| Fact Sheet | We also learned that not many people know about the literacy needs of adults with disabilities. This led to LaDS producing a Fact Sheet for the Movement for Canadian Literacy which highlights social, education and economic barriers for adults with disabilities and low literacy (see Appendix A or http://www.literacy.ca/litand/3.htm.) | ||||||||||
| Book of Learner Stories | Along with increasing awareness about adult literacy and disabilities, another aim of the LaDS project was to support adult learners with disabilities to strengthen their voice. We did this by publishing writings by learners who use the SARAW computer. A collection of stories written by twenty adult learners from eight literacy and rehabilitation programs was produced. It is called "LaDS Learner Stories", and is available at www.nald.ca/fulltext/study/learner/stories.pdf. | ||||||||||
| SARAW Survey | The LaDS project conducted a national survey of programs that use the SARAW computer. Forty-four people from eleven programs across Canada participated in the survey and shared how they use SARAW along with other learning materials and strategies. The table below presents the number and type of participants in the SARAW Survey. | ||||||||||
| Most of the eleven programs were literacy programs for adults with disabilities and were located in community colleges, rehabilitation organizations, and community-based literacy organizations. Nearly half are community-based literacy (non-credit) programs. | |||||||||||
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| SARAW is a very useful tool for adults with a wide range of physical and/or intellectual disabilities. | While the survey was conducted primarily through face-to-face
interviews, a few interviews were by phone. Other Survey methodology
included observations of learners, tutors and instructors using SARAW
and other learning material, as well as two case studies. From the
forty-four participants we learned that SARAW is a very useful tool
for adults with a wide range of physical and/or intellectual disabilities.
Slightly more than half of the 20 learners interviewed had intellectual
disabilities, and slightly less than half of the learners had physical
disabilities. However, nearly half of the all the learners had both
intellectual and physical disabilities. One learner had neither a physical
or intellectual disability but used SARAW to help with learning English
as a Second Language. Most learners had literacy skills at level one of
the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS).3
Most of the eleven programs were literacy programs for adults with disabilities and were located in community colleges, rehabilitation organizations, and community-based literacy organizations. Nearly half are community-based literacy (non-credit) programs. |
3 Statistics Canada (1996) IALS Report defines adults reading at Level One as having "difficulty reading and have few basic skills or strategies for decoding and working with text. Generally, they are aware that they have a literacy problem". See Movement for Canadian Literacy Fact Sheet: Literacy in Canada at http://www.literacy.ca/litand/1.htm