Abstract
This review gives an overview of the societal inequalities faced by people with intellectual disabilities, before focusing specifically on challenges people face accessing the Internet. Current access will be outlined along with the societal, support and attitudinal factors that can hinder access. Discussion of carer views of Internet use by people with intellectual disabilities will be covered incorporating consideration of the tension between protection, self-determination and lifestyle issues and gaining Internet access. We will address how impairment related factors may impede access and subsequently discuss how supports may be used to obfuscate impairments and facilitate access. We will move on from this to critically describe some of the potential benefits the Internet could provide to people with intellectual disabilities, including the potential for self-expression, advocacy and developing friendships. Finally, strategies to better include people with intellectual disabilities online will be given along with future research suggestions.
Highlights
Information and communication technologies (ICT) have become a crucial aspect of community living and participation
And paid carers may believe that: (i) the Internet is beyond the skills of people with intellectual disabilities (ID) and is inappropriate for them to use; (ii) the Internet is itself creating a barrier to social inclusion and interpersonal interaction; (iii) ICTs are purely educational and literacy based tools that are inappropriate for the people they support with ID to use; and (iv) ICT is inappropriate for older people with ID and those with more significant cognitive impairments
Having support to go online may help people with ID to cope with the negative stereotypes, attitudinal biases, and social and physical exclusion that are viewed as potential risks and can impede access
Summary
Information and communication technologies (ICT) have become a crucial aspect of community living and participation. Developments in ICT, with the Internet at the forefront, are profoundly. Future Internet 2013, 5 changing the knowledge, service, employment and social interactional opportunities available to people with disabilities [1]. In this review we will explore the inequalities and empirical evidence base surrounding the use of the Internet by people with intellectual disabilities (ID). The commonly used diagnostic criteria for ID, incorporates cognitive, behavioural and developmental components. According to the ICD-10 and DSM-IV for a classification of intellectual disabilities to be given a person firstly must have lower than average intelligence, identified by an IQ score lower than
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