Staff members' understandings about communication with individuals who have multiple learning disabilities: A case of Finnish OIVA communication training

Abstract

Background Often communication training has been directed at the communication practices of staff members working with people with multiple learning disabilities. To date, the thinking habits of staff members, which also influence interactions, have not been addressed. We identified the issues staff members perceived as important for their development as communication partners after participating in a communication training program.

Method Six key staff members participated in semistructured interviews that explored the insights they had gained during participation in the Finnish communication training program OIVA.

Results Participating staff members identified issues relating to the communication practices and thinking habits they had acquired during the training. Both communication practices and thinking habits were important for the staff members' development as communication partners.

Conclusions The findings of this study suggest that it is important to give staff members the opportunity to learn new practices and to explore the thinking that underpins the actions they perform during communication training.

Keywords:

• multiple learning disabilities
• communication
• staff
• training

Acknowledgements

The assistance of Liisa Alapuranen and Piia Siivonen is gratefully acknowledged. The authors also acknowledge the comments of Tom Regelski and Anu Klippi on this paper.