Anti-racism in community learning disabilities services: The work for clinical psychologists. The perspective of two undergraduate black and brown placement students

In December 2020, The North Thames Learning Disabilities Special Interest Group (SIG) met over video to discuss how Clinical Psychologists and aspiring psychologists experience, manage and combat racism in their work. This paper focuses on two presentations from the day by Islington Learning Disabilities Partnership. The first presentation focused on the barriers faced by people with Learning Disabilities (PWLD) to understand racism and receive support as victims or perpetrators. The talk identified a clear need for further accessible resources about racism and strategies to unlearn racism that go beyond cultural appreciation. The second presentation focused on the experiences of a black and a brown undergraduate psychologist joining an all-white LD psychology team in October 2020. Live semi-structured interviews were completed, informed by Whyte’s (2019) concept of robust vulnerability. The purpose was to explore different perspectives and experiences around what anti-racism means and what work that needs to be done by clinical psychologists individually and as a collective. It is the responsibility of the profession to not only diversify but ensure the needs of victims of racism are put before white discomfort and that black and ethnic minorities are not burdened with implementing anti-racist practices.The Learning Disabilities Special Interest Group (SIG) met over video in December 2020. The group talked about how racism affects the Learning Disabilities (LD) community. Racism is the unfair treatment of people based on their skin colour.This paper talks about two presentations from the day by Islington Learning Disabilities Partnership (ILDP). The first presentation was about support for people with learning disabilities. People are not always given support to cope with racism or to understand how to stop it.The second presentation was about anti-racism. Anti-racism means doing things to understand and fight racism. A black and a brown female student psychologist talked about their experiences in a team with all white psychologists. They interviewed two white psychologists about what they know and do to be anti-racist. They then interviewed each other about their experiences. They said that talking about racism helps people to cope with it and to stop it.