Learning Disabilities.

A learning disability affects the way a person learns new things throughout their lifetime. Find out how a learning disability can affect someone and where you can find support.

A learning disability affects the way a person understands information and how they communicate. This means they can have difficulty:

  • understanding new or complex information
  • learning new skills
  • coping independently

Around 1.5 million people in the UK have a learning disability. It’s thought up to 350,000 people have a severe learning disability. This figure is increasing.

Read more about learning disabilities on the NHS website.

Living well with a learning disability in Devon

Across Devon, we aim to make all health care services accessible to people who have learning disabilities.

We promote the independence of people with learning disabilities and help people to achieve what matters to them. We want Devon to be a place where people with learning disabilities are confident, resilient and connected.

Services we commission

We commission a wide range of services:

  • Community teams, including nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, consultant psychiatry, and psychology
  • Additional support teams who offer advice for individuals and families about positive behavioural support and coping strategies
  • Inpatient care, including assessment and treatment, specialist provision for autism, and longer-term care
  • Specialist nursing support
  • Primary care nurses 

Policies we operate under

Learning Disability Mortality Review (LeDeR) Programme

The LeDeR programme supports local areas to review the deaths of people with learning disabilities.