Melanie Chapman and colleagues describe a partnership research project that aimed to find out why people with learning disabilities may not get to go on holiday, and, if they do go on holiday, what their experiences are

There is a lack of research focusing on holidays for people with learning disabilities. However, the research that exist suggests that fewer disabled people go on holiday than people who are not disabled. The recent national survey of learning disabilities adults in England found that only 59 per cent people with learning disabilities had been on holiday in the previous year (Emerson et al 2005), compared with 66 per cent of the general population (Mintel 2003, cited in Kober 2005). These figures are similar, suggesting that issues such as poverty that affect the general population’s access to holidays may also provide some explanation as to why many learning disabled people do not go on holiday. However, it may be that additional factors, such as impairment and/or social, cultural and environmental barriers, may also play a role in determining whether or not people with learning disabilities take holidays.