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Learning Disability

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What Should I Expect?

Occupational therapy staff will spend time getting to know you, your routine and what is important to you. This will include talking about your health and current difficulties as well as your interests and lifestyle.

The occupational therapist may use formal assessments to help gather a variety of information. This information will help with planning your individualised treatment programme.

What types of treatments are available?

You may be involved in:

  • Communication and interaction skills
  • Daily living skills e.g. cooking, self-care
  • Leisure and recreational activities
  • Psychological Therapies
  • Community Living skills
  • Lifestyle management e.g. how to cope
    with sensory differences

How can Occupational Therapy help me?

Physical: My physical complaints prevent me from doing what I want to do

Following assessment, small aids and adaptations may be recommended and advice and support on lifestyle management.

Cognitive: I’d like to be better at home and try out household tasks. I struggle going to shops as I can’t count my money very well.

Teach you how to organise and plan your time in order to carry out the tasks you want to do. Show you how to adapt activities to help you problem-solve. Show you ways to manage better.

Sensory: I am really sensitive to loud noises and crowds. I feel that others don’t understand me and think I am being difficult.

Following assessment, help you and the people sup-porting you to understand your sensitivities and sug-gest ways to cope, adapt the environment and see the world from your perspective.

Psychosocial: I get nervous about meeting new people and worry that they might not understand me because of my learning disability and how this affects me.

Help you to develop interpersonal skills and support you to engage in meaningful social activities.

Environmental: I struggle with accessing a lot of community resources.. This prevents me from trying new activities.

Support you to find suitable opportunities within the community. Support you to broaden your range of activities and identify ways and make links with suitable community resources.

Transitions: I am worried about leaving school and what I will do with my life.

Find out what your skills and interests are and advise you on suitable opportunities. We may work together with other partnerships e.g. colleges, and other community resources to support you through this process.

Why is structure important for someone with a learning disability?

Good structure enables people to anticipate what is happening, provides a shape to the day and an organised framework for support.

A learning disability affects a person’s ability to understand or remember the information they need to create and maintain their own personal structure. So people requiring support will have at least as great a need for structure as everybody else but without all (or many) of the skills to manage it for themselves.

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Leisure & Recreation

It is important to include leisure time in our daily routines. Life can be hectic and stressful with work and other activities of daily living taking up much of our day. There is evidence to prove that spending time doing enjoyable hobbies and activities can be beneficial in many ways.

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Activities Of Daily Living

All the essential basic self-care tasks that people need to do every day to keep themselves safe, healthy, clean and feeling good: from getting up in the morning, showering, grooming, preparing and cooking meals, shopping and travelling to maintaining the house, garden and taking care of pets.

Most people manage these daily tasks without any difficulties. However, for an individual with a physical or learning disability, these activities can be challenging and can impact on their functional and independent living skills.

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Sensory Processing and Learning Disabilities

When we receive sensory information, our brain sorts this, makes sense of it and then if needed, acts on it. This is called sensory processing.

Our brains generally integrate sensory information automatically, all the time.

If our brains are inefficient at organising sensory input, then we don’t know what to do with all this muddled information and become frustrated.

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Green Therapies

Known to be beneficial for your physical and mental wellbeing, being in the great outdoors surrounded by nature or even just sitting in your garden can make you feel good.

It can be used to describe a whole range of outdoor activities and include conservation, wilderness therapy, animal-assisted interventions, nature arts and crafts, care farming or social and therapeutic rehabilitation.

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Visual Aid Downloads

The following visual aids are designed to be printed off and used as a reference to help people with disabilities with day-to-day tasks.

  • Washing hands
  • Visual aid for teeth brushing
  • Managing periods changing my pad
  • Bath routine for girls
  • Bath routine for boys
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How To Contact Us

We are a team of Occupational Therapists providing a service to the adult LD population of North and South Lanarkshire including Kylepark assessment and treatment unit.

Our overarching aim is to promote and support the importance of and access to meaningful Occupation for everyone.

Following screening, appropriate referrals will receive assessment, intervention and/or universal resource information as required.

Our office is based within the Longdales building, Kirklands, Bothwell G71 8BB

Office phone number: 01698 752 974

We are part of the NHSL CLDT and referrals are made to the wider team in the first instance.

Staff name Remit Contact info
Ruth Marshall (Team lead) East Kilbride, Rutherglen,Cambuslang ruth.marshall@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk
Joan Philipsz Clydesdale, Hamilton Joan.Philipsz@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk
Ashton Marshall Coatbridge Ashton.Marshall@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk
Fiona Ramsay Cumbernauld, Airdrie fiona.ramsay@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk
Elaine Storrie Motherwell, Wishaw Elaine.Storrie@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk
Jacqueline Evans North Lanarkshire Jacqueline.Evans@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk
Kathleen Lees South Lanarkshire Kathleen.Lees@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk
Mary Lynas Kylepark mary.lynas@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk
Kirsty Neville Kylepark Kirsty.Neville@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk
Lauren Cunningham Administration lauren.cunningham@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk

Occupational Therapists are interested in how a person’s learning disability impacts on their daily lives. We deliver personalised assessments and interventions that focus on individual needs; specifically barriers to Occupation. We recognise the importance of engagement in a balanced range of activities in everyday life in order to maintain physical and mental wellbeing.

Your Feedback – comments, concerns and complaints

NHS Lanarkshire is committed to improving the service it provides to patients and their families. We therefore want to hear from you about your experience. If you would like to tell us about this please visit our feedback page.

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