Coffee talks: Positive effects of a friendly visitor program on pragmatic competence and language production skills in adults with intellectual disabilities.

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of limited communication abilities in adults with intellectual disabilities is high with adverse effects on social participation. To address their limited opportunities to engage in conversational interchanges, along with the shortage of professional workforce in many rehabilitation settings, we considered a volunteer-based program to enhance communication abilities. Method: In this preliminary study we employed a Friendly Visitor program, in which a group of four women (27-33 years-old) with mild-to-moderate intellectual disabilities were visited weekly for three months by a group of visitors, forming an unstructured social group. Results: Following the meetings, improvements were found for the participants in several pragmatic skills (conversational competence, e.g., initiation, asking questions) and language production abilities (e.g., the number of two-word-utterances). Conclusions: Such effects may promote independence, reduce isolation, and increase integration and quality of life. Further studies with larger samples and more rigorous designs are needed to confirm these initial findings.