Teresa Gadd, Debbie Doyle, Angelina Stewart

Templeogue LTTC, St. Michael’s House

Keywords: Literacy, Adults, Intellectual Disability, Communication

The Literacy Project began as a response to information gathered during IP meetings and Personal Outcome Measures interviews. Service users identified literacy as a key goal for them. The project set out to raise the awareness of the literacy needs of adults attending a long term training centre, and the training needs of staff supporting them. As part of the project, the authors devised a literacy skills assessment and workbook, along with an introductory training module for frontline staff.
The assessment was carried out with 54 adults with intellectual disabilities attending the centre, and the findings reported back to key groups within the organisation, and with outside agencies with a responsibility for literacy provision.

The main findings highlighted the low levels of literacy within this population despite high levels of motivation to develop skills in the area. It emphasised the need for visual supports and accessible information, and the need for co-ordinated work between professionals to establish best practice guidelines.
The findings demonstrated that service users can select appropriate and achievable goals in this area, and can relate the development of these skills to their overall quality of life.