQ and daily living skills are above the learning disability range.