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Caring for independent lives: geographies of caring for young adults with intellectual disabilities
- Author:
- POWER Andrew
- Journal article citation:
- Social Science and Medicine, 67(5), September 2008, pp.834-843.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
This paper engages with the emerging disciplinary clash between ‘care’ and ‘independence’ within disability studies by examining the geography of home care for young adults with intellectual disabilities. The care system as a whole is viewed as central to disablist structures within disability studies (see Thomas, C. (2007). Sociologies of disability and illness: Contested ideas in disability studies and medical sociology. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.). However, despite the theorisation of dependency as being in antipathy to the goals of the disability movement, caregiving at home still continues to dominate community care. The paper attempts to address how family carers are ‘caught-in-the-middle’ between their ‘duty’ to care and at the same time, perpetuating dependency; the reality being that parents have to deal with issues of being overprotective and confronting various social assumptions about disability. It examines the narratives from 25 family caregivers in Ireland who provide personal assistance to young adults with intellectual disabilities.
Lone parent carers of people with intellectual disabilities in the Republic of Ireland
- Authors:
- KELLY Fionnola, et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 37(4), December 2009, pp.265-270.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This paper describing the changes over a 10-year period in the proportion of children and adults living with lone parent carers compares demographic changes as reflected in the national census of 2001 and 2006. Data is drawn from the National Intellectual Disability Database that operates in the Republic of Ireland, a unique tool within Europe, which provides an opportunity to examine trends over time for a total population in excess of 25 000 people with intellectual disabilities and their care arrangements. Since 1996, the amount of children and young people under 20 years of age with intellectual disabilities living with lone parents has doubled, where in 2006 nearly one-in-five were in lone parent households. These figures, whilst lower than for the general population, reflect similar demographic trends. The increase in lone parenting is more noticeable amongst people who have mild rather than moderate to profound intellectual disabilities, and for those families living outside the Greater Dublin area. The implications for providing equitable and supportive family-centred services to this population of parent carers are discussed.
Responding to the challenges of ageing and dementia in intellectual disability in Ireland
- Authors:
- McCARRON M., LAWLOR B. A.
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 7(6), November 2003, pp.413-417.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The intellectual disability (ID) population in Ireland is ageing and the number of older persons with the dual disability of ID and dementia is increasing. In spite of these demographic trends, as in other countries adequate policy and service provision for this population are lacking. This paper draws upon data available on the population with ID and dementia, reviews both generic and ID specific literature, considers the policy context and argues for a specific model of service provision. A service model is proposed for the development of multidisciplinary specialist teams within ID, delivered through mobile regional ID dementia clinics.