Peer and adult relationships of adolescents with disabilities

The purpose of this study was to enhance our knowledge of what it is like to grow up with a disability, specifically, with focus on how adolescents with restricted mobility perceive social roles and relationships to peers and adults. The group investigated consisted of 12 adolescents with restricted mobility from northern Sweden, aged from 15 to 19 years. The adolescents were individually interviewed. The analysis resulted in a core category (Who am I), which describes how the adolescents perceive themselves. The core category was related to three subcategories: Relationships to friends--describes the adolescents' experiences of peer relationships, Relationships to adults--describes adolescents' relationships to adults, Thoughts about relationships in the future--comprises wishes for future relationships. The results indicated that the 12 disabled adolescents saw themselves as regular members of the adolescent peer group but that the members of the adolescent group saw them as being different. The relationships to friends of the same age were either markedly defective or did not exist at all, while relationships to adults were often characterized as ambivalent or asymmetric, i.e. the adults were simultaneously helpful and supportive while over protective and dominant. The study revealed that despite the many hindrances, the adolescents had a comparatively positive view of their future.