Persons with intellectual disability, social interaction and video telephony. An interview study

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Renblad, Karin

Affiliations: Stockholm Institute of Education, Handicap and Disability Research, Box 47308, 100 74 Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract: For many people, the ability to control their own activities, make their own decisions and choose their own social network is a matter of course. Persons with functional disabilities, however, have in the past had little opportunity to influence or empower their daily lives, especially people with intellectual disabilities. Foucault [3] states that influence consists of relationships, of relative strengths between different people. The power relationship can describe a relationship between people, concerning individual characteristics, e.g. degree of verbal capability, technical know-how, or physical strength. This article reports on some of the results from the study “Social networks of adults with intellectual disabilities”. It is a study based on data from staff and relatives about 24 persons with intellectual disabilities. The study charted what affect opportunities for social interaction, the participants' social networks and the factors that affected them. It also examined issues of their influence and co-determination. Data was collected by interviews with staff at day centres and in group homes, as well as with relatives. The results show that social networks are built up by communication and interaction with others and that the environment is an important factor. Social network changes that have affect are that people stopped school, moved to a new home and started a new job. When the participants got older their parents died. The results indicated that several of the participants had little or no opportunity to exert influence over choice of activities and social contacts. This study shows that information technology is a factor which played an important role to affect the project participant's social interaction and their network.

Keywords: social network, intellectual disabilities, empowerment, video telephony

DOI: 10.3233/TAD-2000-13106

Journal: Technology and Disability, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 55-65, 2000