Scottish
Learning Disabilities
Observatory

New film - This is Me: the story so far

We are proud to introduce a new short film which offers an update on what researchers at the Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory and collaborators with learning disabilities, supporters and advocates have collectively been working on to take forward the calls for change that were heard in our award-winning 2022 campaign This is Me: Valuing the Lives of People with Learning Disabilities . 

Check out the new film here https://bit.ly/4hDu68E and find out more about this work 

New Phd Opportunity: reducing oral health inequalities via Childsmile programme

The University of Glasgow College of Medicine, Veterinary and Life Sciences is offering a fully-funded PhD studentship to focus on reducing oral health inequalities for children with intellectual disabilities and autism through participation in Childsmile's supervised toothbrushing programme. Applications are now open, with a deadline of 12th January 2025. Visit the University of Glasgow website for further information about this opportunity  https://bit.ly/3Ah4761  
If you would like to discuss any aspects of this project informally please contact Dr Marie Kotzur via Marie.Kotzur@glasgow.ac.uk

Research for Everyone: Making complex health research easier to understand

Researchers from the University of Glasgow have teamed up with people with learning disabilities to challenge the traditional academic way of communicating about research, with the aim of making important health information easier to understand for as many people as possible. The Research for Everyone project collaborators have translated two health studies published by the University of Glasgow and created new animations, podcasts and infographics to share the research in clear and engaging ways. Find out more about Research for Everyone.

Launch of New eLearning Resourse: 'Understanding PBS'

The Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) Community of Practice for Scotland are launching a unique new resource focused on PBS. This free and accessible online learning resource is the result of a collaboration between the Scottish Social Services Council and the PBS Community of Practice (https://www.scld.org.uk/our-networks/positive-behaviour-support-pbs/)

The new resource will be launched with an online event on 19th April being organised by the Scottish Commission for People with Learning Disabilities. There will be a range of speakers to talk about how PBS can improve quality of life for people with learning disabilities and complex support needs. And there will be an opportunity to see the resource and learn how to access it.  Further details and registration link for the event are available here.

SLDO to become leading research and teaching centre

We are delighted to announce that the Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory (SLDO) and the University Centre for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) are merging. This exciting development will bring together multi-disciplinary researchers to form one of the UK’s largest research centres dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Read more about this here.

Reports & publications

We publish reports relevant to learning disabilities and autism policy and practice.

View our full list of reports and publications here.