The presentation was presented at the IASSIDD 5^th Europe Congress Diversity & Belonging  Celebrating Difference July 2018 Athens, Greece

 

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate whether there are differences in the sense of personal autonomy (PA), self-esteem (SE) and personal wellbeing (PWB) among people with complex needs, including people IDD (DD) and people without disabilities (WOD).

Method: People with DD initiates this study due to their experiences of conflict with service providers and with their families "running their lives". They were members of the research team. Participants in this study were 96 people with DD and 96 people WOD who completed questionnaires. The two groups were matched on sociodemographic characteristics

Results: Results indicated that people WOD rated significantly higher in comparison to people with DD on SE and on two domains of PA: self-awareness and the capacity for managing new situations. The only similar positive correlation found in both groups is between SE and PWB. Among the people with DD additional moderate correlations were found between domains of PA and PWB.

Conclusion: The study demonstrates the importance of self-esteem and personal autonomy skill building to increase PWB. Implications for different support systems (i.e. caregivers, families, and service providers) and mostly people with DD will be addressed.