The Literacy Latch On

LATCH-ON student Jolleen Frew hones her computer skills

A new chapter has been written for an innovative University of Queensland literacy program based on research into Down Syndrome.

The University of Queensland's Literacy and Technology Hands On (LATCH-ON) program has been providing a literacy program for young adults with intellectual disabilities for five years.

A new collaboration with the Endeavour Foundation has been forged with the help of UQ's main commercialization company, UniQuest.

From next year, the Endeavour Foundation will make the LATCH-ON program available to its clients under a licensing agreement.

LATCH-ON was initiated in 1998 by Dr Anne Jobling, a UQ researcher in Down Syndrome, with the help of Dr Karen Moni, a lecturer in English curriculum and literacy education in UQ?s School of Education.

The program is based on years of research within UQ's Fred and Eleanor Schonell Special Education Research Centre and collaborative efforts with researchers in Australia, Europe and North America.

"LATCH-ON has graduated 24 students since the program began and we are hoping to reach many more through the Endeavour Foundation," Dr Jobling said.

Students apply to take part in LATCH-ON through Disability Queensland's post-school assistance program.

"In the early years the students were drawn primarily from the Down Syndrome research program's longitudinal study," Dr Jobling said.

"This study, in conjunction with the Fred and Eleanor Schonell Special Education Research Centre's ongoing research interests in literacy, provided a research base for LATCH-ON."

An annual highlight for students, their parents and staff, is the graduation ceremony that has featured special guest speakers such as Bronco's coach Wayne Bennett, Brisbane Lion Luke Power and Paralympian Paul Cross."

"It gives Karen and I and the other staff a huge amount of satisfaction to see young people break through the boundaries of what other people thought was possible for them and emerge as far more confident and assured individuals," Dr Jobling said.

As well as being a former Vice-Chancellor of UQ, the late Sir Fred Schonell, after whom the Special Education Research Centre was named, was also the inaugural President of the Endeavour Foundation.

I'm sure Sir Fred would be very pleased to see the two organisations working so closely together to improve the lives of people with an intellectual disability," said UQ Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Margaret Gardner.

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