Creating order from disorder: a study of pre-closing activity in interactions involving young adults with learning disabilities

Traditionally matters of disability have been considered in a predominantly clinical domain which positions any 'impairment' as intrinsic to individuals, and often calls into question their 'social competence'. However since Goodwin's (1995, 2003a, 2003b, 2004) work opened the door for research into diagnosed 'impairments' within an interactional framework, there has been a multitude of studies which have provided an interactional consideration of a wide range of diagnosed 'disorders'. Such work takes a more pragmatic line and recognises that it is for parties to an interaction to jointly accomplish everyday conversational tasks. This thesis follows such a line. It explores how everyday conversational tasks within family telephone calls which include a young adult with a learning disability (LD), are accomplished. The particular conversational task which is considered is that of closing a telephone call. [Continues.]