Samenvatting

Globally, social inclusion of people with an intellectual disability has been a long-standing challenge. From the public stigma, lack of understanding and little societal exposure, to discrimination, maltreatment and abuse, all show to be examples of difficulties this minority group encounters all over the world while integrating in society. Their disability being defined as a neurodevelopmental disorder which arises in childhood, creates intellectual challenges, as well as a combination of challenges in the social, conceptual, and practical areas of life (American Psychiatric Association, 2022). With a dark history of this minority group being subdued to effects of the eugenics movement, with labels like ‘idiocy’ and ‘mental deficiency’ being the norm, the relatively recent shift in approach, appears to be a slow process. Through policies, equal rights and social inclusion have been promoted to initiate integration of the minority group. As a result, institutional care was replaced by community integrated living arrangements. In New Zealand specifically, the organisation Spectrum Care played a big part in this process, where the old ways continued for longer. It took huge reformations, with limited
resources, which is an ongoing mission to this day. Attempts of stimulating exposure and societal awareness are a relatively young process, with
limitations. The current need for improvement shows to be ever pressing, with many contributing factors making this complex. It includes exposure, a shift in attitude, insight and understanding, as well as tools and resources for both parties involved. The crux has been the lack of knowledge in both literature and practice, of the lived experiences from the minority group’s perspective. Global, national and local policies have been made with little involvement of people with intellectual disabilities. Little is known about their personal perspective of the process thus far. Hence, the research question came to be “What are the experiences of individuals with an intellectual disability with regards to social inclusion?”