ABILITY OF SELF-ADVOCACY OF PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES

Abstract

The main goal of the self-advocacy is developing the basic skills of persons with intellectual disability, improving the attitude of the community towards these people and making them equal members of their community with equal rights, possibilities and responsibilities, methodology of the research and defines the subject, the purpose and the character of the research, the goals, the hypothesis, the variables, the methods, the techniques and instruments, the sample, the statistical data processing, the place, the time, the organization and the course of the research. According to the results, we can conclude that the level of self-advocacy of people with intellectual disability is very low.

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abstract from defended doctoral and post-graduate theses

ABILITY OF SELF-ADVOCACY OF PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES

Abstract

The master thesis is presented on 102 pages. The paper contains the following parts: Introduction, Theoretical part, Research, composed of Methodology of research, Analysis and interpretation of results, Discussion, Conclusions, Recommendations, Attachments and literature.

The Introduction explains the concept of self-advocacy. The self-advocacy of people with intellectual disabilities represents a part of their personal identity. It includes the efforts of the individuals to speak and work on their behalf, to make decisions and to influence on situations regarding their life as well as to achieve the highest level of independency. The main goal of the self-advocacy is developing the basic skills of persons with intellectual disability, improving the attitude of the community towards these people and making them equal members of their community with equal rights, possibilities and responsibilities.

The Research section presents the influence on situations regarding their life as well as to achieve the highest level of independency. The main goal of the self-advocacy is developing the basic skills of persons with intellectual disability, improving the attitude of the community towards these people and making them equal members of their community with equal rights, possibilities and responsibilities, methodology of the research and defines the subject, the purpose and the character of the research, the goals, the hypothesis, the variables, the methods, the techniques and instruments, the sample, the statistical data processing, the place, the time, the organization and the course of the research. The subject of the research was the level of self-advocacy of persons with mild intellectual disability who live in a dormitory, the Center for education and rehabilitation "Ss. Naum Ohridski" - Skopje, and those who live with their families and attend the special schools "Idnina" and "Dr. Zlatan Sremec - Skopje" and "Maca Ovcharova" - Veles. The aim was to determine the connection between the living conditions as objective factors which determine the level of self-advocacy and the skills of self-advocacy. A structured interview was used as a technique and the data were statistically analyzed using ttest (statistical significance acceptance was p<0.05).

The results indicate that the persons with mild intellectual disability who live with their families have better communication skills, higher ability for problem solving and they are more aware of their rights than those who live in a dormitory and were part of the research. Further, the results show persons with mild intellectual disability who live with their families have greater ability of self-advocacy than the persons living in dormitory.

According to the results, we can conclude that the level of self-advocacy of people with intellectual disability is very low. A few of them are aware of their rights and they do not know how to enjoy their rights. This results point the need of more extensive education of the persons with intellectual disabilities, of those who are in constant touch with them and of the whole society, so that the persons with intellectual disability can be equal members in the society and enjoy the rights that the other people in our country enjoy.

Keywords: self-advocacy, persons with intellecttual disability, rights of persons with disabilities

Sashka TRAJKOVSKI

Institute of Special Education and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Philosophy, Skopje, R. Macedonia

Recived: 05.02.2015

Accepted: 08.02.2015

Sashka Trajkovski defended her master thesis on 3th November 2014 at the Institute of Special Education and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Philosophy, University "Ss. Cyril and Methodius" - Skopje, in the presence of a commission composed of: Prof. Dr. Risto Petrov, Prof. Dr. Daniela Dimitrova Radojichikj and Prof. Dr. Natasha Chichevska Jovanova.

Corresponding Address:

Sashka TRAJKOVSKI

Mariovska 4 Skopje, R. Macedonia

E-mail: [email protected]