Importance of Promoting Community Participation for People With Intellectual Disabilities

1.1 Social / community inclusion to people with an intellectual disability

The phrase “intellectual disability” belongs to a number of illnesses caused by genetic abnormalities and viruses. Intellectual disability is most commonly detected in childhood but has a long-term effect on a person’s development (What is Intellectual Disability?, 2022). It is characterized as a considerable reduction in one’s capacity to comprehend new or difficult data, develop new abilities, and manage independently, as well as social effectiveness. There are many different forms of intellectual disabilities, as there are with other impairment categories, with varied levels of intensity.

1.1.1 Social inclusion means that people:

• Feel like they are part of something big.
• Feel welcomed (for who they are).
• Have important positions in the community and are actively involved in it.
• Participate in activities that suit their unique tastes.
• Have social interactions with people they choose and who share similar interests with them.
• Have acquaintances.

1.1.2 Social barriers individuals with intellectual disabilities face and how to overcome them

Social impediments, also described as social determinants of wellness. They are elements that affect how humans are born, flourish, live, learn, earn, and age. This can result to lower productivity in persons with disabilities. Here are a few examples of social impediments:

• Impaired folks have a lower chance of being employed. In 2016, 20.5 percent of persons with disabilities from 18 to 65 years were employed, compared to 80.5 percent of people without impairments, over twice as many as people with disabilities (World Health Organization).
• Kids with disabilities have a high percentage of experiencing violence than normal children.
• People with disability have low-income jobs compared to people without disabilities.
• Most people living with disability have high chances of not attending schools compared to their normal peers.
• Communication Barriers- Sometimes people with intellectual disabilities face hard times in their hearing, speaking, reading, writing, or comprehending face communication. They communicate in other different ways than people who do not have these limitations. Examples of communication barriers include written texts that a person with intellectual can not understand(Oliver, Munk and Stanton-Nichols, 2021).

1.2 The impact and effects of disability on the personal, community, and family level

1.2.1 Impact on family

Disability throws additional requirements or family model issues, majority of which continue a long time. The large number of these challenges are common, independent of the type of disability, the impaired person’s age, or the family dynamics in which the victim lives (Dreyfus and Dowse, 2018). There’s the expenses of drugs, education, and personal care, which all require purchases or hiring tools, creating house modifications, transport, medications, and special meals. The person (with the disability in this scenario) is there but family members are unsure if the person is indeed a member of the family or not. The daily pressure of giving care and support causes tiredness and stress, straining household members’ physical and moral stamina. Concern, shame, tension, rage, and confusion regarding the cause of the handicap, and so on are just a few of the factors that generate emotional burden. Grief hits at the beginning, and also at the various period during the person’s life cycle.

1.2.2 Impact on community

The phrase ‘community’ encapsulates the value of every person, including disabled persons. The presence of a community may facilitate greater transformation among folks of different kinds, cultures, backgrounds, and religions.

People with intellectual disabilities require great support from the community. The disabled person requires a high level of attention in society because of the available dangers. This gives community members a lot of pressure and stress (Paterson, 1993). People with intellectual disabilities may also be subjected to higher rates of abuse in society than the general population, necessitating additional support and a strong network.

1.2.3 Impact on a personal level

Living with a disability is difficult. The needs of disabled people can alter over time, and they may confront cognitive, social, and financial issues. Sometimes seemingly simple tasks like eating or reading books can become difficult or unachievable due to a person’s intellectual or physical limitations. People with intellectual disabilities are likely to have negative socio-economic results, like lack of proper education, poor healthcare, few job income, and high poverty levels.

2.1 Worldwide Care interventions methods available

The Health Service Executive offers varieties of programs for people diagnosed with intellectual, physiological, and sensing impairments, including autism. There are available basic medical care programs accessible, as well as diagnostics, treatment, revenue management, social care, and home care. The HSE provides some services directly to the patients. The HSE funds many of the training services provided voluntarily by organizations. The quality of service varies greatly across the country. Service Disability Managers have been chosen by HSE administrative areas to oversee the provision of utilities to individuals with disabilities.

2.1.1 Community service model of care intervention

Living in a community allows you to interact with a wider range of people, improve your quality of life, and expand your learning possibilities and it is the same case for people living with intellectual disabilities (ID). Persons with ID now have access to educational and community services (including post-secondary programs), work prospects, and additional independent lifestyle options (Halpern, 1992). This model of community service is available in Ireland.

2.2 Importance of promoting social inclusion and positive attitudes to people with disabilities.

Social inclusion for people with an intellectual disability is a critical defining factor of health. Without it, the affected are more prone to suffer from poor health (such as mental illness), loneliness, seclusion, and low self-esteem. For example, children who have a favorable attitude toward disabled peers are more likely to engage with them than children who have a negative attitude. As a result, increased exposure to people with impairments may result in a greater understanding and acceptance of disability. As a result, attitudes influence behavior, which in turn influences a person’s knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes (O’Brien and Rose, 2010). The most effective strategy for influencing children ‘s perspectives toward people with disabilities is to improve children’s understanding of disabilities and provide exposure to persons with impairments. Early intervention against the establishment of negative attitudes toward disability, according to developmental psychologists, is the optimum time to act before these attitudes and mindset patterns become well entrenched and impossible to modify.

3.1 Organization that provide service to people with Intellectual disability.

3.1.1 The Arc

The Arc is one of the US-based non-profit organizations helping people with disabilities. It is one of the largest community-based groups dedicated to advocating for the rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The Arc advocates and protects persons with disability and developmental impairments’, and actively encourages their entire participation and engagement in society all their lives. It has also established schools for the people affected by the impairment bringing them together. It also talks to the community and teaches people how to live with their special needs hence giving them a positive attitude.

3.2 Advocacy and its role and importance in the lives of people with intellectual disability.

Advocacy is a way of standing up for a person, their interests, and their privileges. It may entail advocating in favor of the individual with a disability or assisting them in speaking up for themselves. Self-advocacy and representational advocacy are the two major components of advocacy. Representative advocacy entails an advocate standing up in favor of an organization or a person, whereas self-advocacy happens when an organization or an individual is competent in standing up for themselves.

Disability advocates are needed to give persons with sophisticated and specialized difficulties a voice and a forum from which to fight for their interests. Advocacy gives guidance and support to assure that:

• Rights are respected.
• Freedom and control are preserved, and individuals with disabilities have a say.
• All needs and perspectives are communicated to the authorities, service providers, and the general public.
• Right to make their policies and procedures to ensure that they receive equitable treatment and social justice.
• This helps in making a big difference and improving the quality of their life.

4.1 Reflection on the positive and negative aspects of intellectual disability

Given the fact that advocacy is a fairly new notion in Ireland, it presents many obstacles. Despite this, several people stated that advocacy had improved the quality of life for some individuals with intellectual difficulties. Some people, on the other hand, continue to be the most disadvantaged group in the intellectual disability sector.

The following are the main issues raised:

• The distinction between the medical and social models of disability.
• Inadequate support from coworkers, relatives, and others.
• Issues with attitude
• Communication
• There aren’t any impartial advocate services available.

4.2 Reflection on attitudes towards people with disabilities

My attitude towards people with intellectual disabilities has changed. I have learned that disabled people should be treated just like normal people and be treated with special care. They should have equal access to all necessary needs required in day to life. I have also learned how to promote positive mentalities and raise disability awareness by:

• Using positive language.
• Believing that the disabled person will succeed eventually.
• Keeping thoughts focused on goals.
• Accept helpful criticism with open arms.
• In each situation assist people in need.

4.3 Recommendations

This section will summarise the dissertation’s results and make some significant suggestions for much more research in the domain of advocacy for individuals with intellectual disabilities in Ireland.

The following are some significant recommendations for future studies:

• The test subjects were mostly drawn from basic data sources. To provide a more thorough understanding of the notion of advocacy in Ireland, a future recommendation would be to include additional people from other intellectual disability organizations.
• Self-advocacy is frequently used as a type of advocacy. Examining the consequences of self-advocacy for individuals with physical, behavioral, and intellectual impairments in Ireland is one possibility.
• People with disabilities should participate in research since it is a great instrument for giving relevant data as well as empowering individuals.
• The community should set up more organizations for helping intellectual people since the organization work as a non-profit and require more funds to operate.
• The government should provide further assistance to disabled job seekers. Experienced experts can assist disabled people in finding work, arranging training and getting higher education programs, and providing guidance on interview methods and CV making.
• Members of society should build awareness programs to ensure that both parents and impaired individuals have the skills and tools they need to succeed (Silton, n.d.).

4.3.1 Areas of improving care for intellectually disabled people

Quality and care of people living with disability in Ireland would be improved by:

• Giving more medical funds to the disabled.
• Government training more health workers to treat the patients.
• The caregivers use their language carefully to avoid hurting the disabled.
• Giving them the best nutrition plans.

4.4 Conclusion

This paper’s general conclusion is that individuals with intellectual disabilities should be offered the chance to stand up about their fundamental rights and privileges (Flatt-Fultz and Phillips, 2012). Even though there have been many advancements in advocacy to date, there is indeed a great way to go until everyone learns. This study also explains how the development of disability disrupts and ruins social ties, requiring the impaired person and those close to him undertake a massive reconstruction project. As a result, disability introduces a completely new set of issues to most people. Because of the challenges caused by impairment, which must be rectified through rehabilitation, principles and objectives must be adjusted, and practices must be learned.

Upcoming research should concentrate on developing and supporting strategies that can improve the amount and value of social participation in our societies for individuals with intellectual and behavioral impairments.

References

SpecialOlympics.org. 2022. What is Intellectual Disability?. [online] Available at: <https://www.specialolympics.org/about/intellectual-disabilities/what-is-intellectual-disability> [Accessed 20 February 2022].

Dreyfus, S. and Dowse, L., 2018. Experiences of parents who support a family member with intellectual disability and challenging behaviour: “This is what I deal with every single day”. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, 45(1), pp.12-22.

Oliver, A., Munk, N. and Stanton-Nichols, K., 2021. Applying theory to overcome internal barriers for healthy behavior change in adults with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, p.174462952110203.

Paterson, M., 1993. The financial impact of disability on the family: Issues and interventions. Family & Community Health, 16(3), pp.46-55.

Halpern, R., 1992. Challenges in Evaluating Community-Based Health and Social Intervention. Journal of Social Service Research, 16(3-4), pp.117-131.

Silton, N., n.d. Exploring the benefits of creativity in education, media, and the arts.

Flatt-Fultz, E. and Phillips, L., 2012. Empowerment training and direct support professionals’ attitudes about individuals with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 16(2), pp.119-125.

O’Brien, A. and Rose, J., 2010. Improving mental health services for people with intellectual disabilities: service users’ views. Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, 4(4), pp.40-47.