AP Interview Questions for Learning Disabilities

[junaid]

I have applied for an AP position on the NHS working with adults with learning disabilities, and I have been shortlisted for an interview. I have previously worked as an AP during my work placement. I'm really anxious about the interview and would like to know what questions will be asked. Thank you.

[emmajane]

Hey,

I work as an AP with adults with autism and LD though not in the NHS. Trying to think back to my interview, they will prob start with the basics, your experience etc and ask you what you know about/define what a learning disability is!

They ran through some scenarios at my interview about challenging behaviour and risk etc. Also gave a written example of incident reports/recorded behaviours and asked me what sort of questions I would ask to try and understand the behaviour.
My work is very into Person Centred Planning, which is BIG in LDs ever since the 'Valuing People' government paper- may be worth a google!

I cant really remember any more now! It wasn't too bad at all though- maybe just make sure you've read up about LDs and related issues if you dont have much practical experience in the area.

[junaid]

thankyou for your reply

it has directed me towards what i need to look up on.

[captain artichoke]

Hi

This might be worth a look too...

http://www.bps.org.uk/downloadfile.cfm?file_uuid=4A51DB4D-306E-1C7F-B697-0FDC56A88DC9&ext=pdf

It might be useful to think about issues such as service user involvement and consent. Also the use of therapies such as CBT with the client group, as well as behavioural approaches.

Good luck
RD

[Victoria]

It would be a good idea to think about communication as well. At my interview I was asked how I would go about communicating with students who can't speak and have very limited verbal comprehension. (I'm a support worker/teaching assistant in a specialist college for people with LD.) This is going to be an important aspect of any job in LD services, so make sure you've thought it through.

[virgo]

I would add to the previous post on communication. Challenging behaviour in LD/autism is often due to lack of/inadequate communication on our part (i.e. they don't understand what you want of them/or misinterpret) or they find it hard to communicate their needs/stresses. Think about how psychology/LD teams would deal with such problems for example:
-Do they need to refer to speech and language (i.e. the use of PECS or social stories) A gentleman I used to work with who initially displayed alot of social anxiety and challenging behaviour was managed alot better with the aid of PECS.
-Do psychology need to establish some early warning signs/relapse signiture for the behaviour also.