Glossary

Behaviour that challenges others

‘“Behaviour that challenges” is not a diagnosis and is used in this guideline to indicate that although such behaviour is a challenge to services, family members or carers, it may serve a purpose for the person with a learning disability (for example, by producing sensory stimulation, attracting attention, avoiding demands and communicating with other people). This behaviour often results from the interaction between personal and environmental factors and includes aggression, self-injury, stereotypic behaviour, withdrawal, and disruptive or destructive behaviour. It can also include violence, arson or sexual abuse, and may bring the person into contact with the criminal justice system’ (NICE, 2015, p. 5).

Diagnostic overshadowing

Where health professionals inappropriately attribute the cause of a person’s symptoms to autism only, thus failing to explore other possible explanations. This can mean that vital opportunities to identify and diagnose comorbid conditions are missed

Learning disability

‘A learning disability is defined by 3 core criteria: lower intellectual ability (usually an IQ of less than 70), significant impairment of social or adaptive functioning, and onset in childhood’ (NICE, 2015, p. 5).

Person-centred support

Focusing support on the needs of the person rather than the needs of the service.

Supported living

‘… schemes that provide personal care to people as part of the support that they need to live in their own homes. The personal care is provided under separate contractual arrangements to those for the person’s housing. The accommodation is often shared, but can be single household’ (CQC, 2015, p. 2).