Identities in transition: formulating care for people with profound learning disabilities

This research presents a qualitative analysis of issues concerning the care and identities of people with profound learning disabilities moving from hospital to a community home. Life story books were introduced and investigated as a resource for presenting biographical information about the clients. Talk concerning the compilation and subsequent use of these life story books, during the transition from hospital to community care, was examined using discourse analysis. Analysis reveals how parents and carers constitute mutual identities of themselves and the person with learning disabilites. Although the clients can not talk for themselves they are represented. by their carers and relatives, as having a position on their own identities and those of others around them. These fmdinas contribute to the debate on the nature of relationships between people with learning disabilities and their carers. Interdependencies between research and practice, are also examined through an analysis of the way the life story books are used in the setting.