Exploring the barriers people with learning disabilities face when disclosing abuse and seeking support: A case discussion

People with learning disabilities are at a disproportionate risk of being abused compared to individuals without learning disabilities. Marginalisation and denial of access to mainstream services has resulted in many people with learning disabilities feeling unable to disclose their experiences of abuse, increasing the risk of poor outcomes. The current paper aims to explore the barriers people with learning disabilities face when disclosing abuse and seeking support. To achieve this, the authors adopted a narrative-based approach to explore one service user’s experiences. The paper reviews the lessons learnt from this case example and outlines the gaps in the current provision to assist future service development. Easy to read summary ■ This article says that people with learning disabilities: ◦ Are more likely to be abused compared to most people. ◦ Face many barriers to disclosing experiences of abuse. ◦ Struggle to access support after disclosing experiences of abuse. ■ Using one case example, this paper looks at the gaps in current services and outlines recommendations to improve them.