Abstract:

To date, research on Intellectual Disability (ID) has focused almost exclusively on childhood and early interventions to support development. Adolescents, youth and adults with ID are an under-studied population. As a matter of fact, in the 21st century, new strategies, new partnerships and new perspectives are needed in most European countries, including Ireland, to empower youth with ID to acquire employment skills. The research presented considers and addresses the current educational and career preparation context for youth with ID in Ireland. We have developed a transition programme, E-IDEAS “Empowerment of youth with Intellectual Disabilities through Education and training for Acquiring employment Skills”, aimed to develop evidence based pathway that provides real-life work experience highlighting the importance of promoting better employment skills and outcomes for youth with ID.

The framework is composed by two curricula for supporting the transfer of knowledge and skills:
- Employment preparation curriculum.
- Individualized work-placement curriculum.

The first curriculum was developed using a “top/down” driven approach, which means it was based on best practice outcomes from previous research. The second curriculum will be realized using a “person centre approach”, in order to match person’s needs with employment context requirements, for guaranteeing an effective work-placement experience. Participants will be provided with a range of aids such as job-coaching, peer-to-peer support with non-disabled co-workers and mentoring as appropriate.

Through a mix of participatory research and qualitative and quantitative research methods, E-IDEAS is engaging youth with ID, family members and carers, service providers, educators and employers. Participants are 10 youths with mild to moderate ID that will be supported also by Information Communication Technology and Assistive Technology (ICT-AT) solutions to acquire employment and independent living skills. The delivery and evaluation of both the curricula designed as well as the mapping of customizable ICT-AT with educational and employment purposes and the analysis of the impact on different participants/stakeholders will be discussed.

Keywords:

Empowerment, Youth with Intellectual Disabilities, Transition Program, Employment Skills.