他們是社會人嗎？—兩名啟智學校畢業青年的生活樣貌

Can They be Full Members of the Society?—The Lives of Two Young Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

本研究採用質性研究法，深入探究兩名智能障礙青年（小豪和阿輝）的生活樣貌。透過觀察和訪談，與16 名研究參與者進行為期七個月的互動。經過資料蒐集、分析與詮釋，研究者先分別呈現這兩名青年的生活脈絡，再進一步詮釋出以下核心議題：(1)工作不但讓智障青年成為生產者，增加經濟和生活的獨立，更是拓展社交網絡的重要媒介，使生活變得有意義。(2)家長對於智障子女的關愛和協助可能是促進融合的推力，但是過度的擔心和保護或許反而形成智障青年融入社會的拉力。(3)他人對於「智能障礙」的刻板印象可能刻意或不經意地形成工作、友誼的柵欄，阻絕了他們實質融入社會的機會。(4)智障青年從人際互動的經驗中，形成自我概念和評價。(5)智障青年如能獲得更多參與和扮演各種角色的機會，並且得到更多社會支持，就更能讓他們融入社會。 整體而言，智能障礙青年的生活深受「互動關係」的影響。各種社會關係中是否給予他們參與的機會和支持，將會建構成不一樣的生活樣貌。換言之，他們所經驗到的生活品質，因為社會支持和參與的機會而有不同。

The lives of young adults with intellectual disabilities (IDs) were explored in this qualitative study. The data was collected within seven months through participation, observation, and interviews with Haw, Hwai, and 14 other participants including parents, siblings, workmates, teachers, classmates, and neighbors. From the results of this study of two young adults with IDs, 5 core themes emerged: (1)Work not only allows Haw to become a productive and independent person but also makes his life more meaningful; (2)parents' love and care enable their ID children to become integrated into the community, but too much worrying and over-protection may hold back their further participation; (3)with their low-functioning characteristics and ID label, these young adults are treated differently and may experience more difficulty in getting jobs and making friends; (4)the experience of interacting with others affects these young adults' self-valuation and self-concept; (5)more opportunity to participate in a variety of social activities, play multiple social roles with their counterparts and gain more social support means more chance for them to be integrated successfully into the society. Our conclusion was that in general young adults with IDs can become full members of the society only when they have more opportunity to participate and more social support, for this can promote their social relationships with others. In other words, social support and participation determine the quality of life which young adults with IDs will be able to have.