Understandings of participation in daily activity services among people with intellectual disabilities: A pedagogical sociocultural perspective

Abstract

This study sought to explore different understandings of participation in daily activity services among people with intellectual disabilities. Using a pedagogical sociocultural perspective, the research focused on individuals' perspectives and understandings as well as their account of social interaction, working and learning. In all, 17 people working in daily activity services were interviewed once, and, of these, 14 were interviewed a second time. Using qualitative content analysis, two themes and three categories were singled out. The results show that participation can be understood in two major ways: social interaction and performing work tasks.

Enhanced participation or just another activity? The social shaping of iPad use for youths with intellectual disabilities

“…Svanelöv et al (2019), who explored participation in daily activity service among people with intellectual disability, highlight that social interaction is a prerequisite for participation. Thus, when the staff members in our study addressed the importance of using the iPad as a tool for facilitating communication, they highlight an important condition for participation.…”

An observation study of power practices and participation in group homes for people with intellectual disability

“…'Normal' participation Participation has varying meanings for different people in different contexts. In sports and daily activity services, participation has been shown to relate to social interactions and performing, and plays an important role in identity formation and social positioning (Svanel€ ov et al 2019;Svanel€ ov et al, forthcoming). In group homes, participation can be described as different kinds of 'doing': doing with others, doing for others and being part of someone else's doing.…”

Putting participation into practice: An ethnographic study of sheltered workshops in the Netherlands and Portugal

“…One important way forward has been to investigate what participation means for people with (intellectual) disabilities themselves including those who work in segregated environments. Subjective and lived experiences of participation are crucial to prevent that participation gets reduced to objective indicators that measure ‘how much’ and ‘how well’ a person participates, thereby reproducing the dominance of professional judgements over that of people with disabilities themselves (Dean et al, 2016; Svanelöv et al, 2019).…”

“…The few studies (Dean et al, 2016; Hammel et al, 2008; Svanelöv et al, 2019) that have focused on the subjective meanings of participation identify a few important, cross-cutting themes that can be grouped in three categories. First, meaningful participation is defined as having choice and control over one’s participation (Dean et al, 2016; Hammel et al, 2008).…”

“…First, meaningful participation is defined as having choice and control over one’s participation (Dean et al, 2016; Hammel et al, 2008). Second, experiencing social interaction (Hammel et al, 2008); also termed ‘meaningful engagement’ (Dean et al, 2016) that gives people with (intellectual) disabilities the opportunity to ‘be[ing] together, talk[ing] with each other and mak[ing] themselves heard’ (Svanelöv et al, 2019: 208). And the third theme: making a contribution: having an impact and supporting others (Hammel et al, 2008), performing work tasks because ‘while working one is being part of something’ (Svanelöv et al, 2019: 212).…”