Comparing everyday autonomy and adult identity in young people with and without intellectual disabilities

This study was undertaken to investigate how young people with and without mild intellectual disabilities experience and perceive their own behavioural autonomy.

Fifty-six young people with mild intellectual disabilities and 49 young people without disabilities aged 16-19 participated in a novel picture card sorting task to investigate their participation in a range of activities, and the obstacles preventing them from doing so.

School pupils with intellectual disabilities engaged in significantly fewer activities than their typically developing peers and were more likely to state not to be allowed to. In contrast, the college students with and without disabilities were equally as likely to undertake each activity, and those with intellectual disabilities were more likely to express lack of interest in doing so.

The move from school to college may represent an opportunity for young people with intellectual disabilities to "catch-up" with their typically developing peers.