An exploration of adaptive skills and leisure activity of older adults with mental retardation.

The number of older people with mental retardation is increasing and those who may participate in activity programs will provide exciting new opportunities for tberapeutic recreation specialists. Descriptive data on the characteristics of this special population group are not abundant in the literature. Information on the extent of, preferences for, and constraints on leisure activity, as well as adaptive skills of individuals with mental retardation who are older is not widely available. A structured interview methodology was used to explore 50 picture-cued leisure activities and 20 constraints on leisure with a sample of 62 older adults with mental retardation. The Inventory for Client and Agency Planning (lCAP)  was utilized to gather information on adaptive skills for the sample. Exploratory analyses of adaptive skill domains, leisure preferences, and constraints on leisure resulted in selected findings where gender may be indicative of differing perceptions of constraint and preferences for increased leisure participation. Males and females did not significantly differ in overall adaptive skill; however, within gender analyses demonstrated significantly lower functioning in the motor domain compared with all other areas offunctioning.  The highest level offunctioning was found to be in the personal living skills domain. Implications of the study results are discussed and future directions for research in therapeutic recreation are suggested.