Service Detail

The Croydon CAMHS Learning Disability Team is a specialist team that works with children and young people, up to the age of 18 years, who have a learning disability. We also work provide support to their parents or carers.

We are passionate about supporting young people with a learning disability, and their families, whilst considering their special needs. The Croydon CAMHS Learning Disability Team provides support for families in the following ways:

1. We support children and young people with mild, moderate and severe learning disabilities without significant mental health problems who present with behaviours that may be challenging. Our team provides psychoeducation through personalised therapeutic interventions, parent groups, workshops, work within schools, and where appropriate, direct work with children, using adapted Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

2. We provide assessment and treatment of severe and enduring mental health problems for children and young people with a moderate, severe or profound learning disability. This may involve the use of psychological therapies, or medication. The Learning Disabilities Team works closely with parents and carers, schools, social care and paediatricians to coordinate a multi-agency approach, which aims to promote better mental health and improve future outcomes for children and young people.

What to expect
This will depend on the how complex the presenting problem is. In some cases, parents or carers may be offered a place on one of our groups or workshops. When there are more complex mental health problems, we will conduct a clinical assessment of the child or young person.

We may also ask parents and professionals to complete questionnaires as well as conduct meetings with parents or carers, family members, schoolteachers and professionals associated with the young person's care.

This evidence gathering helps us understand the young person's difficulties and their unique needs. We will work with families and other professionals to develop a care plan that will best support the child or young person and their family.

We will seek consent from young people and their families to contact all professionals involved in their care before starting work with the family, except in extraordinary circumstances. An example of this may be when it is necessary to intervene quickly in order to protect the child, young person or family safe.

Referrals
All referrals must be made by a professional associated with the child's care via the Croydon Single Point of Contact (SPOC) webpage .

Referrals can be made by a GP, paediatrician, school teacher, or social worker. Our team is unable to accept referrals from parents, carers, or self-referrals by the child or young person.

When completing referrals, please make it clear that the young person has a learning disability, rather than a learning difficulty, in the referral along with any available evidence. Examples of appropriate evidence may be previous reports or assessments by other health or social care professionals. Please also ensure to state any other relevant diagnoses and details of the child's current school.

We run several workshops and courses. For more information about our groups and workshops, professionals associated with the child's care should email LDTeam@slam.nhs.uk

Our team members
Our team is made up of a number of professionals from different backgrounds who work together to provide multi-disciplinary care. This may include psychiatrists, nurses, clinical psychologists, clinical specialists, trainees, and administrators.