Attitudes towards people with intellectual disability: comparisons across cultures and over time

The attitude of the general population to people with intellectual disability (ID) provides an important background for policy development. Furthermore, because of changes in attitudes over time and across cultures, it is vital to ground each country’s policy development on data from that country. This dissertation provides a cross-cultural and cross-sector analysis of attitudes to people with ID in Libya and in the UK, using questionnaire studies of three groups in each country: science students, psychology students and professionals in ID support services. The questionnaire used was the established Community Living Attitude Scales for Intellectual Disability (CLAS-ID). The CLAS-ID has four sub-scales: Empowerment (in decisions affecting their life), Exclusion (desire to segregate with negative affective tone), Sheltering (the need to supervise and protect) and Similarity (to normally achieving people). Initially, the CLAS-ID was translated into Arabic and validated with a small sample of respondents. Studies 1 and 2, which were undertaken in 2010, used the CLAS-ID for a Libyan sample and for a UK sample.The results indicated that the Libyan sample showed significantly lower scores on Empowerment, Similarity and Sheltering than the UK sample, but no significant difference on Exclusion. A range of within-group differences were also found. Study 3 was undertaken in 2012, using a similar sample to that of Study 1, and allowed investigation of the effects of the Arabic Spring on attitudes to ID in Libya. Despite the trauma, stress and insecurity in the wake of by the Libyan revolution, except for Exclusion there were a significant changes in attitudes to people with ID from 2010 to late 2012. Study 4 undertook an equivalent comparison of UK scores over the same time period. For the UK the most relevant event in this context was the massive media coverage of the London Paralympic Games 2012. Significant (and desirable) changes in all four CLAS-ID dimensions were found, with particularly strong effects for Empowerment and Inclusion. The implications of these findings and those in the earlier studies are discussed, limitations considered, and directions for further research outlined

Transition to adulthood for young people with intellectual disability: the experiences of their families

Whilst the transition from school to adult roles can be challenging for any adolescent, for those with an intellectual disability it can present as a particularly difficult time both for the individual and their family. The process may involve coordinated planning, collaboration and decision-making among school staff, families and community agencies. This mixed-methods study utilised information from two cohorts: young people with Down syndrome in Western Australia (n = 190) and young people with intellectual disability (of any cause) in Queensland, Australia (n = 150). The parent-report questionnaires administered in both states comprised two parts: part 1 collected information about the individual with intellectual disability including information on health, functioning and service needs, and about specific transition related issues; and part 2 collected information about the health and well-being of their family. The majority (87 %) of parents said that they were involved in decision-making about transition planning but less than two-thirds (59.5 %) of young people were involved in this process. The three most helpful strategies indicated by parents that assisted with transition planning related to the provision of more information about financial assistance, the school transition program and the building of informal community-based supports. A number of themes emerged from the qualitative data which included parents’ views and concerns about the capacity of their young adult to adapt and change to life in adulthood, their difficulty navigating services and programs, issues and challenges around their young person building connectedness, strain on family wellbeing and finances and worry about the longer term future