Changes in skills for people with intellectual disability: a follow-up of the Camberwell Cohort

The skills of a total population of children with severe intellectual disab ility and/or autism from Camberwell, South London, UK, and the initial foll ow-up data. taken when the subjects were adolescents and young adults (Shah 1986), are described in the present study. Changes in skills over time are presented within the categories of communication, self-care, and education al and cognitive skills, as assessed by the Handicaps, Behaviours and Skill s schedule. The results indicated that skills had improved in many areas be tween times 1 and 2, but that this improvement was more noticeable for the children who had been youngest at time 1. The implications of these results and predictions for a further follow-up study are discussed.