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

Abstract

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.

‘It's a 24/7 Deal’: Parents of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities discuss natural supports

“…Although natural supports are essential to one's well‐being, many adults with IDD have small support networks, mainly comprised of family members (Bigby, 1997; Fullana et al, 2021; Harrison et al, 2021). In a large‐scale study examining the natural support networks of adults with IDD, Sanderson et al (2017) found that, on average, adults with IDD had two or fewer available natural supporters across life domains (ranging from an average of 1.43 supporters in employment to 2.17 supporters in recreation).…”

Personal support networks of young people with and without intellectual disability. A comparative study

“…Although, as mentioned above, research focused on studying the personal networks of people with ID does not generally compare them with other groups, some authors have carried out such research. Fullana et al (2021) conclude, following a comparative analysis of the personal support networks of two groups of people with ID of different age ranges (27 in secondary and 14 in further education), that the change in social ties resulting from the new educational, geographical or relational contexts that occur during the transition to adulthood lead to huge changes in how support is perceived. This highlights the importance of developing socio‐educational support actions for people with ID to help them form and maintain support relationships that are high in quality and lasting sources of help.…”

Prácticas educativas para promover redes sociales de personas con discapacidad intelectual. Un instrumento para su diseño y evaluación

“…Ahora bien, los estudios indican que las personas con discapacidad intelectual encuentran numerosas barreras para establecer y mantener las relaciones interpersonales en las distintas etapas de su vida (Sullivan, 2016;Fullana et al, 2021a). Entre estos obstáculos destaca la escasa participación social experimentada por jóvenes y personas adultas con discapacidad (Macdonald et al, 2018;Díaz-Garolera et al, 2020), situación que se detecta incluso en personas no institucionalizadas que reciben apoyos para vivir en la comunidad (van Asselt-Goverts et al, 2013;Pallisera et al, 2018).…”