英文摘要 |
The lives of young adults with intellectual disabilities (IDs) were explored in this qualitative study. The data was collected within seven months through participation, observation, and interviews with Haw, Hwai, and 14 other participants including parents, siblings, workmates, teachers, classmates, and neighbors. From the results of this study of two young adults with IDs, 5 core themes emerged: (1)Work not only allows Haw to become a productive and independent person but also makes his life more meaningful; (2)parents' love and care enable their ID children to become integrated into the community, but too much worrying and over-protection may hold back their further participation; (3)with their low-functioning characteristics and ID label, these young adults are treated differently and may experience more difficulty in getting jobs and making friends; (4)the experience of interacting with others affects these young adults' self-valuation and self-concept; (5)more opportunity to participate in a variety of social activities, play multiple social roles with their counterparts and gain more social support means more chance for them to be integrated successfully into the society. Our conclusion was that in general young adults with IDs can become full members of the society only when they have more opportunity to participate and more social support, for this can promote their social relationships with others. In other words, social support and participation determine the quality of life which young adults with IDs will be able to have. |