The effectiveness of Talking Mats with people with intellectual disability

Citation

Murphy J & Cameron L (2008) The effectiveness of Talking Mats with people with intellectual disability. British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 36 (4), pp. 232-241. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-3156.2008.00490.x

Abstract
People with intellectual disability have significant difficulties in ensuring their voice is heard. Talking Mats is a low tech communication resource which helps understanding and supports expression. This study examined the effectiveness of the resource for people with intellectual disability. A mixed method quantitative and qualitative study involving 48 people at four levels of comprehension was designed to compare the effectiveness of Talking Mats with the individual's main communication method. Thirty of the 48 participants were identified as using Talking Mats effectively. Effective use of Talking Mats was associated with functional comprehension. The study found that scores on all indicators of communication effectiveness were higher when using Talking Mats compared to main communication methods. This study identified that Talking Mats can be an effective communication resource for many people with intellectual difficulty and can help them express their views by increasing both the quantity and quality of information communicated

Keywords
Augmented communication; communication impairment; effective communication; intellectual disability; life planning

Journal
British Journal of Learning Disabilities: Volume 36, Issue 4