ICT for adults with learning disabilities: an organisation‐wide audit

Abstract

Microcomputers have recognised value for people with learning disability (mental retardation) and their use has been a feature of many service settings since the 1980s. Recent technological advances, such as the modern and powerful personal computers with multimedia capability and the Internet, have, however, not yet been widely adopted in day and residential services. The implications of these developments for service planning and management are not fully understood. A survey of microcomputer use for adults with learning disability within The Home Farm Trust, a UK national organisation for people with learning disability was carried out in the light of a planned organisationwide initiative to introduce modern information and communications technology (ICT) to service users. Results show that there had been a limited provision of computers within the organisation and that staffing and support for the introduction of new ICT were not fully in place. The findings are discussed in the light of research on the organisational requirements for effective ICT use. These requirements were built into the planning of a major initiative to equip the organisation with new ICT for its service users. Future research should lead to simple audit procedures to aid organisations develop effective ICT use. IntroductionInformation and communications technology (ICT) has a recognised and important range of uses within services for children and adults who, because of physical, sensory or intellectual disabilities, have special educational or support needs. These uses include face-to-face and written communication, education, employment, environmental control, and recreation. (For reviews see Hegarty, 1991;Hegarty and Whittaker, 1993;Woodward and Rieth, 1997; Nisbet and Poon, 1998). A distinction is made here between the information and communications technologies that are used by staff within the

Internet Access by People with Intellectual Disabilities: Inequalities and Opportunities

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ICT and Intellectual Disability: A Survey of Organizational Support at the Municipal Level in Sweden

“…Successful support and use of ICT in social care organizations may also derive from a project leader or support person, high stability in staffing and engagement in ICT‐related activities (Aspinall & Hegarty ; Hegarty & Aspinall ), thereby enabling the use of ICT (Hegarty & Aspinall ; Parsons et al . ,b, ).…”

A common open space or a digital divide? A social model perspective on the online disability community in China

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