Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to H Firth.
In contrast to other amphetamine derivatives, fenfluramine (40 mg) and 780 SE (300 mg) had no effect on the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep. Like other amphetamines they disturbed sleep, increasing the number of shifts to stage 1 (drowsiness) and stage W (arousal).
Workshops designed to help parents teach their mentally handicapped children new skills and new habits were offered for 4 years as part of a wider service. This was the first time such a service had been available to any family within an area, population 250 000, and all families with mentally handicapped children under age 8 were invited to join the workshops. Workshops objectives were to teach parents skills in observation, selection and teaching of new skills and new behaviour, and to provide parents with confidence and support from other parents as well as professionals. workshops ran one evening/week for between 8 and 12 weeks, and nine workshops were held with a total of 40 families attending. Attendance was high and success was considerable with the problems tackled during the workshops. Nevertheless, the original objectives of the workshops were only fulfilled in part, as it is uncertain how much the methods taught during the workshop were applied to subsequent problems. The paper discusses the value of such workshops as a way of providing both practical help and support to families.
A small-scale evaluation was made of the activities and social contacts of a group of young mentally handicapped people in one project, leaving hospital to a house in the community. The results are consistent with other recent work in suggesting that residential provision in small homes for people with severe or profound intellectual or multiple handicaps is likely to lead to increased family contact, increased participation in activities outside of the residence, and an increased frequency and duration of contact with non-handicapped people. The study suggests that many of these benefits of life in the community are dependent in various ways upon the staff employed. The nature of the young people's social contacts is examined and conclusions are drawn about specific issues, including staff selection and training, and attention to the maintenance as well as the provision of social contact.
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