How adults with a profound intellectual disability engage others in interaction

Area of Science:

• Disability Studies
• Linguistics
• Sociology

Background:

• Individuals with severe and profound intellectual disabilities (ID) often face communication barriers.
• Understanding their interactional practices is crucial for effective support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and analyze the interactional practices used by individuals with severe and profound ID to initiate encounters.
• To examine the challenges faced by support staff in responding to these initiations.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of video recordings of everyday life in a residential care setting.
• Focus on naturally occurring interactions between residents and support staff.

Main Results:

• Few interaction initiations were observed, and all presented difficulties for interlocutors.
• 'Blank recipiency' provided minimal information for response.
• Initiations were more likely to be sustained when they occurred within an ongoing interaction or proposed an alternative action.
• Interlocutors often responded verbally as if to neuro-typical individuals, which was inappropriate and led to interaction abandonment.

Conclusions:

• Standard conversational practices are often misapplied by support staff when interacting with individuals with severe and profound ID.
• This misapplication contributes to interaction breakdown and residents abandoning communication attempts.
• Care workers face a dilemma in balancing appropriate support with standard interactional expectations.