ABSTRACT
Social relationships are one of the most important aspects of most people's lives. There are, of course, many different kinds of relationship, each of which affirms and supports people in different ways, and individuals have different social needs which are met by different kinds of social life, 'But for almost everyone, with or without a disability, the relationships with the people with whom they live, together with other social relationships, are a major contribution to the quality of their lives' (Firth and Rapley 1990, p. 16). However, it is only relatively recently that the quality of relationships of people with profound learning disability has been considered and their need for a range of relationships acknowledged.
