Programme helps  gardaí in interactions with people with intellectual disabilities

Gardaí who took part in pilot programme reported improvements in their understanding of intellectual disabilities and the challenges faced by such people

Almost two-thirds of gardaí who responded said they now had an understanding of what an intellectual disability was and around a half said they had an understanding of the common difficulties faced by such people. File picture: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos

A pilot awareness programme for gardaí to inform their interactions with people with intellectual disabilities has been welcomed by those working in the area.

Inclusion Ireland said the project – operated by a team of legal and psychiatric researchers – said the pilot was a “great step” and that future rollout of such training would make a big difference.

The national association for people with an intellectual disability was responding to a report on the research, which was conducted by academics based at University of Limerick, UCC and Trinity College Dublin.

The report, published in the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, said 23 gardaí filled out a pre-training questionnaire. Some 22 of these attended the training and 11 completed the post-training questionnaire.

Afterwards, most of them reported notable improvements in terms of their understanding of intellectual disabilities, the challenges people who have these disabilities face, developing their own communication skills and how to approach people with an intellectual disability in a time of crisis.

It said the gardaí demonstrated learning around pre-arrest situations, with one member saying: “It will allow me to question more, rather than drawing a conclusion, and to help the person in crisis as opposed to possibly making things worse. I will also try to find out more about the person pre-arrest, to avoid an arrest…” 

Another garda said this about looking out for signs of an intellectual disability: “How a person interacts with me initially – looking for signs of an ID, eg incongruent behaviour, poor coping skills… I would have previously not associated these traits with an ID. I will change how I communicate with this person.” 

Almost two-thirds of gardaí who responded said they now had an understanding of what an intellectual disability was and around a half said they had an understanding of the common difficulties faced by such people.

But only one in six said they now had strategies to help them communicate with people with an intellectual disability and the same said they knew how to approach such a person in a crisis.

Further training

More than 90% said they needed further training.

Commenting, Inclusion Ireland chief executive Derval McDonagh said the UN Convention on People with Disabilities offered opportunities and presented obligations to ensure that people with an intellectual disability were seen as equal before the law.

“In order to achieve that equality, people need access to accessible information and an understanding of their needs, whatever level of support they may require,” she said.

“This research around awareness training for law enforcement officers is a great step in terms of widening the understanding of intellectual disability and how to ensure rights are upheld in all situations. Such research based on the participation and views of people with intellectual disabilities is very welcome.

“Seeing it being put into action will make a big difference to people in very stressful situations when dealing with the justice system.” 

The study was conducted by researchers from the School of Law and School of Medicine at UL and the Department of Psychiatry at UCC and TCD.