European Journal of Special Education Research
ISSN: 2501 - 2428
ISSN-L: 2501 - 2428
Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu
Volume 2 │ Issue 1 │ 2017
doi: 10.5281/zenodo.220248
LEISURE AS AN INSTRUMENT OF REHABILITATION AND
SOCIALIZATION OF PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES.
ENTER DISCUSSION
Jacek J. Błeszyński1i, Małgorzata Orłowska2
Faculty of Pedagogical Sciences, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Torun, Poland
1
2
University of Dąbrowa Górnicza, Department of Pedagogy,
Faculty of “pplied Social Sciences, Dąbrowa Górnicza, Poland
Abstract:
The problem of mental retardation / intellectual disability is constantly evolving. The
main element pointing to the essence of functioning of people with intellectual
disabilities is a person's position in the society ”łeszyński,
, pp.
- ; J. L. “ber …,
1997, p. 46 . The number of children with select developmental disabilities (autism, attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder, and other developmental delays) has increased, requiring more
health and education services. Additional study of the influence of risk-factor shifts, changes in
acceptance, and benefits of early services is needed
C. “.”oyle, …,
, p.
. “s
indicated by D. D. Smitrz, the twenty-first century brought a paradigm shift from the
traditionally negative conception (as a lack or limitation), to a more positive conception,
in the spirit of R. Luckasson. The new approach highlighted the importance of the
search for the capacity of each person and the environment in which this person lives,
learns and works. The place of a person in society has become more important than
their intelligence. The concepts of adaptive behaviour and supporting systems are
becoming a more important element than the averaged results of particular functions identified by IQ. Currently, the most common approach in the field of intellectual
disability introduced from 2013 is found in the DSM 5 Classification (Fifth Edition of the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). In this classification of
intellectual disability (impaired intellectual development - the diagnostic term
intellectual disability is a term equivalent to the ICD-11 diagnosis of disorders of
intellectual development. Although this guide uses the term intellectual disability, these
two terms are used in the title, to explain the relationships with other classification
Correspondence: email jjbleszynski@gmail.com
Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved.
© 2015 – 2017 Open Access Publishing Group
38
Jacek J. Błeszyński, Małgorzata Orłowska
LEISURE AS AN INSTRUMENT OF REHABILITATION AND SOCIALIZATION OF PEOPLE WITH
INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES. ENTER DISCUSSION
systems. Moreover, the United States federal statute - Public Law 111-256, Rosa's Law replaces the term mental retardation with the concept of intellectual disability. Scientific
journals also use the term intellectual disability. This concept is widely used in medical
and educational environments, as well as by groups of attorneys). There are three
important basic criteria of disorders: 1) intellectual, 2) adaptive (highlighted in our
work), 3) intellectual and adaptive in adolescence.
Keywords: intellectual disability, rehabilitation, socialization
Research Methodology
The results of the research were a part of the educational process conducted by
educational institutions of which the NCU has custody of the content and offers social
advisory services. The research material was collected in kindergartens and schools
attended by children with an equal degree of intellectual disability (with a
predominance of mild disabilities). The study used questionnaires for parents of
disabled children and teachers (who also submitted their comments on the results of
their work of teaching the pupil), and the analysis of children's utterances (in the oral
and written form - which was conditioned by development opportunities). The research
material was limited to the methods of spending free time by a child with intellectual
disability.
Research results
The Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly on 20 November 1989, Journal of Laws No. 120, item 526, of April 30, 1991
clearly states the need to meet the needs of development with a particular emphasis on
the needs of free time (Article 27. 1. States Parties recognize the right of every child to a
standard of living adequate for the child's physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social
development; Article 31. 1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to rest and
leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child
and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts. 2. States Parties shall respect and
promote the right of the child to participate fully in cultural and artistic life and shall
encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic,
recreational and leisure activity). Meanwhile, studies conducted by the Polish Central
Statistical Office, a government agency, reveal that this is one of the most deficient
needs. Every third child in Poland could not, for the reason of lack of money, go on at
European Journal of Special Education Research - Volume 2 │ Issue 1 │ 2017
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Jacek J. Błeszyński, Małgorzata Orłowska
LEISURE AS AN INSTRUMENT OF REHABILITATION AND SOCIALIZATION OF PEOPLE WITH
INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES. ENTER DISCUSSION
least a weekly rest once a year (Shukeloits - ”ieńkuńska,
children with disabilities involved in later studies (N-
, p.
. Meanwhile, among
Orłowska, ”łeszyński
,
this indicator concerned 44%. So, almost every second child with intellectual disabilities
in the study group did not have any opportunity for at least a weekly rest. At a similar
level of deprivation were the needs of socialization - 24% of children did not have the
possibility to invite their peers to their houses, and 7% had no funds to celebrate
birthdays and other celebrations of this type (indicators for all Polish children were 7
and 9 percentage points - according to Shukeloits - ”ieńkuńska
, p.
.
In this situation it seemed interesting to the researchers: how do children with
disabilities understand free time, how do they perceive it and how do they spend it. All
the more so because leisure takes a prominent place in the system of revalidation and is
in line with the fundamental paradigm of special education.
A.
Perceiving free time
Memories from vacation - was the subject of one of the first lessons carried out in early
September. This is how the vacation stay was described by one child.
„Wspomnienia z wakacji – Karpacz. Z rodzicami wyjechaliśmy w góry. do Karpacza było fajnie
poszliśmy sie przejść były takie samochody co ciogona na linie potem kawałek dalej pószczały
linie i to tak szybko sie jechać 35 na godzine. Potem na drugi dzień przyjechał Maga park co tak
były k kłady, Krosy taka kula duża doniej się Wsiada i dwóch to kóle pchała a ja musiałem sie
odpychać było fajnie. Potem na 3dzień pojechaliśmy na śnieżke jechaliśmy wyciągiem Poszliśmy
tam weszliśmy wysłaliśmy pocztuwki potem szliśmy po takich skałach dużych jus schodziliśmy
na dół potem jus szliśmy do hotelu bo byliśmy zmeczeni i na drugi dzień jechaliśmy do Torunia i
reszte szpedziłem w Toruniu. Było super” (Memories from vacation- Karpacz. I went to the
mountains with my parents, to Karpacz. It was fun. We did some hiking, there were
some cars towing us and then letting go of us and you could go as fast as 35 km/h. On
the second day, there came a funfair with quads, cross bikes, and a big ball you could
get inside and two people had to push it and I had to push it too. It was fun. On the
third day, we went to Śniezka Mountain. We got to the top on a lift and then we walked
down to the hotel. We were tired and the next day we came back to Toruń. The
remaining time I spent in Torun. It was super.) Mateusz 18 (Source: own research).
In the written work there are various errors, for example, failure to mark
nasalization - the so-called - sonorants, which is present also in speech, as well as
misspellings, which prove not only the lack of consolidation of the rules of spelling, as
in the case of mentally handicapped children but also difficulties in long term
memorisation (as mentioned earlier). In the account there is mainly enumeration, often
without regard for the principles of logic and grammar. For the analysis of the problem
European Journal of Special Education Research - Volume 2 │ Issue 1 │ 2017
40
Jacek J. Błeszyński, Małgorzata Orłowska
LEISURE AS AN INSTRUMENT OF REHABILITATION AND SOCIALIZATION OF PEOPLE WITH
INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES. ENTER DISCUSSION
of leisure time, however, the important elements pointed out by the student are
primarily dynamic activities in which the subject participated during the holiday.
Many statements about organized activities ended with a statement: „[W]akacje
spendziłam super. Bardzo szybko mi mineły
I had a super holiday. It went very fast
(Justyna, 16), or „Bardzo mi się podobały te wakacje. Spędziłem je mile i bezbiecznie. Poznałem
wielu przyjaciół i przyjaciółek. Do zobaczenia za rok
I really liked this holiday. I spent it
, or „Czas nam minął
nice and safe. I made a lot of friends. See you next year “rtur,
bardzo szybko” (Time passed very quickly) (Krzysztof, 14).
The most important elements of the description of spending leisure time are the
activities which were element of the description of spending of leisure time is an
activity which was significant for the respondent, which carried the essential elements.
The scarcity of thought transmission or even its brevity should be noticed. This
stemmed from the author s awareness of unattractive activities as well as the author's
unacceptable behaviour (which if described, could result in disciplinary education).
The written statement presented below is a form of an account often used in
utterances created by mentally disabled children: „Wakacje spędziłam w domu słuchałam
muzyki, pilnowałam brata, pomagałam mamie sprzątać” (I spent holidays at home, I listened
to music, took care of my brother, helped mum clean) (Judyta, 12). (Source: own
research)
The statement written correctly in terms of spelling presents a short, but also
very intentional report on spending free time. The girl did not benefit from organized
leisure holiday because of family reasons (as the eldest, she was obliged to watch over
her brother, help her mother in the household)
B.
Ways of spending free time
In the next stage of the study, it was analysed how students spend their free time.
Subjects were asked a question that they could choose several answers to, add their
comments and make additions concerning the preferred forms of leisure.
Table 1: Preferred leisure time activities of students [N = 32]
Type of activity / behaviour
Number of responses
I do nothing
22
I sleep
37
I get bored
24
I have nothing to do
26
Time off from school
26
(Source: own research)
European Journal of Special Education Research - Volume 2 │ Issue 1 │ 2017
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Jacek J. Błeszyński, Małgorzata Orłowska
LEISURE AS AN INSTRUMENT OF REHABILITATION AND SOCIALIZATION OF PEOPLE WITH
INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES. ENTER DISCUSSION
Most of the students demonstrate a lack of skills in managing their free time. The most
frequently chosen form of spending free time is sleep - passive rest, which may be the
result of specific disorders common among students such as meteoropathy (the research
was conducted in autumn), easy fatigability, etc., as well as a result of the adolescence
period of students who participated in the study.
Table 2: Most common ways of spending free time
Type of activity
Number of responses
Going to a disco
18
Meeting friends
29
Shopping
28
Going to the cinema
19
Reading books
23
Sports
26
Computer
27
(Source: own research)
Some students indicated active pastimes like: meeting friends, games (billiard, football),
cycling (2 children), playing (not specified).
Histogram 1: Most common ways of spending free time in a symmetrical arrangement [N = 32]
Computer
Sports
Number
of
responses
Reading books
Going to the
cinema
Shopping
0
20
40
Meeting friends
(Source: own research)
The most preferred form of spending free time was meeting friends, in different places
and for different purpose. Meetings were most frequently organized in shopping malls,
and were rarely associated with shopping, more often with taking part in promotions
and similar events. Often, students also chose to spend time at a computer, here
preference is given to games, as well as to communication via various forums.
In the case of sports, respondents most frequently named football (5), running (2)
and roller skating (2), as well as other forms, e.g.: volleyball (1), basketball (1), cycling
(1). Less frequently selected forms of leisure were reading, cinema and disco. This is
European Journal of Special Education Research - Volume 2 │ Issue 1 │ 2017
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Jacek J. Błeszyński, Małgorzata Orłowska
LEISURE AS AN INSTRUMENT OF REHABILITATION AND SOCIALIZATION OF PEOPLE WITH
INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES. ENTER DISCUSSION
connected with the necessity of having funds (cinema, discotheque) and often the lack
of an adequate book collection in school libraries.
For the researcher, statements related to the form of organized extracurricular
activities were interesting.
Table 3: Organizing leisure time [N = 32]
Organizers
Number of responses
Teacher
10
Parent
14
Friends
22
The subjects themselves
14
The organizer is irrelevant
10
Note: The responses do not add up as the subjects of the research gave multiple answers.
(Source: own research)
The largest group of students were those who preferred to have someone organize their
free time. This may result from the lack of habit of managing time, awareness, as well as
difficulty in deciding about how to spend spare time (due to disability, the caring
environment as well as the cultural and economic situation).
Subjects prefer to have their free time organized by colleagues. The choices made
by parents and teachers are also important. Extracurricular activities organized by
educators, as well as periodic classes, or incidental - which students did not mentionplay a special role.
With age, students are increasingly aware of the option of organizing free time
themselves, depending on the age, environment and contacts - resulting also from
personality.
Another question concerned the number of hours that students have at their
disposal after school - how much free time they have after school.
Table 4: Leisure time that students have after school [N = 32]
Number of hours
Number of responses
2
3
4
7
5
9
8
5
9 and more
8
(Source: own research)
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Jacek J. Błeszyński, Małgorzata Orłowska
LEISURE AS AN INSTRUMENT OF REHABILITATION AND SOCIALIZATION OF PEOPLE WITH
INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES. ENTER DISCUSSION
Graph 1: Leisure time that students have after school [N = 32]
1. Kw
2. Kw
3. Kw
4. Kw
(Source: own research)
Most of the students have free time after school in addition to their homework and
duties at home. Due to the type of disability, students mostly work in the classroom,
which allows them to spend their remaining time on other tasks. The subjects were
students of lower and upper secondary schools, who are characterized by their search
for a system of values and a sense of belonging to a group of school children. Among
the answers given by the students, relating to the proposal to spend free time that is not
planned and organized by others (what would you like to do in your spare time), were
those that concerned the use of free time, but also the realization of students' dreams.
The statements can be divided due to the preferred interests - how these people
would like to spend their free time.
Table 5: Preferred pastimes [N=32]
Subject would like to
1
2
3
4
Play sports
Meet / spend time with
Take part in
Spend time
Options
Number of responses
Total
- cycling
1
- running
1
- horse-riding
1
- water sports (swimming)
2
- basketball
2
- football
2
- peers / friends
4
- boyfriend / girlfriend
3
- parents
2
- siblings
2
a party
2
games
1
fooling around
1
shopping
1
in the cinema
1
at home
1
at the computer
1
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11
11
4
8
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Jacek J. Błeszyński, Małgorzata Orłowska
LEISURE AS AN INSTRUMENT OF REHABILITATION AND SOCIALIZATION OF PEOPLE WITH
INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES. ENTER DISCUSSION
walking
3
in front of the TV
1
5
With animals
dogs
1
1
6
Away from home
trips
1
1
Total
36
(Source: own research)
We can states that the leisure activities are typical for the younger generation preference is given to active forms of relaxation (division according to K. Migdał
,
p. 36, religious practices and others were not mentioned.), such as contacts with friends
(mainly peer or younger) and passive rest - spending time alone, which indicates a
difficulty in establishing contacts across generations, resulting from a different method of
establishing contacts and different preferences for leisure time activities;
1. Preference is mainly given to costless ways of spending time, which are organized
in groups (meetings, shops, disco, sports, etc.) - what is reflected in the
enumerated preferable pastimes.
2. The subjects demonstrated that they are primarily participants, rather than
organizers, with preference for the peer group (less interest in the proposals of
older people);
3. The respondents indicated that they have more than 4 hours of time that they can
spend on their own interests, which should be considered a large period of time
after deduction of hours of sleep and time spent fulfilling their duties (including
school and non-school).
Discussion
The conclusions that arise from the study indicate that the subjects are primarily
interested in peer contacts which meet their expectations and match their interests in
the field of leisure. Traditional organized forms of leisure time do not meet their
expectations. Organized trips and tours are not attractive enough to meet the needs of
the study subjects. Important elements are sport and active ways of spending time. The
results do not confirm the images of a passive preference for spending free time at the
computer or television. The respondents also want to participate in social life, which is
not always perceived by adults as creative, allowing them to develop, such as spending
time being in shops . It is not just the problem of the lack of adults – guardians next to
them
who could provide support and care
as noted by E. Piatrzyc
, p.
,
describing measures taken by the authorities towards young people threatened by
exclusion but a programme that can be offered to those young people.
European Journal of Special Education Research - Volume 2 │ Issue 1 │ 2017
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Jacek J. Błeszyński, Małgorzata Orłowska
LEISURE AS AN INSTRUMENT OF REHABILITATION AND SOCIALIZATION OF PEOPLE WITH
INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES. ENTER DISCUSSION
All of these studies indicate that young people with an intellectual disability try
to adapt to the social icons presented in the media, the trend referred to as
postmodernism and consumerism. It is undoubtedly the result of the attitudes that
occur in families who are often referred to as educationally inefficient, not fully
providing care for minors, and as the research has shown - who do not meet the
requirements of the study subjects. It is a very generalized conclusion, not quite
unambiguous. As the results of the research show, young people look for friendship,
love (entering relationships), which is a symptom of emotional maturity, and these
needs are met in the peer environment, which on the one hand is the closest mentally,
emotionally, temporarily (at school, in the classroom), but also functionally.
Undoubtedly, we can observe the following popular models, especially based on mass
media and instant messaging (It is common for children to possess mobiles and
smartphones which they cannot use at school (limited access to Wi-Fi), while they can
use it freely in shopping centres), which is often an uncritical process marked by a sense
of independence and shaping one s own image; a sense of being an adult - but without
the consequences.
The research shows the low attractiveness of free time activities offered by
schools and adults, as well as the low effectiveness of undertaken programmes and
organized free time activities. Unattractive extracurricular activities organized mainly
as additional teaching hours in the didactic work of the teacher become forced, not very
creative and do not meet the customer s student s interests. “lso, computer classes,
despite great interest in them, are often reduced to describe the structure and function
of selected programs. As such, they are not appealing to young people who have
mastered the basic functions of these devices. Sports activities (school sports clubs and
similar organizations) are an interesting pastime. An opportunity is created to succeed
and earn rewards accepted by peers and the immediate environment.
The analyses show that young people arrange their free time in a very informal
manner, characterized by the occurrence of spontaneous behaviours, allowing for
entering into closer interactions and not requiring financial resources. On the opposite
side there are free time activities organized by institutions - which are a contradiction to
the forms expected by the surveyed students. It becomes necessary to review the
possibilities and limitations of mentally disabled youngsters, which in addition to the
economic analysis, should include far-reaching goals, identifying the prospective - what
is strived for, and thus what type of people do we want to shape and/or how disabled
individuals can shape themselves. These activities clarify a person s civic dimension, as
a member - and therefore a creator of society in which a person develops, and to what
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Jacek J. Błeszyński, Małgorzata Orłowska
LEISURE AS AN INSTRUMENT OF REHABILITATION AND SOCIALIZATION OF PEOPLE WITH
INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES. ENTER DISCUSSION
extent this person is capable of creating himself/herself and the society in which he/she
lives.
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LEISURE AS AN INSTRUMENT OF REHABILITATION AND SOCIALIZATION OF PEOPLE WITH
INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES. ENTER DISCUSSION
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LEISURE AS AN INSTRUMENT OF REHABILITATION AND SOCIALIZATION OF PEOPLE WITH
INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES. ENTER DISCUSSION
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