Intellectually disabled graduate from Trinity

"Next I want to go travelling to America and New Zealand," says Jan Mahon, one of the first graduates of a pioneering Trinity College Dublin course for people with an intellectual disability.

She and 18 other students were awarded Certificates in Contemporary Living at a graduation ceremony last night. One of the aims of the two-year course is to give students the skills to take part in society with modules on preparing for work and literacy.

Ms Mahon is working in Starbucks but wants to work with older people. She says her confidence was boosted by the course, during which she acted in a Dublin Theatre Festival play and spoke at a conference in Sweden.

While many students had a good education, previously there was nowhere to go from there, said Patricia O'Brien, director of the National Institute for Intellectual Disability. After attending Trinity, the students do not feel as different as they felt before, she says. This comes partly from regular meetings with an undergraduate student mentor.

Some students have joined mainstream undergraduate classes. Ms O'Brien says this encourages mainstream staff to meet a range of learning styles.

One of the graduates, Shane Byrne from Co Carlow, says his favourite part of the course was researching Vikings in Ireland.

Some of the graduates are living independently after doing the course because they are now more confident, according to Ms O'Brien. Graduate Georgina Wilkin had never travelled independently before going to work as an art teacher's assistant as part of the work experience.

There are still barriers to be broken despite a change in attitude towards people with learning difficulties, according to Ms O'Brien.

These barriers include segregation in schools and employment as well as transition to different levels of education. Another group of students began the course last October and Ms O'Brien hopes such initiatives will spread and help graduates become part of the mainstream.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times