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Background: Person-centred service delivery underpins current approaches to working with individuals with intellectual disabilities. We investigated views of staff from a service organisation regarding their roles in creating desired futures for adults with intellectual disabilities. Methods: Data were gathered from staff of a large organisation that provided a range of services to adults with intellectual disabilities. Respondents were asked to describe their role in assisting an individual with intellectual disability to meet their goals for the future. Responses were analysed using a text analysis programme. Results: Two major themes were identified: 'Support for self-determination' and 'Business-as-usual'. These themes were not entirely separate but had some overlap. There were indications that staff experienced competing demands in their role(s). Conclusion: Although central to person-centred planning, staff who work with adults with intellectual disabilities may not see support of self-determination as a key factor in creating a desired future.

Background: With the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), creation and implementation of participants' plans are becoming a research focus. As many families facilitate the implementation of plans, it is important to understand the enablers and barriers to this process. Method: This study investigated the experiences of 20 family groups with adult participants with intellectual disability as they implemented their NDIS plans. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed qualitatively. Results: Results are reported in themes of increased opportunities, navigating bureaucracy, building partnerships and impact on families. Conclusions: Implementing NDIS plans was complex. Funding was appreciated and enabled some adults to work towards their goals. Bureaucracy and the availability of suitable services and support workers were seen to be barriers. Further investigation about how families balance multiple roles as they work with their adult during planning and implementation is needed. Evaluations of the NDIS should include family experiences.

Background: The study reported here investigated the views of staff who worked with adults with intellectual disability regarding the likely future of such adults. Method: Staff were provided with a short vignette portraying an adult with intellectual disability and asked to describe that individual's future in five years and then to indicate the likelihood of the individual's participation in aspects of adult life reflecting life as typically experienced by age peers in the general population. Results: Responses suggested that staff did not expect the adults with intellectual disability to have the same experiences as their peers, although responses to direct questions about participation were more positive than those to the vignette. Conclusions: While choice was seen to be an important determinant of future activity by some staff, others did not see the individual with intellectual disability having a great deal of agency in determining the direction of their life.

This study reports on Australian small-scale exploratory descriptive research into how young people with intellectual disability and their families construct their futures. The aims of this research were to (a) better understand the future aspirations held by young adults with intellectual disability and their parents, (b) identify enablers and barriers to the achievement of these aspirations, and (c) provide insights for career practitioners who support young people with intellectual disability and their parents to achieve their personal and career goals. Participants were four young people with intellectual disabilities aged between 18 and 30 years and their mothers. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed thematically. Results provide a nuanced understanding of the issues facing young people with intellectual disabilities and their families in constructing their futures. Suggestions are offered that can inform career development practice and policy.

Background: This article reports research about the experiences of families with an adult child with intellectual disability as they engaged in the NDIS planning processes in Australia. Method: Parents of 19 adults with intellectual disability responded to a number of closed and Likert-type items and provided comments. Responses are reported using frequencies with parental comments used to exemplify their views. Results: The analysis generated insights that included positive perceptions about the availability of National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) information; increased choice and control of participants; some concerns about the implementation of plans; and the lack of inclusion of the adult with intellectual disability in the process. Conclusions: The sample may not be broadly generalisable; however, some aspects of the NDIS planning and implementation process require addressing.

Despite the importance of and advocacy for developing literacy skills for successful and rewarding participation in the community, there remains a common perception that becoming literate is not possible for people with intellectual disabilities. Until recently, limited research has been undertaken to investigate the literacy skills of adults with intellectual disabilities. In particular, research related to opportunities for lifelong learning in community-based organisations, and to the kinds of literacy activities that might be both developmentally and socially appropriate to assist adults with intellectual disabilities to remain active as they age, is limited in relation to older adults with intellectual disabilities. This exploratory project used a range of instruments to gather information about the literacy skills of older adults to identify their literacy needs and wants, and to consider opportunities to enhance and maintain literacy skills existing in an ongoing activity program in one community-based service organisation. (Contains 4 tables.)

Quality of Life (QOL) has been used as a sensitising concept for decades, inviting all to consider the potential for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to live a life full of meaning and purpose. This article presents the outcomes of our deliberations on domains of QOL undertaken for a study investigating lives of young adults with Down syndrome. Various groups have published domains and from these we distilled a list of six: Physical well‐being, Emotional well‐being; Self‐determination; Material well‐being; Personal beliefs and development; and Social inclusion. Our synthesis of domains raised two issues for further deliberation in the community of QOL scholars in the field of intellectual and developmental disability: the place of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Rights. ICT has not been considered as a domain but we argue it could be. Rights have been included as a domain by some researchers in previous conceptualisations but we do not. Instead we suggest they may be better placed as an underpinning principle, with fundamental impact on all aspects of QOL. A conclusion we are left with is that domains, while helpful for research, can never be a fixed list. What matters to individuals and society in general in framing lives of meaning and purpose will change over time. Even so, there is still value and need for setting domains for specific research studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The study reported here was an examination of the reliability of a method for determining acquiescent responding and the capacity to respond to items using a Likert scale response format by adults with an intellectual disability. Method: Reliability of the outcomes of these procedures was investigated using a test-retest design. Associations with receptive vocabulary were examined. Results: The majority of the participants did not demonstrate acquiescent responding. Individuals' responses to the Likert-type discrimination tasks were consistent, although this varied somewhat depending upon the abstractness of the task. There was some association between receptive language age equivalence scores and respondent performance. Conclusion: It is recommended that the pretest protocol (a) be modified to improve its reliability, and (b) this modified version be used with study participants who have an intellectual disability to ascertain the appropriate level of choice to be used for items that use a Likert response format.

The purpose of this study was to explore students' technology use and its relationship with their psychosocial development. Previous research explored students' computer use in conjunction with their cognitive development. This study examined the effects of computer use and other technologies, such as instant messaging, handheld gaming devices, and MP3 players, and the impact they have on students' peer relationships, academic involvement, and healthy lifestyles. Results show both positive and negative effects on all three constructs of psychosocial development, including differences based on gender and race. (Contains 1 table.)

There has been huge growth in the use of information technology (IT) in classrooms for learners of all ages. It has been suggested that computers in the classroom encourage independent and self-paced learning, provide immediate feedback and improve self-motivation and self-confidence. Concurrently there is increasing interest related to the role of technology in educational programs for individuals with intellectual disabilities. However, although many claims are made about the benefits of computers and software packages there is limited evidence based information to support these claims. Researchers are now starting to look at the specific instructional design features that are hypothesised to facilitate education outcomes rather than the over-emphasis on graphics and sounds. Research undertaken as part of a post-school program (Latch-On: Literacy and Technology--Hands On) at the University of Queensland investigated the use of computers by young adults with intellectual disabilities. The aims of the research reported in this paper were to address the challenges identified in the "hype" surrounding different pieces of educational software and to develop a means of systematically analysing software for use in teaching programs. (Contains 1 figure.)