The COVID-19 pandemic has meant a rapid transfer of everyday activities to the online world. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have become more embedded than ever in people's lives. This investigation addresses how this change has affected the lives of people with intellectual disabilities (ID). A two-step design was used. A rapid review was conducted on empirical studies published between January 2019 and June 2021. Search terms related to ID, ICT use and COVID-19. A qualitative international bricolage was also conducted corresponding to author nationalities. Data gathered from the review and bricolage were analysed separately using thematic analysis and relationally synthesised. Digital solutions to provide access to COVID-19 information and guidance seemed inadequate but were seldom empirically studied. Digital poverty, literacy and exclusion remain significant issues for people with ID internationally. People and their carers experienced reduced and removed service provision, loneliness and impoverished daily lives during the pandemic; amelioration of which was facilitated by digital solutions. One solution often used was videoconferencing. Prior experience of digital participation, adequate finances, connection, support and digital literacy mentoring for both people with ID and those providing services and support facilitated digital inclusion.Digital exclusion during COVID-19 was exacerbated by sociopolitical, structural, individual and support-related barriers. Although awareness of digital exclusion appears to have been raised, the extent to which this has led to action and change remains unclear. Despite digital exclusion and digital participation benefitting continuation of life, social and emotional well-being and autonomy, COVID-19 has not provided the impetus to eradicate digital poverty for people with ID. Governmental support, digital education, creativity and problem solving are required to enable List of abbreviations: AMSTAR, assessing the methodological quality of systematic reviews; ASD, autistic spectrum disorder; ICT, information and communication technologies; ID, intellectual disability; PRISMA, preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses; UNCRPD, united nations convention on the rights of persons with disabilities; WHO, world health organisation.
Participant-driven photo-elicitation, a visual research technique, is commonly used with marginalised and vulnerable groups of individuals. Reflections on the use of this technique are illustrated through a study examining the conceptualisation of student wellbeing from the perspectives of teachers, parents, and students with autism spectrum disorder. Interviews were used to collect data from teachers and parents, while photovoice, a community and participatory action research strategy, was used as a data collection method for students. Although participant-driven photo-elicitation (a component of photovoice) requires much planning, resources, collaboration with teachers, and the flexibility of the researcher, it empowers and engages students with autism spectrum disorder, helps develop social, communication, and self-awareness skills, enables the collection of rich data, and enables the voices of these students to be heard.
Background: Mobile technology has the potential to assist adults with intellectual disabilities to initiate and maintain social connections in important areas of their lives, such as family, friends and work/volunteering. Method:The present study investigated how specific aspects of mobile device/app use are associated with the social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities. The study also examined what background attributes were associated with particular patterns of mobile device/app use and social inclusion. Results:The findings revealed that the use of mobile technology among adults with intellectual disabilities was positively associated with their social inclusion with family, friends and work/volunteering. There were also some key background attributes associated with participants' use of mobile technology and the extent to which mobile technology assisted their social inclusion.Conclusions: Implications for practice and policy are discussed.
This is the first systematic review to focus explicitly on the impact of self-advocacy on the subjective well-being of people with intellectual disabilities. It builds upon another recently published systematic literature review that explored the psychological and social impact of self-advocacy on its members (Fenn & Scior, 2019). While some of the outcomes reported in this study overlap with the previous review, this article further contributes to knowledge regarding the impact of self-advocacy by identifying the ways in which it influences members' subjective sense of well-being, particularly in relation to outcomes concerned with good functioning, satisfaction of needs, and overall feelings of happiness (Abdallah et al., 2011). The present authors believe this review is timely because, although self-advocacy is arguably more important than ever in the light of receding specialist services in some international contexts like the UK (Power, Bartlett, & Hall, 2016) and the faltering progress of inclusion (Strnadová, Johnson, & Walmsley, 2018; Power & Bartlett, 2018b), there has never been a focussed examination of its significance for the well-being of adults with intellectual disabilities, as measured by themselves. Subjective well-being refers to individuals' feelings and cognitive evaluations of their life (Diener, 2012). It is increasingly acknowledged that monetary measures alone, such as GDP,
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