ABSTRACT
V. Sinason goes on to state that 'impaired' means 'unequal; unsuitable; odd, made worse, although this term has been revived to be used in the World Health Organization definition of handicap, as well as in the Mental Health Act 1983. Moving away from the consideration of descriptive terms, and the tendency towards value differentiation as a result of terminology, a learning disability is generally ascribed when there is an observable difficulty in mental functioning as a result of an organic cause. A referral to the mental health crisis team was made by a consultant psychiatrist specialising in learning disability. The subject of the referral was a young man who had been placed in a group living situation in a tower block some years previously. In the matter of learning disability and mental health, however - the area of 'dual disability' - such distancing of services leads to a multiplication of risk factors in the long term.
