Availability of Choice for Adults With Mild Intellectual Disability
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59519/mper4005Keywords:
availability of choice, mild intellectual disability, type of housing, ageAbstract
tudies indicate that adults with mild intellectual disability generally have a limited range of choices about the different domains of life that people of the typical population decide for themselves. Low availability of choices in this population is less pronounced in everyday activities, and is more pronounced in relation to more complex life issues.
The aim of the research was to determine the level of availability of choices for people with mild intellectual disability in different areas of life, as well as to examine the existence of differences in the availability of choices in relation to gender, age and housing type. The sample consisted of 36 adult respondents with mild intellectual disability, both genders, aged 22 to 49 years. The Choice Questionnaire (Stancliffe & Parmenter, 1999) was used for data collection, which was applied in the form of interviews with respondents.
The results showed that respondents have the most opportunities to make choices in the field of social activities, while they have the least choice in regarding money management. Statistically significant differences in the availability of choices were found in relation to the type of housing (t = -3.682; p = 0.001), so that respondents who live with support have more opportunities to choose the desired option in different domains of life, compared to respondents who live in family home. A statistically significant correlation was found between the availability of choices to respondents and their age (r = 0.371; p = 0.026), in a way that with the age of respondents increases the number of activities in which they get the opportunity to choose what they want. Statistically significant differences in the availability of opportunities for making choices in everyday life between male and female respondents were not found (t = -0.417; p = 0.679).
The obtained results give practical implications related to the need to increase the availability of choices regarding daily activities and more complex life issues for people with mild intellectual disability, in accordance with their abilities, with special emphasis on people living in family homes and younger adults
References
1. Arellano, A., & Peralta, F. (2013). Self‐determination of young children with intellectual disability: Understanding parents’ perspectives. British Journal of Special Education, 40(4), 175-181.
2. Bollard, M., Mcleod, E., & Dolan, A. (2018). Exploring the impact of health inequalities on the health of adults with intellectual disability from their perspective. Disability & Society, 33(6), 831-848.
3. Buhagiar, S., & Azzopardi Lane, C. (2020). Freedom from financial abuse: persons with intellectual disability discuss protective strategies aimed at empowerment and supported decision-making. Disability & Society, 1-25.
4. Curryer, B., Stancliffe, R. J., & Dew, A. (2015). Self-determination: Adults with intellectual disability and their family. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 40(4), 394-399.
5. Cvijetić, M., Kaljača, S., & Glumbić, N. (2021). The Role of Personal and Environmental Factors in Autonomous Behaviour of People with Intellectual Disability. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 1-16.
6. Gjermestad, A., Luteberget, L., Midjo, T., & Witsø, A. E. (2017). Everyday life of persons with intellectual disability living in residential settings: a systematic review of qualitative studies. Disability & Society, 32(2), 213-232.
7. Kozma, A., Mansell, J., & Beadle-Brown, J. (2009). Outcomes in different residential settings for people with intellectual disability: A systematic review. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 114(3), 193-222.
8. Lakin, K. C., Doljanac, R., Byun, S. Y., Stancliffe, R., Taub, S., & Chiri, G. (2008). Choice-making among Medicaid HCBS and ICF/MR recipients in six states. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 113(5), 325-342.
9. Mumbardó-Adam, C., Guàrdia-Olmos, J., & Giné, C. (2018). Assessing self-determination in youth with and without disabilities: The Spanish version of the AIR self-determination scale. Psicothema, 30(2), 238–243.
10. Robertson, J., Emerson, E., Hatton, C., Gregory, N., Kessissoglou, S., Hallam, A., & Walsh, P. N. (2001). Environmental opportunities and supports for exercising self-determination in community-based residential settings. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 22(6), 487-502.
11. Schalock, R. L., Borthwick-Duffy, S. A., Bradley, V. J., Buntinx, W. H. E., Coulter, D. L., Craig, E. M., … Yeager, M. H. (2010). Intellectual disability: Diagnosis, classification, and systems of supports (11th ed.). Washington, DC: American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
12. Stancliffe, R. J. (2001). Living with support in the community: Predictors of choice and self‐determination. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 7(2), 91-98.
13. Stancliffe, R. J., & Parmenter, T. R. (1999). The Choice Questionnaire: A scale to assess choices exercised by adults with intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 24(2), 107-132.
14. Tichá, R., Lakin, K. C., Larson, S. A., Stancliffe, R. J., Taub, S., Engler, J., ... & Moseley, C. (2012). Correlates of everyday choice and support-related choice for 8,892 randomly sampled adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in 19 states. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 50(6), 486-504.
15. Wehmeyer, M. L., & Schalock, R. L. (2001). Self-determination and quality of life: Implications for special education services and supports. Focus on Exceptional Children, 33(8), 1-16.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Marija Cvijetić Vukčević (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
