Literacy Competence

Macht (2000) in his report Literacy and Disability found competent literacy skill to be associated with employment stability, higher incomes and access to knowledge – based employment. Literate individuals have a greater opportunity to receive training and improve their employability. Literacy skills are linked to work skills, health and self-esteem. Poor literacy skills reduce a person’s opportunities in the labour market and these individuals are more likely to live in poverty than those who are more highly educated (pp. 8 - 11).

Literacy and Disability

Kapsalis (1999) reported the results of a statistical analysis of the IALS entitled The Effects of Disabilities on Literacy and found that 77% of people with learning disabilities (52% at Level 1) and 48% of people with physical disabilities in Canada function below Level 3 (15% at Level 1). The definition of “disability” used in this analysis was very broad and the report did not include those individuals over the age of 55; however, the report does draw attention to the complexity of the issues related to physical disability and the fundamental impact on an individual‘s quality of life of not attaining a minimum of Level 3 literacy and not having the opportunity to practice literacy skills in a social, volunteer or work context - the well-documented “use it or lose it” phenomenon (Statistics Canada, 1996).

People with physical disability often have a lower likelihood of employment success and of succeeding in a competitive job market because they are more frequently faced with multiple barriers as a result of their disability (Macht, 2000). Many people with significant disabilities have not had the opportunity to participate in basic educational programs within the conventional school system. This unfortunate situation has usually been attributed to barriers relating to access and communication, for example, the poor levels of literacy within the community of people with disability is related to the lack of opportunities for education (Darville , 1992). Panitch and Ticoll (1995) concluded that the legacy of a segregated education system and few literacy program options for people with disabilities in Canada is lower educational attainment, poor literacy skills and high unemployment rate.

A number of studies (Neil Squire Foundation, 1999; Panitch & Ticoll, 1995; Lockert, 1999) identified the lack of accessible literacy programming and services for people with disabilities that are learner-centred and inclusive. Learning disabilities, environmental barriers and health concerns also exclude this population from participating in currently available programs. Many people with complex multiple physical and learning disabilities require one-to-one attention, a specially designed environment and specialized equipment in order to make learning accessible and to facilitate learning new skills. Based on these previous studies and an extensive literature review Macht (2000) made the following general recommendations aimed at improving literacy opportunities and outcomes for people with disabilities: