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Communicative empowerment of people with intellectual disability
- Authors:
- NIJNATTEN Carolus van, HEESTERMANS Marianne
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 37(2), June 2012, pp.100-111.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Arguing that people with intellectual disability may have trouble in establishing communicative relationships and can be disempowered by the attitudes of professionals, this study aimed to explore the effect of empowering strategies. In the context that people with intellectual disability are more likely than others to become victims of sexual abuse and that personal narratives are important for victims of sexual abuse to overcome their trauma, it looked at how counsellors can help victims with intellectual disability to take an active position in conversations about sexuality and to construct a personal narrative. The researchers used discourse and conversational analysis to study 4 conversations between a counsellor and a woman with autism and mild intellectual disability who had been sexually abused. The article discusses the analysis findings, with illustrative examples, covering support for an active interactional role, pace of conversation, and linguistic and interpretive prudence. They report that the client was able to express her inner emotions and understanding about sexual issues and other sensitive topics, and conclude that, in spite of communication limitations, clients with an intellectual disability can participate actively in conversations with counsellors.