Dr. Ken Beck and Ms. Patricia Hatt developed the Literacy Preparation Project for Adults with Developmental Disabilities in 1998. Their participation in the workshop was secured and planning commenced. A venue was selected and arrangements made to offer the workshop on February 23, 2000.

Participants were obtained through mailing lists from the Tri-County Literacy Network and the St. Clair Staff Training Advisory Committee. They comprised individuals from literacy programs (to facilitate the delivery of more accessible and inclusive programs), agencies for community living (as these were a primary literacy referral source), and district school boards (these were central to the transition from school to adult options). It was anticipated that there would be at least 40 respondents. Actual enrolment far exceeded expectations and was limited to 52 participants after a waiting list was created.

When asked to rank the most important functions of the workshop, the participants were given a choice between education and professional development, networking and contact with others in the region, and dialogue between the literacy field and agencies. Participants ranked all three as being of equal importance. Both the actual questionnaire, as well as a summary of evaluation results is included in Appendix C.

The workshop provided an excellent opportunity for informal confirmation of the findings of the focus groups. As well, there was time on the agenda to present initial findings of the project from the interviews and focus groups to the participants.