INTERNET AS A PLACE OF SOCIAL ACTIVITY FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AND THEIR FAMILIES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.28925/2226-3012.2017.6.9297Keywords:
disability, family, group, InternetAbstract
For families of people with disabilities Internet is a place of communication, information about treatment and therapy. The Internet is also a space for social support. In this article I present online groups bringing together parents of children with disabilities. I believe the activities of such groups are a form of support and kind of education for people with disabilities and their families.
An important aspect of teaching is both a learning process associated with a disabled child and their surrounding en- vironment and educating tolerance to people with disabilities among the general public. The aspect is especially impor- tant regarding children with Down syndrome (such children are often determined on the basis of external features, typi- cal of people with the syndrome). There have been more than 21 successful attempts to promote the idea of a so-called open th society for people with Down syndrome through publications, leaflets, lectures etc. so far today.
Blogs created by people with disabilities or their families are becoming a more common form of social activity in the community. Analyzing the motivation of such form of communication reveals two main reasons that should be noted. The first one is connected with the need to raise funds for treatment. While sharing an online diary on the Internet, there is a chance to reach a larger number of people reading the blog who are concerned with finding a solu- tion to the problems of people with disabilities and, therefore, who can help them with financial support. Almost every blog has a request for such support (bank account entry, list of procedures to be funded, etc.). The second most common reason is the need to share personal experiences with the others, the request for externalization of, as a rule, very painful experience in front of the individual who is met face-to-face. The media, allowing transcendence of culture, cer- tainly play an important function in the process.
References
Botler, J. D. (1990). Człowiek Turinga. Kultura zachodu w wieku komputera. Tłumacz. T. Globan-Glas. Warszawa, Polska: PIW (pol).
Breslau, N., & Davis, G. (1986). Chronic stress and major depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 43, 309–314 (pol).
Bruhn (2011). Efekt grupy. Spójność społeczna i jej konsekwencje dla zdrowia. Tlum. A. Plisiecka. Warszawa, Polska: Wyd. Szkoły Wyższej Psychologii Społecznej (pol).
Burszta, B. J. (2003). Internetowa polis w trzech krótkich odsłonach. W: W. J. Burszta, Ekran, mit, rzeczywistość.
Warszawa, Polska (pol).
Chodkowska, M. (1995). Mieć dziecko z z porażeniem mózgowym. Pamiętniki matek. Lublin, Polska: Wyd. Pracownia Wydawnicza Fundacji «Masz szansę» (pol).
Grodzka, M. (1995). Płacz bez łez. Listy rodziców dzieci autystycznych. Gdańsk, Polska: Wydawnictwo Medyczne MAKmed (pol).
Karwowska, M. (2007). Macierzyństwo wobec dziecka niepełnosprawnego intelektualnie. Bydgoszcz, Polska: Wyd.
Uniwersytetu Kazimierza Wielkiego (pol).
Kowalik, S. (2001). Pomiędzy dyskryminacją a integracją osób niepelnosprawnych. W: B. Kaja (red.): Wspomaganie rozwoju. Psychostymulacja i psychokorekcja. Tom 3, Bydgoszcz, Polska: Wyd. Uniwersytetu Kaziemierza Wielkiego w Bydgoszczy, 36–58 (pol).
Krajewski, K. (2003). Kultury kultury popularnej. Poznań, Polska: Wyd. Naukowe UAM (pol).
Lehmann, J. P., & Roberto, K. A. (1996). Comparison of factors influencing mothers’ perceptions about the futures of their adolescent children with and without disabiblities. Mental Retardation, 34, 27–38 (pol).
Smith, M. (1992). Voices from the Well: The Logic of the Virtual Common. Retrieved from http://www.sscnet.ucla. edu/soc/csoc/papers/voices/Voices.htm. (pol).
Walter, N. (2016). Internetowe wsparcie społeczne. Studium socjopedagogiczne. Poznań, Polska: Wyd. Naukowe UAM (pol).
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2017 Уршула Клаймон-Лех
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Content Licensing: Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial
The author allows:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material
Under the following terms:
-
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
-
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
The authors reserve the right to authorship of the work and pass the first publication right of this work to the journal under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows others to freely distribute the published research with the obligatory reference to the authors of the original work and the first publication of the work in this journal.
The authors have the right to conclude separate supplement agreements that relate to non-exclusive work distribution in the form in which it has been published by the journal (for example, to upload the work to the online storage of the journal or publish it as part of a monograph), provided that the reference to the first publication of the work in this journal is included.
