Personal Support Networks of Young People with Mild Intellectual Disabilities during the Transition to Adult Life.

Social support networks occupy a priority position requiring attention in the processes of social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities, during their transition to adult life. The objective of the study was to analyze social support from a relational approach through Personal Network Analysis. A total of 41 young people with mild intellectual disabilities participated in the study, in two groups differentiated according to their educational stage, either compulsory secondary education or post-compulsory training. Descriptive and comparative results are presented based on the variables of structure, composition, and functional content in the social support of their personal networks. The results show that both groups have restricted personal networks, made up of members of the family and the educational environment who constitute the main providers of support. When moving towards adult life, the change in social contacts in other educational, geographical, and relational settings may mean a change in the provision of support received in previous life stages. Developing social and educational actions to support these people in the development and maintenance of social relationships is essential to their access to support resources that will affect their social inclusion.

The role of professionals in promoting independent living: Perspectives of self-advocates and front-line managers.

BACKGROUND: Support from professionals plays an important role in helping people with intellectual disabilities to live an independent life. This research aims to analyse the role played by support professionals based on the perceptions of the professionals and self-advocates with intellectual disabilities. The research was conducted in Catalonia (Spain). METHOD: A total of 33 interviews were conducted with front-line managers and 10 focus groups with 72 self-advocates. These were recorded and transcribed, and then analysed using thematic content analysis. RESULTS: Self-advocates particularly value professionals' interpersonal skills and emotional support. Front-line managers and self-advocates highlight training actions aimed at enhancing autonomy in the home and propose fostering natural supports and increasing the involvement of people with disabilities. CONCLUSIONS: Making progress in the rights of people with intellectual disabilities to an independent life requires requires transforming the support model, promoting decision making among people with intellectual disabilities, and strengthening interpersonal skills linked to emotional support in the training of professionals.

Evaluating a Research Training Programme for People with Intellectual Disabilities Participating in Inclusive Research: The Views of Participants.

BACKGROUND: This article presents the results of evaluating a research training programme aimed at developing the skills of people with intellectual disabilities to actively participate in inclusive research. METHODS: The present authors opted for a responsive approach to evaluation, using a combination of interviews, questionnaires and focus groups to gather information on the views of students, trainers and members of the research team regarding how the programme progressed, the learning achieved and participants' satisfaction with the programme. RESULTS: The evaluation showed that most of the participants were satisfied with the programme and provided guidelines for planning contents and materials, demonstrating the usefulness of these types of programme in constructing the research group and empowering people with intellectual disabilities to participate in research. CONCLUSIONS: The evaluation revealed that the programme had been a positive social experience that fostered interest in lifelong learning for people with intellectual disabilities.