Life Skills for Young Adults with Learning Disabilities

This study looks at the influence of normalisation on the practice of teachers in adult training centres (ATCs) in Greece and more specifically at the curricula used in ATCs in Greece for young adults with learning disabilities. It examines whether the centre curriculum emphasises the teaching of social and life skills through activities outside the learning environment, and the kinds of difficulty that teachers face during the teaching of these skills. Data were gathered through interview and questionnaire, and are presented by content analysis, for the interviews, and analysed by descriptive quantitative methods wherever possible. A total of 44 Greek teachers from ATCs were interviewed. Results suggest that teachers avoid teaching life and social skills that relate to activities outside the ATC. Students visit mainly local shops and far fewer theatres, cinemas and public buildings. Additionally, in most of the visits students remain passive attendants without learning much in the way of life skills. Teachers' obstacles to teaching life and social skills outside ATCs are mainly lack of assistants, lack of time and lack of parents' co‐operation. Generally, it is difficult for teachers to reduce teaching time in the classroom and give the students the opportunity to apply their knowledge outside the classroom.