The labour competence profile of people with intellectual disabilities in occupational centres

Abstract

Labour integration has a positive impact on people with Intellectual Disability (ID), being employment a key element in their process of social integration and community participation. The aim of this research is to optimize the labour integration and professional development of people with mild and moderate ID in order to facilitate their social inclusion. A non-probabilistic incidental sampling was carried out, with the participation of 16 occupational centres of Barcelona's metropolitan area. A questionnaire was created and administered to 100 people with mild and moderate ID. A non-experimental research design was used, in which the professional skills of the participants in their natural professional context (occupational centres) were analysed. Results show a statistically significant relationship (positive and moderate) between all the competences. People with ID have a similar development in the analysed competences; those with a low degree of ID show higher levels of competence than those with moderate ID. It is noteworthy that, regardless of the degree, all the evaluated competences exceed the average score. The fact that the participants in the research are located in occupational centres is certainly a variable that facilitates their competence development.