Local newspapers' coverage of people with learning disabilities is "way ahead" of that of the nationals, according to a new survey.

The survey carried out by Learning Disability Media revealed that the regional press writes many more stories about people with learning disabilities than national papers do - and also avoids using patronising clichés.

It found that in 2003 and 2004 local newspapers wrote 3,483 stories about people with learning disabilities - which included a mention of the charity Mencap - across 37 different categories.

A further 6,000 or 7,000 stories about fundraising were also written by local papers over this period.

This compares to just 561 stories about people with learning disabilities which included a mention of the charity Mencap in the national press between May 2004 and May 2005.

Of these 561, about a quarter were to do with the argument about the relationship between the MMR vaccine and autism.

Local newspapers also reported on a much wider variety of stories about people with learning disabilities, including articles about schools, jobs, homes, day services and health.

The report said it was particularly interesting to analyse how local newspaper stories about sports and learning disabilities were written.

It said: "The players themselves and team managers gave their views and feelings in these articles, which were very positive and didn't treat the players in a childlike or less important way.

"So there's nothing about 'this brave sufferer overcomes their tragic handicap...'."

Instead, the report said, the sorts of words used were: 'Delighted Simon', 'Talented youngster' and 'Special Olympics star Greg Silvester wowed the crowds'.

It also praised local papers' use of photographs and headlines – which were either positive or not offensive.

The report continued: "People with learning disabilities find the same thing as everyone else – it's very hard to get stories onto TV or into the national newspapers.

"But the local press do include stories about people with learning disabilities, and generally do this in a good and fair way. The sports pages have particularly strong stories about people's successes."

It also warned that "it is still quite common to find learning disabilities being confused with mental health problems".