Northumberland psychologists help develop tool to identify children with learning disabilities

The development of a new online site ‘Learning Disability Matters for Families,’ is a collaboration led by the North East and Cumbria Learning Disability Network.

The site offers a range of useful information and resources for families. This includes information on sleep, behaviour, physical and mental health, links to local and national support services and on rights, advice and guidance.

A screening tool to help identify children and young people who are likely to have a learning disability has been included as part of this new online resource. This is aimed at families who are concerned that their child has a learning disability.

Berwick based clinical psychologists, Professor Karen McKenzie and Dr George Murray have conducted research into the screening tool, the Child and Adolescent Intellectual Disability Screening Questionnaire (CAIDS-Q), over many years, and it is already used by services across the UK and internationally.

Karen, who works in the Psychology Department at Northumbria University, said: “We hope that our screening questionnaire will be of use to families and professionals.

“It was designed to be a quick, easy and accurate way of indicating which children are likely to need further assessment and support.”

George, a former pupil of Berwick High School, added: “We know from our own research that many children can have their learning disability overlooked. The aim of the CAIDS-Q is to help speed up the process, so that children can get the support they need as soon as possible.

“The CAIDS-Q is not designed to replace full assessment of learning disability, but to help identify those who might most benefit from it. Anyone who is interested in learning more about it can visit our own website at www.gcmrecords.co.uk.’

Karen notes: “The online version of the screening tool has already been used by hundreds of families and professionals since its launch and the different resources may be of particular benefit to families at this time, when many children are at home because of the restrictions due to coronavirus.”

The resources are free, and the site is available at: https://learningdisabilitymatters.co.uk

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