Teaching assertiveness skills to people with learning disabilities: a brief report of a training programme

Abstract

This paper reports on a training programme for seven participants with learning disabilities, who completed 24 sessions of assertiveness training in a group setting. In addition to these training sessions, the group convened and presented a staff workshop so that they could share what they had learned, and seek support for their newly acquired skills to be practised in other settings. Evaluation of these training sessions used two main approaches that included weekly evaluations, and pre- and post- (training session) interviews. The individual achievements of the participants are highlighted in this paper. This paper discusses those factors that have contributed to the development of assertiveness skills, as well as the difficulties that were encountered.