Effect of deinstitutionalization on social impairment in people with intellectual disabilities Abstract no 056

The present paper reports data from a collaborative longitudinal study, led by the Tizard Centre, between the Universities of Kent and Durham, and the London School of Economics. The purpose of this presentation is to indicate how social impairment changes are related to the move from institutional to community care. A measure of social impairment using the skills and behaviour interview from the most recent follow-up of this cohort was found to be consistent with Wing’s definition of social impairment at 10 years on from de-institutionalization. This measure was then used to retrospectively identify social impairment in the same sample (of =250 people) at baseline (in the institution) and at and 1,5 and 10 years in the community. In addition to looking at changes from institutional to community care, the present paper reports data on the effect of increasing age on social impairment.