This guide for professionals to aid adults with mental retardation in dealing with grief provides information on the universal grief process, addresses grief issues specific to the mentally retarded adult population, and offers practical guidelines for interacting and providing support.

This guide for professionals to aid adults with mental retardation in dealing with grief provides information on the universal grief process, addresses grief issues specific to the mentally retarded adult population, and offers practical guidelines for interacting and providing support.

The book contributes to an awareness of the significance of loss in the life experience of persons with mental retardation. Experiencing loss may be a very powerful vulnerability in their mental or psychological life, and dealing with this loss is a basic element in psychological health. There has been an enormous hole in the death and dying literature and in the mental retardation literature on the mourning behavior and needs of persons with mental retardation. This book fills that hole, and lays a foundation for grief support services, establishes standards of practice and care, and is an educational primer about the loss and mourning needs of persons with mental retardation.

Facing a death loss is never easy, and for a person with a disability, the burden is often greater. But, this burden can be lightened significantly with knowledge-based support and a generous helping of kindness. This book features a three-fold approach: ?A description of the grief counseling process?Dozens of activities, including art, music and drama, that can be used to help a person through the grief process?Nine uplifting stories of real individuals coping with a variety of death losses.Van Dyke has included poignant narratives from the lives of real people that offer valuable guidance for dealing with the cycle of life. They also illustrate the power of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to master this deep emotional challenge.

Losing a loved one and coping with the subsequent adjustments that follow are a difficult fact of life, but people with learning disabilities face specific difficulties in processing and managing these changes. Adopting an integrative approach, this book acknowledges the importance of helping relationships in supporting this vulnerable group through periods of loss and bereavement. The author explains how to engage the person with a learning disability in talking therapy by creating an open dialogue. Common signs of stress, factors to consider in assessing risk and advice on how best to approach difficult subjects are presented. The role of supervision in counselling and issues surrounding terminal illness are also discussed, and practical solutions offered. Professionals working in the field of learning disabilities, such as counsellors, therapists, carers and health and social care students will find this informed guide beneficial in communicating and supporting people with learning disabilities.

None of us could survive in the workplace, community, or even in our homes, if we allowed everyone to see how truly vulnerable we are. Yet, social support is a necessity if we are to achieve whatever it is we set out to achieve in this life. "No human being is an island unto himself." "Social Support: A Reflection of Humanity" is a "how to" book. In this work, the authors examine the nature of social support, how it can be offered, and how social support differs from other forms of therapy.