Abstract
Work, leisure and retirement are fundamental aspects of life for individuals with
an intellectual disability, just as with the general population. Many educational
efforts have taught knowledge and skills to persons with an intellectual
disability to improve their functioning in the work and leisure domains. More
recently, retirement concerns have become particularly salient because so many
individuals now live much longer. The present study looked at using a
conceptual approach to improve education in these three domains. It employed
the principles that instruction works much better when it proceeds from an
individual=s existing concepts and that instruction should teach useful concepts
that an individual can apply to improve his or her real world functioning. This
conceptual approach has not been used much with the education of persons with
an intellectual disability. In Study 1, sixty adults with an intellectual disability
were interviewed to determine their existing concepts of work, leisure and
retirement and their work and leisure histories. Most had solid concepts of work
and leisure, but with some gaps, particularly in notions of volunteer work and
occupational status. Most reported satisfactory work and leisure lives. Most had
a relatively poor concept of retirement at best and had done little or no
retirement planning. These data suggested some key targets for an educational
program to improve their knowledge and functioning in these domains. In Study 2, these data were used to develop an instructional program that
focussed on gaps in knowledge of volunteer work, banking, budgeting and
participation in satisfying leisure activities and in retirement planning. This
instructional program was delivered over eight weeks to a class consisting of
nine adults with an intellectual disability, with some success. This general
conceptual approach can be usefully applied to teaching in other important
domains with persons with an intellectual disability. They can be taught key
concepts which they can use to live their lives more purposely and
independently.