Search

There is limited information about specific research constructs developed by adults with intellectual disability in undertaking research despite increasing involvement in researchwithrather thanonthese individuals. Participatory research was used with three young adults with intellectual disability to collaboratively develop a training programme and investigate the skills used and developed when undertaking the research project. Three research domains—Knowledge, Conceptual understandings and Skills, were identified, within which 18 subsets were categorised. Development in all domains and subsets occurred for all young adults, with variations in gains across subsets and participants. These young adults attained research knowledge, understanding and skills that enabled them to become collaborative researchers within this project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conduct of a participatory research investigation into the everyday literacy of adults with intellectual disability within the context of a PhD thesis highlighted issues related to the ethics of participatory research and the need to revisit and reconsider ethical guidelines around working with individuals with intellectual disability. Tensions were identified between participatory research ideology and the reality of research experiences, with additional issues arising due to disability in the first author. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being literate empowers individuals to be effective consumers, to be informed about lifestyle options, to read aesthetically for relaxation and enjoyment and to further their knowledge of people and places that can enable them to participate more fully in communities. However, there are limited literacy opportunities and programs specifically designed to meet the needs of individuals with intellectual disabilities across their lifespan. The aim of this Australian National Training Authority funded project was to develop and implement a training, teaching and resource package for the development of literacy for adults with intellectual disabilities. The aim of this project was to assess, develop, train and assist support staff in two community-based services for clients with intellectual disabilities to act as literacy tutors for their clients. The project was undertaken within two disability-service programs using an applied action research approach. The results indicated that the tutors learnt much about tutoring and about the literacy abilities of their clients. There was some initial resistance from the tutors about the value of literacy learning for their clients. However, resistance decreased as tutors developed confidence, and clients demonstrated interest, engagement and skills in the activities. Implications for the effectiveness of such programs lie in the needs to tailor any training specifically to the needs of the support staff; and to provide time for implementation, on-going support and access to appropriate resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes a collaborative and cross-curricula initiative undertaken in the School of Education at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. The project involved developing an integrated approach to providing professional year pre-service secondary teacher education students with experiences that would assist them to develop their knowledge and skills to teach students with special needs in their classrooms. These experiences were undertaken in the authentic teaching and learning context of a post-school literacy program for young adults with intellectual disabilities. In preliminary interviews pre-service teachers revealed that they lacked experience, knowledge and understanding related to teaching students with special needs, and felt that their teacher education program lacked focus in this field. This project was developed in response to these expressed needs. Through participating in the project, pre-service teachers' knowledge and understanding about working with students with diverse learning needs were developed as they undertook real and purposeful tasks in an authentic context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is limited information available related to the literacy skills of adults with intellectual disabilities. In this project, information was collected about the contexts, current practices, and clients' abilities in literacy in two community-based disability service programs. Individual assessments were undertaken to collect details of the current literacy levels of adults with intellectual disabilities in day program settings. These assessments focused on receptive language, reading at the letter, word and sentence level, writing vocabulary and connected text, and literacy preferences. Audits were also conducted related to the provision of opportunities for clients accessing these services to engage with literacy including environmental print. Structured day program activities were observed to gather information about current literacy teaching and learning. Implications of the research findings and suggestions for provision of literacy education in these settings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes and analyzed task sheets in order to consider what they reveal about assessment, and how they construct what counts as literacy and performance in literacy assessment practices at the lower secondary level of schooling. Analysis of the task descriptions and criteria for assessment in one task sheet from each school; Explanation on the language of instruction and assessment on the task sheet itself using task sheets from assessment tasks across the school year; Conclusions.

Students' perceptions of literacy assessment processes and practices were investigated in two year long case studies undertaken in two English classrooms in two state high schools in Queensland, Australia. A range of qualitative data techniques was used to collect information related to students' previous experiences of assessment in primary school, students' responses to the first and last literacy assessment task of the school year, and their perceptions of assessment at the end of the year. The study showed that students' attitudes, beliefs, practices and understandings about assessment varied both within and across student groups and differences in students' accounts were evident both at the start and end of the school year. The findings highlight the role that students play in actively constructing knowledge about literacy assessment through their prior and current experiences with assessment tasks, and in their interactions with each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of researchers have argued that young adults with Down syndrome could benefit from continued literacy education beyond the years of compulsory education. Specifically, research has shown that, contrary to myths related to plateaux of learning, cognitive development in individuals with Down syndrome continues into adolescence and beyond. Further, it is also claimed that the young adult years may be the optimal time to focus on literacy development. Based on this research and the ongoing work of the Down Syndrome Research Project (DSRP) a literacy program for young adults with Down syndrome was established at The University of Queensland in 1998 (see Moni & Jobling, 2000). LATCH-ON (Literacy and Technology Hands-On) provides a two year program of teaching and learning activities based on socio-cultural models of literacy in which the explicit teaching of reading, writing, speaking, listening and viewing is integrated with the development of technological literacies. Assessments of reading were undertaken using the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability-Revised (Neale, 1988) and Concepts About Print (Clay, 1979) prior to students entering the program and on completion of the two year course. This paper reports three years of data about the reading-related literacy learning of 17 young adults who have participated in the program. These findings are discussed in terms of the diverse nature of the students' needs, the variability of their reading skills, and issues for educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Having friends and being a friend defines us as human beings. Friends can play many roles in our lives, and without friends, life can become increasingly lonely. For young people, friends often take a counselling role in times of emotional stress, so loneliness or a life without friends who can understand the emotional contexts of friendships and "counsel" may affect a person's psychosocial quality of life. This paper describes a six session program that was designed to help a group of young adults with Down syndrome understand friendships better. The Down Syndrome Research Program LATCH-ON staff at the University of Queensland developed the program in conjunction with the Queensland Family Planning Association. During the sessions, the students explored and discussed various types of friendships and the emotions associated with them, using the students' own experiences and videos in conjunction with structured materials such as The Circle Concept (Smith, 1987) and Network Hand (Birch & Higgs, 1996). Some reflections from the authors' experiences with the program are provided. Future research directions are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a case study on literacy assessment in schools with diverse student population in Australia. Use of twelve Australian schools with heterogeneous learners for the study; Problems faced by the teachers in providing socially just and inclusive literacy assessment in diverse classrooms; Suggestions for enhancing teacher evaluation on students.