Learning among Older Adults with Lifelong Intellectual Disabilities

Abstract

This article includes a description of conceptions of aging and engagement with learning for 16 older people (52 to 80 years; mean age 62 years) with a lifelong intellectual disability. The sample also included the care workers and family member/friend. The older people had sufficient verbal skills to participate in the interviews. Half the sample was in Queensland and half in Victoria. The data are from research that describes a model of active aging for people who have a lifelong intellectual disability. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using phenomenography to identify conceptions of aging and an inductive determination of engagement with learning. Semihierarchical conceptions of aging were identified including no conception, limited awareness, awareness of aging effects, aging as requiring preparation, and an overall understanding. Engagement with learning was classified as low, medium, or high. Most learning occurred at a low level involving observation and copying rather than formalized education. The relationship between participants' conceptions of aging and engagement with learning are discussed. Although there is information in the literature about what older people believe constitutes active aging, there is little about active aging and learning for people with a lifelong intellectual disability.