Challenges Faced by Adults with Intellectual Disability - Essay Example

Challenges Faced by Adults with Intellectual Disability Name Institution Date Introduction Intellectual disability involves the impairment of the general mental disabilities that affects three main areas of adaptive functioning. The adaptive functions play an essential role in determining the ability of an individual to cope with the daily tasks. The conceptual domain that is affected includes skills in language, memory, writing, knowledge, reasoning and performing mathematical tasks. O n the other hand, the social domain that is affected involves social judgment, interpersonal communication, socialization and the ability to make and retain friendship. The practical domain areas that are affected include personal care, recreation, money management, work tasks and job responsibilities (Yeager, 2010). Intellectual disability therefore prevents the people with the condition from living an ordinary life like other normal people. However, the level of severity determines how the individual is able to perform their daily tasks. Some of the people withy intellectual disabilities are able to live a normal life as adults although they may require some minimal help Weiss, Slusarczyk & Lunsky, (2013). However, most of the people with intellectual disabilities are usually forced to live with their parents or guardians throughout their lives. The people with intellectual disabilities always require an extra help as they cannot perform some of the tasks normally. The intellectual disabilities usually have effects on the people at different stages of their lives. This includes from childhood to an advanced age and hence the need for extra help. The disorder usually affects the cognitive functioning of the individuals and hence impacting negatively on their ability to socialize. The people with intellectual disabilities usually face a lot of challenges at different stages of their live. The challenges have negative impacts on the quality of their life and hence leading to low quality of life. Some of the adults with intellectual disability are usually faced with a lot of stress due to the challenges that they face on a daily basis (de Ligt, Willemsen, van Bon, Kleefstra, Yntema, Kroes, & Vissers, 2012). The environmental factors and nutrition ate some of the main causes of intellectual disabilities. As such it may be difficult to identify a person with the condition. This has negative impacts on the adults as they may end up being mistreated or considered inferior. The people with profound intellectual disabilities usually require a lot of support and supervision in their entire lives. This also exposes them to a lot of challenges in their lives. The paper thus discuses the challenges faced by adults with intellectual disabilities and how the challenges can be overcome. Discussion Challenges faced by adults with intellectual disabilities Health inequalities The adults with intellectual disabilities usually have poor health as compared with the adults without the disabilities. This can be attributed to health inequalities which inequality in terms of access to healthcare services. The health inequality contravenes the international obligation under UN convention with regards to the rights of people with disabilities. According to health statistics, one in seven adults with intellectual disabilities has poor health. Most of the adults with intellectual disabilities are usually exposed to the common social determinants of health and hence making it difficult for them to access the healthcares services. In some instances, it is difficult to understand the healthcare need of the people with intellectual disabilities. A study by Emerson, (2011), established that most of the adults with intellectual disabilities usually have poor communication skills and hence impacting negatively on their ability to convey their healthcare needs. This results to health inequalities as the medical personnel as well as their carers may not be able to understand their healthcare needs. It is for this reason that most of the adults with intellectual disabilities have poor health as compared to the adults without the disorder. The identification of the health needs of the adults with intellectual disabilities may be difficult as most of them live with their parents. The parents may be elderly or unable to indentify their health needs and hence leading to inequality in the access to healthcares services. Some of the healthcare personnel also lack experience on handling the adults with intellectual disabilities and hence leading to heath inequalities. The adults with intellectual disabilities also face a lot of challenges when accessing the healthcare services. Diagnostic overshadowing is one of the major challenges creates a barrier in terms of access to healthcare services by the people with intellectual disabilities. Most of the healthcares workers will always mistake the physical ill health to the mental health problems. As a result of this, they are usually prescribed anti-psychotic medication. The prescription in most cases does not solve their health problems as they may be suffering from different illnesses. It is also important to note that the consent is usually obtained from the carers or parents of the adults with intellectual disabilities during treatment. This has a negative impact on the access to healthcare services. The research by Haider, Ansari, Vaughan, Matters, & Emerson, (2013) shows that most of the healthcare workers do not take time to talk to the adults with intellectual disabilities during treatment as they rely on the information from their carers and hence impacting negatively on their health. The disablist attitude among the healthcares staff is also common in most of the healthcare facilities and hence contributing to inequity in terms of access to healthcare services. Information with regards to heath risks is also not availed to most of the adults with intellectual disabilities. This has contributed to poor health as some do not carry out exercises or their diet is usually poor. Substance abuse among some of the adults with intellectual disabilities is common due to lack of information and hence exposing them to health risks. Discrimination The adults with intellectual disabilities are usually exposed to various forms of discrimination. It is usually difficult for the adults with intellectual disabilities to secure jobs I most of companies both public and private. This is despite the presence of equal opportunities when it comes to employment. According to a research by Lysaght, Ouellette-Kuntz, & Lin, (2012), most of the employers do not believe that the adults with intellectual disabilities can perform their duties effectively as required by the organization. On the other hand, most of the profit making organizations feels that the people with intellectual disabilities may make poor business decisions and hence resulting to losses or collapse of the business. It is for this reason that most of the adults with intellectual disabilities are jobless despite being qualified for certain jobs. Those who are employed also face the risk of workplace discrimination by their colleagues and managers. Since most people doubt their potential, they are usually discriminated at their workplace. Some of the adults have also lost their jobs on the grounds of intellectual disabilities. In terms of promotions at the workplace, most of the people with intellectual disabilities rarely get the opportunity. This is because the employers do not have faith in them and they may also be looked down upon by their juniors. This has impacted negatively o their employability and hence leaving most of them at the lower levels within the organizations. It is also common for the people with intellectual disabilities to be allocated the manual tasks despite having high qualifications. Most of the adults with intellectual disabilities usually have a high potential despite the disorder. They are capable of serving in managerial positions within an organization or any other higher position. However, despite their potential, most the people with intellectual disabilities rarely get a chance to be in the managerial positions. Most of the companies do not trust in their abilities and hence the lack of opportunity. The people without intellectual disabilities are usually preferred in the managerial positions over those with intellectual disabilities. Some of the adults with intellectual disabilities who have been appointed in the managerial positions are usually forced to resign after a short time due to the discrimination. A good number are however dismissed after a short period of time. The discrimination of the people with intellectual disabilities is also high when it comes to the leadership positions in the society. A research by Lysaght, Cobigo, & Hamilton, (2012) revealed that most of the ordinary people do not believe that the people with intellectual disabilities have the ability to make good decisions when it comes to leadership. Most of the people with intellectual disabilities who try seeking the leadership positions are usually ridiculed by the other ordinary people in the society. It is also important to note that those who seek political positions rarely get the chance. This is because their opponents usually use the intellectual disabilities as a tool for campaigning against them among the electorates. This form of discrimination therefore has negative impacts o the people with intellectual disabilities. Social Problems Most of the adults with intellectual disabilities always have difficulties in terms of making friends and retaining them. This is a problem that is mainly associated with intellectual disabilities. The lack of friends impacts negatively on the adults with intellectual disabilities. Friends are important for the purposes of providing company and hence improving on the quality of life. However, the people with intellectual disabilities have no friends except their family members. This impacts negatively on the social lives and it also contributes to loneliness. Most of the adults with intellectual disabilities have no friends and hence exposing them to loneliness. This is also considering that most of them live with their parents for their entire lives. Loneliness impacts negatively on the quality of life and it also contributes to stress. According to Sappok, Budczies, Dziobek, Bölte, Dosen, & Diefenbacher, (2014), about 22% of the people with intellectual usually suffer from stress related complication. This is mainly caused by loneliness. Some people with intellectual disabilities have also been reported to have committed suicide due to loneliness and social problems. It is also important to note that the adults with intellectual disabilities may also end up with problems with the family members due to stress. Some of the people with intellectual disabilities have also caused violent acts at home which can be associated with stress. This is also considering that most of the people in the society are not ready to listen to them and hence contributing to their loneliness. The social problems therefore impacts negatively on the quality of life of the people with intellectual disabilities. Most of the people with intellectual disabilities are usually forced to live with their parents for their entire lives. This means that they have limited abilities to make their own decisions with regards to most of the issues. This is also common when it comes to their healthcare needs. The parents or cares usually make decisions on their behalf and hence affecting their quality of life. As adults most of the people with intellectual problems always desire to have their own families just like the other people without the disabilities. A study by Belva & Matson, (2013) found that it is usually difficult for the adults with intellectual disabilities to find marriage partners due to their poor socialization skills. On the other hand, most of the people in the society still look down upon the people with intellectual disabilities and hence making it difficult for them to find marriage partners. Those who are lucky to find marriage partners still face a lot of problems in terms of managing their families. This is because they still require extra help and hence burdening their spouses. It is also difficult for them to raise their children as most of them have poor parenting skills. There problems therefore ends up affecting their family members. The women with intellectual disabilities also face a lot of difficulties during the child rearing process. This is because of the active role that the women play in raising up of children. The children of parents with intellectual disabilities may end up facing problems due to their upbringing as compared to the children of parents without intellectual disabilities. Challenges with Access of Education and Funds The adults with intellectual disabilities always face difficulties in terms of learning. This makes it difficult for them to learn like the other people without the disabilities. This means that most of them have to undertake adult education in order to fulfill their needs in terms of education. However, accessing adult education is complicated for the people with intellectual disabilities. This is because most of the facilities lack trained teachers to handle their educational issues. The government provides a general policy with regards to access of education of the people with disabilities. However a clear and comprehensive policy is not in place for the purposes of ensuring that the people with intellectual disabilities are able to access adult education. As a result of this most of them end up without education or with only the basic education. The research by Brown, Duff, Karatzias, & Horsburgh, (2011), found that those who make it to the university also face challenges in terms of accessing education as compared to the adults without the intellectual disabilities. All the students are usually treated equally at the university level. This disadvantages the adult learners with intellectual disabilities as they find themselves unable to cope with the education. Most of them end up dropping out or failing their exams. A clear policy is also lacking at the university level for the purposes of promoting access to education by the adult learners with intellectual disabilities. This has therefore impacted negatively on the access of education by the adults with intellectual disabilities. The number of highly educated adults with intellectual disabilities is thus low due to the problems with access of education. A majority of the adults with intellectual disabilities do not work due to the difficulties that they face when looking for jobs. This has made them dependant on their families and the social security funds. The access to the social security funds may also be challenging due to the high number of people depending on the funds. Policies that are in place with regards to the access of social security funds do not adequately address the issues facing the adults with intellectual disabilities. This is because the most of the social security policies are generalized. The lack of access to the funds therefore makes it difficult for the adults with intellectual disabilities to live normal lives. The dependence on the family members has contributed to poverty among them and their families. Other financial institutions are also reluctant to offer finances to the people with intellectual disabilities (Owen, 2014). This is for the fear that they may loose the funds due to their poor financial management skills. The quality of life of the people with intellectual disabilities is thus low due to the lack of adequate finances. It is also important to note that the number of adults with intellectual disabilities is quite high with only a few being financially stable. The lack of financial support for the people with intellectual disabilities has a negative effect on them and their families (Rupp & Riley, 2011). This also contributes to stress and frustrations among them and hence the low quality of life. Abuse and exploitation The adults with intellectual disabilities have poor financial management skills as well as decision making skills. This therefore exposes them to exploitation by their family members and members of the society. Some of the adults with intellectual disabilities who are working usually rely on their family members for financial management. Incidences of family members exploiting them have been reported as some family members manipulated their financial records in order to steal from them. Most of them hardly notice that they are being exploited due to their vulnerability. The society in some incidences may exploit them by underpaying them or overworking them. This is a major challenge for most of the adults with intellectual disabilities. This with severe conditions cannot report the incidences as they still depend on the family members and the society for survival. The adults with severe intellectual disabilities fully depend on their family members for survival. This also exposes them to abuse as some of the people with intellectual disabilities have reported facing physical and mental abuse from their family members (Lysaght, Ouellette-Kuntz, Lin, 2011). The members of the society have also been reported for physical and mental abuse of the people with intellectual disabilities. The adults with intellectual disabilities in some instances are usually allocated odd jobs due to their condition. Most of the exploitations and abuse may also continue for a long period of time since it is difficult for them to report to the authorities. Some adults with severe intellectual disabilities are usually locked up in their rooms for the whole day as a way of preventing them from causing problems in the house. This is also a form of abuse and it impacts negatively o their quality of life. How the challenges can be overcome Overcoming the challenges plays an important role in improving the quality of life for the people with intellectual disabilities. The government in consultations with the stakeholders should put in place a legislation that protects the people with intellectual disabilities from exploitation, discrimination and abuse. Policies should be developed by the government in order to ensure that the people with intellectual disabilities access equally opportunities in terms of employment and leadership. Stiff penalties should also be imposed on the any employer or member of society found to be discriminating the people with intellectual disabilities. However, it is also important to note that most members of the society mistake intellectual disabilities for mental illness. This is an indication that the members of the society do not fully understand the situation and challenges facing the adults with intellectual disabilities. The research by Raphael, & Allard, (2013) found that the government together with stakeholders can initiate awareness campaigns for the purposes of enabling the community members to better understand the disorder. This will provide more information to the community members and hence resulting to a change of attitude and perception of the community on the adults with intellectual disabilities. Similar campaigns have been successful in some countries and hence its importance. The success of the awareness campaign will also play am important role in encouraging the members of the society to help the adults with intellectual disabilities to achieve their goals in life. This will be useful in improving the quality of life of the people with intellectual disabilities. The government should also develop policies in the educational sector and the social security programs. This is for the purposes of enabling the adults with intellectual disabilities to access education and funds from the social security programs. The access to education and funds will go a long way in overcoming most of the challenges that the people with intellectual disabilities face. The government should also consider providing financial support to the families of the adults with intellectual disabilities. The families have to spend a lot of money for the cares of members with intellectual disabilities. The training of the healthcare workers should also be reviewed in order to incorporate the concepts of handling the people with intellectual disabilities. This will enable the healthcare workers to communicate directly with the adults with intellectual disabilities as opposed to using interpreters or carers. A study by Naaldenberg, Kuijken, van Dooren, & van Schrojenstein Lantman de Valk, (2013) found that the training of healthcare workers will also enable them to identify the health problems facing them and hence providing the appropriate treatment. The healthcare workers should also be trained for the purposes of ensuring that they provide information to the people with intellectual disabilities with regards to health risks. This will play an important role in overcoming the healthcares access problems. Overcoming the challenges faced by adults with intellectual disabilities will also be important to both the family and the community. It is also important for the government to work closely with the community in order to promote the welfare of the adults with intellectual disabilities. The participation of the community members can play an important role in overcoming the challenges. Partnership between the government, private sector and the stakeholders can also be useful in overcoming the challenges faced by the people with intellectual disabilities. Support programs should be established by the government and the private sector for the purposes of supporting the adults with intellectual disabilities. This is through providing them with jobs or developing income generating activities for the people with intellectual disabilities. On the other hand, the government together with the private sector should set aside funds for the people with intellectual disabilities. This will be useful in ensuring that they can easily access funds and hence reducing the poverty levels among the adults with intellectual disabilities. A study by Jokinen, Janicki, Keller, McCallion & Force, (2012) found that housing projects should be rolled out for the people with intellectual disabilities for the purposes of improving their living conditions and that of their families. The family members and the community should also be friendly to the people with intellectual disabilities in order to encourage them to socialize with the people win the society. This will be useful in reducing the loneliness and stress that the people with intellectual disabilities usually face on a daily basis. Events should also be created within the community and the adults with intellectual disabilities should be encouraged to participate. This will be useful in overcoming their socialization problem and hence impacting positively on the quality of life. The challenges facing the people with intellectual disabilities can therefore be overcome through the efforts of the government, private sector, society and the family members of the adults with intellectual disabilities. Conclusion In conclusion, it is evident that the adults with intellectual disabilities face a lot of challenges in their daily lives. Discrimination in terms of employment and leadership is among the challenges that the adults with intellectual disabilities face on a daily basis. On the other hand, health inequalities are also a challenge that most of the adults with intellectual disabilities usually face. It is evident that the challenge of health inequality contributes to poor health among the adults with intellectual disabilities. The adults with intellectual disabilities also have challenges in terms of information regarding the health risks. It is also evident that the adults with intellectual disabilities also face a lot of challenges in terms of socialization. The socialization problems expose them to stress, frustrations and loneliness. Socialization challenges also impacts negatively on the ability of the adults with intellectual disabilities to have their own families. The people with intellectual disabilities are also prone to abuse and exploitation by their family members and the members of the community. This is because of their poor decision making skills and their full dependence on the family members for most of their needs. It is also evident that the challenges have impacted negatively on the quality of life of the adults with intellectual disabilities. It is evident that the challenges can be solved through the development of policies and legislations by the government. The cooperation between the members of the society and the government can also be useful in solving the challenges faced by adults with intellectual disabilities. Creation of awareness among the community members can also play an important role in countering the challenges faced by the adults with intellectual disabilities. Creating employment opportunities and promoting access to healthcare services, financial services and education are also measures that can be used to deal with the challenges faced by adults with intellectual disabilities. References de Ligt, J., Willemsen, M. H., van Bon, B. W., Kleefstra, T., Yntema, H. G., Kroes, T., ... & Vissers, L. E. (2012). Diagnostic exome sequencing in persons with severe intellectual disability. New England Journal of Medicine, 367(20), 1921-1929. Haider, S. I., Ansari, Z., Vaughan, L., Matters, H., & Emerson, E. (2013). Health and wellbeing of Victorian adults with intellectual disability compared to the general Victorian population. 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