The Child and Adolescent Intellectual Disability Psychiatry Network (CAIDPN – pronounced CAYD-pin) is an international network of Psychiatrists interested in improving the healthcare and lives of children and young people with intellectual disabilities.
The main aims of CAIDPN are to provide a means of peer support in the areas of:
- Clinical work
- Resourcing issues and Service development
- Training
- Research
Currently CAIDPN is trying to achieve these aims through:
- Keeping an up-to-date online networking/information forum (called Basecamp)
- Organising 4 meetings a year (a two-day residential meeting, one online day conference, and two meetings for clinical case discussions
- Highlighting specific issues as a group.
CAIDPN has formal representation on the Executive Committees of the:
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Faculty, Royal College of Psychiatrists
- Psychiatry of Intellectual Disability Faculty, Royal College of Psychiatrists
- British Academy for Childhood Disability (BACD)
History
The Child and Adolescent Learning Disability Psychiatry Network (CALDPN) was set up in 2002 as an informal means of professional support for psychiatrists working predominantly with children with an intellectual disability. The founding members felt that there were specific needs and issues that arose from working with this group that are not adequately covered from within existing CAMHS and Learning Disability bodies.
In 2014, the group renamed itself the Child and Adolescent Intellectual Disability Psychiatry Network (CAIDPN) to reflect international changes in preferred nomenclature. CAIDPN became a special interest group of the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH) in 2021.
