The presumption of incompetence

The 'presumption of incompetence' refers to the widespread and ingrained belief that the innate limitations of people with an intellectual disability make them unfitted for parenthood. Such a starting point leads inevitably to the view that any parenting deficiencies are part of their nature and therefore cannot be corrected. The presumption of incompetence draws people into expecting parenting failure and then only seeing the evidence that supports this preconception. This outlook brings particular dangers in the context of the working of The Children Act 1989 where decisions may be made on the basis of prospective findings (ie. on the likelihood of parents harming their children) judged on the 'balance of probabilities'.