For most people, dealing with change is a challenge. For people with cognitive impairments – often coupled with significant mental health problems – these difficulties may be magnified. Predictable life change may occur at a later stage than with people who do not have a disability (e.g. leaving home); some people may not gain legal independence, it may be harder to achieve an independent social life and employment options are severely reduced (Barron, Violet and Hassiotis).
Imagine if you could not understand why a change was occurring, what the envisaged change looks like or what the consequences might be. Think about how you might feel if you lived in a fragile world which you held together by constructing structure and regular patters – and then this pattern is altered.
How would you cope with change if you were weighed down with depression or if the thought of anything new filled you with an overwhelming sense of panic? Alternatively, how might it be if your emotional world was viewed very differently with attachments having very different meanings from those that we generally understand?
Table of Contents
2. The Housing Connection
3. People with Disability as Researchers
4. People with Disability Facing Life Transitions
5. People with Disability – Defining Transitions
6. People with Disability – The Effect of Badly Managed Transitions
7. People with Disability – Factors Affecting Satisfactory Resolution of a Transition
8. People with Disability – Coping Strategies