Abstract
This study explored the experience of bereavement of adults with mild to moderate learning disabilities. It used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) (Smith, 1996), a qualitative methodology, to elicit participants’ in-depth personal accounts. The sample included 10 adults with learning disabilities who had been bereaved of a parent within the previous three years. The participants ranged in age from 20 to 57 years and included 2 males and 8 females. Participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview, and interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using IPA. The analysis found that the participants’ emotional experiences of bereavement were broadly similar to those described m the general adult bereavement literature, including a process of shock, sadness and adaptation. As with the general population, there were variations within this process. A number of themes also emerged which seemed more specific to the experience of being bereaved and having a learning disability. These included participants’ attempts to develop meaningful narratives of events, the intensity of their relationships with their parents, and social factors such as being dependent on others to carry out the ordinary activities of grief. The clinical implications of the findings were considered, along with directions for further studies in this under-researched area.