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Background: A limited number of studies have explored religion's role in the intimate lives of adults with intellectual disabilities. This paper illustrates how religion, both of disabled people and those around them (e.g., family members, support workers), can shape the attitudes and experiences of disabled people toward sexuality. Method: This paper draws on in‐depth interviews with adults with intellectual disabilities and support workers from two exploratory projects in Canada. Results: Participants with intellectual disabilities talked about how religion provided a network that served to counter their social isolation and a pool of potential intimate partners, as well as some guidance for maintaining relationships. Support workers discussed the influence of organisational values in their practices related to sexuality. Conclusions: Religion shapes disabled sexualities in various ways, sometimes supporting or constraining sexual expression. This paper invites disability scholars to consider religion when researching the intimate lives of disabled people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting community participation for people with intellectual disability through encounter with strangers is an integral part of the mission of disability support workers. This paper offers detailed micro-level analysis of the practices of support workers when they accompany a person with intellectual disability outside their home and explores the subtle differences which make some staff practices more effective than others in promoting more convivial encounters with strangers. Based on 160 h of observations of twenty-six adults with intellectual disability in a variety of public places, and interviews and focus groups with their support workers, the paper points to some of the critical judgements support workers need to make when considering whether, when and how to initiate or intervene in such encounters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background There is comparatively little published research that transparently charts the contribution of people with an intellectual disability to a collaborative research process. This paper illustrates the process of data analysis in a project located within the Emancipatory Disability Research ( EDR) paradigm. Materials and methods Textual data was made available from a participatory action research project involving young people who have Down syndrome. A university based researcher analysed a portion of the data set using thematic networks with the participation of co-researchers in iterative cycles of reflexivity. Results The participation of the co-researchers is demonstrated and a global theme, deduced from the collaborative analysis, is described. Conclusion Authentic participation of co-researchers in the data analysis stage of the research process is an example of 'inclusive research' and assures adherence to the principles of EDR in informing the theory and practice of social inclusion for young adults with an intellectual disability. Accessible Abstract Background There are not many research projects which include people with an intellectual disability in data analysis. This paper tells the story of how a small group of people with Down syndrome called co-researchers, joined in analysing data from their peers in a research project. Materials and methods The co-researchers worked in a group. They took some copies of typed up interviews, underlined words and made notes on parts of the interview they found interesting and important. Results Through their work, the co-researchers found that being involved with other people and having friends is important but can be hard sometimes. Conclusion This work is important as it shows the abilities of some people with Down syndrome in data analysis work. The co-researchers were included in research that is about themselves and other people with intellectual disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background This paper reports part of the findings of a study which exposed sexual violence in schools for learners with mild intellectual disability in South Africa. Special attention was paid on factors contributing to such a problem. Methods Data were collected using focus groups and individual interviews with 16 learners with mild intellectual disability at two special schools in South Africa. This was followed by individual interviews with the school nurse and social worker, and an analysis of schools' books of incidents. Results Factors contributing to sexual violence at schools for learners with mild intellectual disability included: (i) peer pressure, (ii) concealment of reported incidents of sexual violence, (iii) unsupervised areas linked to schools and (iv) arranged relationships. Conclusion The following suggestions are put forth: (i) awareness programmes, (ii) sensitization of teachers about the consequences and prevention of sexual violence, (iii) boundaries within which the arranged relationship occurs, (iv) intensification of sexuality education and (v) supervision around the school premises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Welfare for the disabled is becoming an important issue in China and care for people with intellectual disability is challenging because of the inadequacies in formal support and the social service system. Material and Method Based on ethnographic research in two villages in North China, this paper analyses the dilemmas of family care for people with intellectual disability. The essential data is the ethnographic record of three cases. Results Rural families strive to provide care through a set of arrangements and bear tremendous stress in the process. Conclusion Family care for people with intellectual disability in rural China has been increasingly challenged by the forces of labour migration, demographic changes and the ever-growing processes of commoditization. The role of the state has to be strengthened in welfare provision to balance the weakened family care ethos in transforming societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Migrating nursing labour inadvertently reinforces South Africa's care drain, contributes to a global care crisis and forces us to reconsider migration motivation. This paper highlights issues that complicate psychiatric intellectual disability nursing care and identifies loci for change in an attempt to redress this care challenge. Method An exploratory descriptive-interpretivist method investigated nurses' experiences of psychiatric intellectual disability work. Sixteen free association narrative interviews were collected in 2013. Thematic analysis allowed findings to emerge from the data. Results Findings reflect a number of themes: 'relational interaction', 'care burden', 'system fatigue', 'infantilising dynamic of care' and 'resources for coping'. Conclusion System fatigue contributes more to negative experiences of providing care than direct patient work, and nurses experience more relational reciprocity from patients than from institutional management. Organizations should meet nurses' needs for burnout prevention, afford them impact in implementing institutional controls, and engage in a non-exploitative and non-exclusionary way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]