Ideas and thoughts of Italian teachers on the professional future of persons with disability.
Italian teachers sell students with Down syndrome short, but quick staff training and BST can flip the script.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Matson et al. (2009) asked Italian teachers what they think students with Down syndrome can do after school.
They held long talks with teachers from different grade levels.
The team wrote down every worry or hope the teachers shared.
What they found
Most teachers pictured limited jobs and guarded lives for these students.
Primary teachers were a bit more hopeful than upper-grade teachers.
No teacher talked about full-time work or living alone.
How this fits with other research
Radogna et al. (2024) proves the teachers wrong. They used BST plus tokens to teach three Italian adults with NDD real job social skills. The adults kept the skills at work and bosses liked them.
Low et al. (2021) show training can fix bias fast. A short picture-story e-module lifted Laotian teachers’ knowledge and cut stigma toward students with ASD.
Bhaumik et al. (2008) did the same for staff. Six short BST sessions turned Hong Kong residential workers into stronger supporters of adults with ID.
The 2009 worry looks like a mirror image of the 2024 success: same country, same goals, opposite views.
Why it matters
If you write transition plans in Italy, know that teachers may set the bar low. Show them Radogna’s data: adults with NDD can learn job social skills and keep them. Add a quick module like Min’s pictures or S’s six-session BST to IEP meetings. When staff see real gains, their goals for students rise.
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Join Free →Show the team Radogna et al. (2024) video clips of adults with NDD using job social skills at work.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: The literature places special focus on the quality of life (QoL) of individuals with disability and on their self-determination and social and work participation. The field of vocational guidance also considers the satisfaction these individuals experience concerning their future crucial to their QoL. At the same time, however, persons with disability are at great risk of not making highly advantageous choices for their future. Hence, teachers and career counsellors can play an important role in vocational guidance for persons with disability. METHODS: The present study was aimed at investigating the ideas of a group of teachers asked to describe in writing the future of hypothetical students with disability. Their descriptions were first analysed to verify whether any reference was made to the construct of QoL and whether a significant role was attributed to aspects of work inclusion and work satisfaction. Response category differences were then compared for curricular teachers vs. specialised teachers, elementary school teachers vs. middle school teachers, and low self-efficacy vs. high self-efficacy teachers. RESULTS: Teachers describing the future of a hypothetical student with Down's syndrome mentioned some aspects of QoL and emphasised certain features over others. Several category type differences teachers emerged, although not always in line with expectations. CONCLUSIONS: Teachers' ideas on the future of individuals with intellectual disability are characterised by a certain bias towards the restrictions that impairment can imply. In consideration of our findings, the need for training actions is highlighted.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2009 · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.2008.01129.x