How staff pursue questions to adults with intellectual disabilities.
Summary of "How staff pursue questions to adults with intellectual disabilities."
Background When support staff use questions to instruct, advise or guide adults with intellectual disabilities (ID), or to solicit information from them, the interaction does not always proceed smoothly, particularly when replies are ambiguous, absent or not obviously relevant. That can lead to interactional trouble and dissatisfaction, or worse. Methods We report on the ways in which staff members transform their questions over a series of conversational turns in order to solicit an adequate reply, and thereby to fulfil the interactional goal of the question. Our data come from approximately 30 h of recordings of natural conversation between staff members and adults with ID in two residential and one outdoor activities settings. Results We identify seven practices by which staff attempt to resolve the dilemma between undue direction and premature closure. These include: expansion of the original question, simplifying its format, changing its content in various ways and realising its alternatives in physical form. Conclusions We highlight strategies which produce answers satisfactory to both parties, and improve the quality of interaction between staff and people with ID.
Affiliation
Department of Psychology, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK Department of Social Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK.
Journal Details
This article was published in the following journal.
Name: Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR
ISSN: 1365-2788
Pages:
Links
- PubMed Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21917051
- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2788.2011.01478.x
Medical and Biotech [MESH] Definitions
Wechsler Scales
Tests designed to measure intellectual functioning in children and adults.
Examination Questions
Works consisting of compilations of questions and answers pertaining to a particular subject, used for study and review.
Faculty
The teaching staff and members of the administrative staff having academic rank in an educational institution.
Staff Development
The process by which the employer promotes staff performance and efficiency consistent with management goals and objectives.
Developmental Disabilities
Disorders in which there is a delay in development based on that expected for a given age level or stage of development. These impairments or disabilities originate before age 18, may be expected to continue indefinitely, and constitute a substantial impairment. Biological and nonbiological factors are involved in these disorders. (From American Psychiatric Glossary, 6th ed)
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