Profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD)

Understanding Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities (PMLD)? 

Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities (PMLD) refer to individuals who have severe learning difficulties combined with other significant physical or sensory disabilities. These individuals often require a high level of support in their daily lives and may face challenges in communication, mobility and health, which makes their needs more highly complex.

Barriers Faced by People with PMLD

Communication

Many individuals with PMLD are nonspeaking and may have difficulties expressing their needs or emotions. They often rely on alternative communication methods, such as movements, gestures or assistive technologies. These can be limited due to the environment around them.

Access to Education and Services

Tailored learning environments and specialised services are essential but often scarce. Mainstream education systems may lack resources or staff trained to support the needs of those with PMLD, making inclusion and meaningful engagement challenging.

Health and Wellbeing

People with PMLD often have many and varied medical needs, requiring continuous healthcare support. Barriers to proper healthcare can arise due to communication difficulties, lack of specialised knowledge amooung healthcare professionals and insufficient access to adaptive equipment.

Social Isolation

Individuals with PMLD may experience social isolation due to their high level of dependence on others for mobility and communication. This isolation can lead to reduced participation in social, community, or recreational activities, further impacting their quality of life.

Lack of Awareness and Understanding

A lack of public awareness and understanding of PMLD can contribute to stigma, discrimination, and inadequate support services. Advocacy and education are key to ensuring that people with PMLD receive the care, opportunities, and respect they deserve.

 

Joanna Grace from The Sensory Projects highlights that the term profound and multiple learning difficulties is an umbrella term, not a diagnosis and stresses the importance of understanding the differences between people with pmld and those with profound and multiple barriers to learning.

Parent carers of children and young people with PMLD face a unique set of challenges and, often barriers to accessing support that meets their young person’s needs across education, health, and social care. Research shows that one of the biggest barriers for people with PMLD is often a negative attitude and lack of understanding from others. Subjective judgement often limits the forms of support offered to individuals with PMLD which can impact their quality of life and subsequent opportunities available to them.

We’ve included here a TEDx Talk presented by Joanna Grace and Chloe Salfield which highlights the importance of recognising inclusion means to recognise diversity, which without doing so often creates a hierarchy of lives which in its being is not inclusive for people with pmld. 

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What does the Hull Parent Carer Forum do for my family?

At the Hull Parent Carer Forum, we are passionate about ensuring the experiences of the people who use services are heard and we work with our strategic partners to identify areas of improvement and suggestions that promote inclusivity of care.

Our representatives are all parent carers themselves, some of whom have young people with profound and multiple learning disabilities and have experienced first-hand the difficulties that exist in accessing support. We actively seek to promote a positive quality of support across Hull which recognises the importance of diversity, values the individual and supports each person to achieve their unique potential.

It is invaluable to hear your feedback about what is working well, what barriers your young person faces and what improvements can be made. 

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Useful Information

Mencap