Resources search

Purpose: People with intellectual disabilities are deeply affected by health inequity, which is also reflected in their access to and use of assistive technology (AT). Including the perspectives of adults with intellectual disabilities and their caregivers, together with the views of local health professionals, suppliers of AT and policy-makers, this paper aims to provide an overview of factors influencing access to AT and its use by people with intellectual disabilities in Bangalore, a southern region of India.

Method: Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 15 adults with intellectual disabilities (ranging from mild to profound) and their caregivers, and with 16 providers of AT. This helped to gain insight into the current use, needs, knowledge, awareness, access, customisation, funding, follow-up, social inclusion, stigma and policies around AT and intellectual disability.

Results: Access to AT was facilitated by community fieldworkers and services to reach out and identify people with intellectual disabilities. Important barriers were stigma, and lack of knowledge and awareness among parents. Factorsrelated to continued use were the substantial dependence on the care system to use AT, and the importance of AT training and instructions for the user and the care system.

Conclusion and Implications: The barriers and facilitators related to AT for people with intellectual disabilities differ from other populations in need. The findings of this study can be used to inform and adjust country policies and frameworks whose aim is to improve access to AT and enhance the participation of people with intellectual disabilities within their communities.

Purpose: The study examined the differing perceptions of professionals and the public (non-professionals) regarding life success for adults with learning disability (LD).

Method: The sample (N = 342) consisted of 175 professionals (P) and 167 non-professionals (NP), with a mean age of 30.02 years and S.D. = 12.42 years. Their perceptions about life success of an individual with learning disability were studied with the help of four vignettes that provided hypothetical information about the age, class, and hobbies of a college student. The four vignettes were identical in describing the student and only differed in terms of gender (M and F), and presence and absence of learning disability (LD and NLD).

Results: No significant difference was found between attitudes held by professionals and non-professionals. Both the groups showed significantly greater negative attitudes about perceived life success for adults with learning disability than for those without learning disability. The results have been discussed with the help of social psychological theories in the areas of attitude, bias, and stigmatization.

Conclusion and Implications: It is clear that a negative bias exists toward individuals with learning disability in the urban Indian milieu. The fact that not only the public but also professionals were biased against individuals with learning disability regarding their life success implies that negative stereotypes are deeply embedded. This research may provide the impetus to address issues like prevalence of stigma against learning disability in society, its effective attenuation as well as equality and inclusion for individuals with learning disability.

Purpose: This study attempts to ascertain if adaptive behaviour complies with the characteristics of a normal distribution.

Methods: Adaptive behaviour data collected from two large state samples of 2900 were reviewed to determine the shape of their distributions. A smaller convenience sample of 37 adults without intellectual disability was similarly reviewed.  

Results: Findings suggest that the shape of the distribution of adaptive behaviour increasingly deviates from normal as cognitive abilities increase.   

Conclusions/Implications: It does not appear that adaptive behaviour is normally distributed. This will impact the diagnosis of intellectual disability because while IQ scores two standard deviations below the mean reliably cut off about 2% of the population, a similar cut-off cannot be assumed for adaptive behaviour.

Purpose: The factor integral to the empowerment of children with intellectual disability is the presence and active involvement of support mechanisms such as their family and their caregivers. This study assesses both positive and negative impacts on parents/caregivers of children with intellectual disability in Oddanchatram block of Dindigul District in Tamil Nadu, India.

Method: Mixed method techniques (quantitative and qualitative) were used.

Results: Although many disturbing realities in the family situation were revealed, there were also positive impacts which were a hopeful sign.

Conclusion: Empowering the caregivers of children with intellectual disability is the first step towards inclusion of these special children in society. Various strategies to achieve this goal are discussed in the study. 

Purpose: Women with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to violence and often at risk of being violated sexually. The study aimed to document the causes and consequences of sexual violence against women with disabilities in Mampong Municipality of Ashanti region in Ghana.

Methods: This exploratory study recruited 41 participants, made up of women living with intellectual, visual and hearing disabilities, were interviewed using convenience and snowball sampling techniques. 

Results: It was found that many participants had suffered sexual violence and factors such as poverty, rejection by families, isolation and unemployment were given as the cause. It was also found that these women suffered consequences such as unwanted pregnancies, divorce, outright rejection and psychological trauma.

Conclusion: The current situation of women with disabilities make it impossible for them to escape sexual violence. Therefore, it is essential that national awareness campaigns be fashioned to encourage people to provide support to their family members with disabilities. 

Purpose: The attitudes of support staff towards people with intellectual disability can greatly impact upon an individual’s quality of life and level of social inclusion. However, there are few studies that examine how perceptions and beliefs have changed within one organisation over the past few decades; a period during which there have been major social and government policy changes including deinstitutionalisation, inclusive education and the introduction of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In conjunction with a 25th anniversary review of a community-living project in rural Australia, the current research replicated a study from 1987 that examined attitudes of staff with respect to people with intellectual disability, and thematically compared the findings of the two questionnaires.

Method: In 1987, a purpose-designed questionnaire was developed and completed by 15 direct care staff. This 10-item tool asked for basic demographic information and for the participants’ perceptions of people with intellectual disability and their own work roles in the disability sector. This tool was replicated in 2013 and was again completed by 15 direct care staff from the same organisation.

Results: The thematic analysis indicated a number of differences between the 1987 and 2013 cohorts in regard to their attitudes. The wide acceptance of the rights of people with intellectual disability was one key change. There was an age separation found within the 2013 cohort, with older participants (> 50 years of age) more likely to display similar attitudes to the 1987 group than the younger participants (<30 years old). Dealing with the problem of ageing-related issues, something that was not obvious 25 years ago, was now considered of major importance. There was evidence that disability support was increasingly recognised as a valid career choice, with a substantial difference in motivation found between the two age groups. Across both cohorts, direct exposure to the realities of the job was seen to be the best training for new employees.

Conclusions: The past 25 years have seen positive developments in both social acceptance and expectations for people with disabilities. Individuals are now viewed in a realistic but more positive light. As an exemplar of this change, concerns about individuals entering a consenting sexual relationship have changed dramatically, and what was once an issue of major concern is now no longer raised. While the training provided to staff has changed significantly over the past 25 years, on-the-job exposure to people with intellectual disability, combined with support from peers, is still perceived as vital for developing a quality support network.

Purpose: The main aim of the study was to determine whether challenge seeking behaviour could be increased by stimulating persons with intellectual disability with music. The intention was also to evaluate whether the participants would attempt to seek challenges when they felt bored with a music experience.

Method: Thirty adolescents and young adults with mild to moderate intellectual disability were randomly selected to take part in a repeated-measure experimental design, under three different conditions. In the first condition, the participants were provided adequate challenges through teaching fundamental musical skills. In the second condition, no optimal challenge was provided, and in the third condition, using special strategies, the participants were stimulated to look for novelty and challenge through involvement in creative musical tasks. Level of innovation, as an index of challenge seeking, was measured during the 8 minutes of free choice interval at the end of each condition.

Results: Using Friedman’s ANOVA and Wilcoxon signed-rank test, the findings showed that the low and statistically similar levels of challenge seeking behaviour in conditions 1 and 2 significantly increased to a high level in condition 3. It confirmed that participants with intellectual disability are capable of demonstrating challenge seeking behaviour if they are stimulated to do so. The results also confirmed that the tendency to demonstrate challenge seeking behaviour during a boring musical situation was low.

There are some barriers that persons with different kinds of impairments commonly face, and there are also some impairment-specific barriers. Disaggregated data are needed to assess the impact of different CBR activities on different groups of persons with disabilities.

Purpose: This article assesses the impact of CBR on key variables linked to the five domains of the CBR Matrix, on 4 groups of persons with disabilities - visual, hearing and speech, physical and intellectual disabilities.

Method: A questionnaire survey was carried out involving 2,332 persons with disabilities, in a random stratified sample of villages covered by a CBR programme, in 9 sub-districts of Karnataka state (India) and in a control area. Data were collected pertaining to different activities in the lives of persons with disabilities. Through a participatory approach involving CBR workers and DPO representatives, some key indicators were identified to assess the impact of CBR on the five domains of the CBR Matrix - health, education, livelihood, social participation and empowerment.

Results: Among all the 4 groups of persons with disabilities, the CBR programme was found to have had a positive impact across all the five domains of the CBR Matrix. However, there was no uniform impact on different variables among the 4 groups; different groups of persons with disabilities benefited differently from different activities. Persons with physical disabilities seemed to benefit in more areas compared to persons in the other groups.

Conclusions: CBR programmes can have a positive impact on persons with visual, hearing and speech, physical and intellectual disabilities. Disaggregated data can help CBR programmes to identify groups of persons who benefit less from specific activities and adopt strategies to improve their participation.

Disability, CBR and Inclusive Development, Vol. 24, No. 4

Purpose: Respite care is generally thought to benefit family carers of persons with intellectual disabilities and is regarded as an important component of family-centred services. However, the complexities associated with the provision of such services, from the carer’s perspective, have been rarely investigated.

Method: This qualitative research study was carried out through a participatory action research process that involved collaboration among researchers and family members as co-researchers. Seven focus groups, involving seventy family carers (fifty mothers, fifteen fathers and five sisters), were held in seven locations across the Republic of Ireland.

Results: Three main themes dominated the discussions. The first theme related to the ambivalence of carers towards using respite services, as expressed in their reluctance to relinquish care-giving for even a short period; the feelings of guilt they experienced; and the greater needs of other carers. The second theme related to the benefits of respite breaks, but these were solely with respect to the carer and other family members, rather than to the person with an intellectual disability. The third theme regarding the quality of provision was dominated by concerns for the care the person received in using the services.

Conclusions: Respite care has the potential to make a difference, and these findings call for building much- needed alliances between all members of the family and professionals. This is in order to support one another through the difficulties associated with the redesign of existing respite provision, and the extension of these services to the growing number of carers who require respite breaks.