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Sterilisation and intellectually disabled people in New Zealand—still on the agenda?

HAMILTON, C
2012

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Support through care and protection within a medical framework, rather than through the idea of independence within the least restrictive environment, continues to guide service provision for intellectually disabled people in the sexuality area. Past practices have included use of involuntary sterilisation. This article outlines the outcome of a search for information undertaken because of concerns that use of sterilisation-related procedures may remain embedded in contemporary approaches to sexuality support management. Verified instances of hysterectomy carried out between 1991 and 2001 were uncovered. Documents tabled at a Parliamentary Select Committee in 2003 expressing concerns about use in relation to young disabled girls were also found. Requests for sterilisation-related procedures exemplify how the right of all vulnerable citizens to full bodily integrity is currently adjudicated in New Zealand. It is suggested that further research is needed to pinpoint and address the underlying social customs through which requests for such procedures are negotiated and resolved.

Family perceptions of intellectual disability: Understanding and support in Dar es Salaam

ALDERSEY, Heather M
2012

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When attempting to understand the construct of intellectual disability in different contexts, speaking to family members in addition to the individual with the disability may provide new insight about understandings of and responses to intellectual disability in society and may help to identify the forms of support that are available or needed to ensure the quality of life of people with disabilities. This article outlines and discusses interviews that were conducted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with family members of children and adults with intellectual disabilities. These interviews explore how families came to understand that their child had an intellectual disability; the availability of family support; and family hopes and dreams for the future, and were a part of a wider exploratory study that gathered insight from individuals with disabilities, families, and other providers of support to explore understandings and perceptions of disability in Dar es Salaam. Understanding family experiences will help researchers, policy makers, non-governmental organisations, and others to identify family strengths and family support needs which can ultimately improve family quality of life and the quality of life of the member with a disability.

Functional Social Skills of Adults with Intellectual Disability

UMADEVI, V
SUKUMARAN, P
2012

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Purpose: The present study aimed to find the level of functional social skills of adults with intellectual disability, and attempted to analyse these skills with respect to gender, level of disability, type of school attended and number of years of schooling.

 

Method: Descriptive method of research was employed for the study. The study sample consisted of 100 adults with intellectual disability, randomly selected from various special schools which provide vocational training in Kottayam district of Kerala state, in South India. Data on social skills of these individuals were collected through a standardised Functional Social Skills Assessment Scale developed by the authors. The data were analysed through arithmetic mean, standard deviation, independent t-test and one-way analysis of variance.

 

Results: The results indicated that only 48% of the adults with intellectual disability in the study sample possessed functional social skills.

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