Cómo afrontar el duelo en las personas con discapacidad. Una aproximación al problema

Abstract

The life expectancy of persons with intellectual disabilities has increased significantly during the last years, and this fact means that it is increased the possibility of experiencing mourning situations because the loss of close persons. Through this paper, it is expected to know how the young persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) and their environment experiment the processes of mourning caused because of relatives’ loss. The participants belong to the association ASPANIAS in Burgos, and the method used to collect information was discussion groups with three different groups: young persons with intellectual disabilities, specialists and families. Hence considering these and the classification of the information depending on the eight domains of the Quality of Life paradigm constructed by Schalock and Verdugo, the research concludes that intellectual disability people experience mourning processes whose characteristics depend on numerous factors. These mourning processes become complex because they are joined to the trouble expressing their feelings and developing strategies to confront them. The instruction given to the ID people about this topic is non-existent and it is appreciated a demand, mainly a practical one, that guides and helps the collective to generate their own idea about the concept, to act consequentially and to talk it out.