Conclusiones parciales

When these findings were put to the five individual interviewees they were generally in agreement that PWID continue to experience a level of exclusion from their communities. However, the reasons put forward as to why they believed this was the case varied:

‘The SO has “boxed” people off into a specialised category and the fact that you have to have a disability to participate means that only disabled people could be part of the club, however, we still don’t see people with ID in the mainstream per se, they don’t get jobs like anyone else. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure the SO are doing some very good work, but I think their understanding of what inclusion actually means is very different to mine’(INT 3), ‘I get that, it is all to do with exposure and culture, PWID are underrepresented in our communities and are not really included in any meaningful way. Where we see PWID maybe once a year at these games there is very limited scope for meaningful inclusion within the community. These games are not age appropriate as you see adults are often doing childlike activities.

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This kind of thing does not happen at other sporting events and it does nothing to further the cause of inclusion for PWID’ (INT 4) and ‘PWID are not making friends without disabilities. That’s because PWID do not have opportunities to include anyone else…they are special…I believe that label goes before them’

(INT 2).

Two interviewees were in agreement with the findings from the focus groups stating that they understood why the public might think in this way. However, both also spoke about inclusion as possibly being an ‘ideal’ as understood by non-disabled people:

‘I understand why the people you spoke with would say that and in a way the images of the SO they viewed probably do suggest it’s a club only for PWID and in a way it is. But if we push the inclusion thing too far it may go against the individual choices of the athletes....it maybe something they do not want. Groups tend to naturally stick together, such as PWID being included within their own peer groups. From my experience, people with ID want to stay part of their disability group and not always necessarily want to meet new people in the community. The SO in my opinion are a stepping stone to inclusion’ (INT 2) and

‘We view inclusion on our own terms but do we truly know what PWID want?

They are included among their own friends in the SO and we can’t force inclusion onto people. Maybe the SO need to broaden their horizon on what they understand inclusion to be. It’s interesting that none of the people you interviewed have a friend with a disability. Maybe the SO are not achieving their claims of creating more inclusive communities for PWID, but I still say you have to experience them to know the great work they do. They do provide opportunities for PWID to meet and socialise with non-disabled people and that type of exposure is important (INT 5).

One interviewee reflected on the role of society and its impact on how PWID experience inclusion:

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‘Sure the research tells us most PWID do not have meaningful roles in society, most do not work, education can still be segregated and many PWID don’t get to experience anything mainstream. Their disability goes before them. However, some of the blame lies within society and their lack of acceptance of PWID. The mindset in society hasn’t changed all that much over the years, and while there may be an acceptance that PWID have rights, society has failed to reach out to PWID. There is a long way to go, but I think disability rights campaigners have started this. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of fear, stereotyping and ignorance of PWID in Ireland today’ (INT 1).

Bigby and Fyffes (2010) claimed that social inclusion for people with disabilities is a multi-layered concept that requires action at multiple levels of society to include individual, organisational and community level. In order to assess how socially included PWID are in their communities certain key factors such as having friends without disabilities must be taken into account.

Thus, it would appear that as individuals, PWID who participate in the SO experience inclusion with other club members and feel a strong connection with the SO as an organisation. However, this research found that 99.1% of the sample population did not have a friend with an ID, which in turn means that according to Bigby and Fyffes’

(2010), the vast majority of PWID do not experience meaningful social inclusion their local communities.

6.9 CONCLUSION

The findings of this study suggest that some of the images the SO use to portray PWID are viewed positively by the general public in the island of Ireland. On viewing the images the sample population discussed the benefit of participating in physical activity and spoke of how sport can be positive for both physical and emotional wellbeing.

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Discussion was also generated on how the SO provided opportunities to learn new skills, make friends with their peers and grow in confidence and self-esteem. Focus group participants also spoke about the sense of pride and achievement they could see in the athletes’ faces when participating in the games and especially when they won medals.

However, some images were also viewed negatively by the sample population. Images where PWID were seen collecting money raised discussion on the concepts of pity and charity. Many participants also believed some of the pictures were tokenistic in nature, especially where politicians were included and where the athletes won multiple medals.

While acknowledging that across all focus groups in both age groups the findings were very similar, some attitudinal differences were noted. The younger age group appeared more vocal about labels like ‘special’, speaking of the negative impact and injustice of them, whereas the older age group did not particularly comment on their impact to any significant level. Some, in the older age groups openly expressed pity towards the athletes after viewing the images. However, the younger age groups did not express feelings of pity or sympathy towards the athletes but did speak about why such images could evoke feelings of pity or sympathy among the general public. Finally, a small cohort of participants in the older age group questioned if participation in the games could support the development of skills, whereas this way of thinking was not evident with the younger age groups.

However, what was most common and evident among all focus groups was the fact that of a sample population of 107 people across the island of Ireland, only one (99.1%) claimed to have a friend with an intellectual disability. When this was further discussed among the groups, participants believed that as they had nothing in common with PWID and would not aspire to participate in events such as the SO, it was only natural that they would not have friends with an ID. While participants were confident that the SO can promote inclusion for PWID, they were referring to inclusion within the confines of the SO and in the world of disability.

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It was also interesting to note, that of the 107 participants who took part in this project, only one could name a SO athlete. These findings are further analysed and discussed in the concluding chapter of this research study.

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CHAPTER 7