This paper is a hermeneutic analysis of selected academic publications. This paper examines a number of issues related to undertaking social roles by adults with disabilities and the problem of their postponed transition to adulthood, restricting or delaying developmental tasks typical of adulthood, which has negative implications and may exacerbate disability. Support provided by various entities and institutions may reduce existing barriers and enhance their social integration. Both positive and negative effects of using social support by people with disabilities have been pointed out. Sources of social support have been listed along with their specifics. The analysis included the disabled person’s gender, as it determines the nature of support and its reception. Finally, the need for personalised support was emphasised along with risks resulting from institutional discrimination. The role of local community was highlighted as it corresponds to the concept of community-based support and the need to promote various initiatives aimed at integration and normalisation of life for people with disabilities.

This paper discusses issues related to the participation in culture of adults with moderate intellectual disabilities. The aim of this paper is to present the findings of a study interpreting and constructing participation in culture by members of this group. I was interested in how such people experience culture and how they interpret it and what significance they attach to its various manifestations. This piece of research was located in the current of constructivist and interpretative studies, which has enabled the application of the biographical method. The research project used four individual, in-depth and partially structured interviews and narrative analysis.
The narratives told by the interviewees reveal the subjective sense and meaning imparted by people with intellectual disabilities to their own participation in culture. The narratives have shown the difficult adulthood and the resulting problems of everyday life. The biographies of adults with intellectual disabilities living with their parents show the complexity of adulthood and the resulting attributes. Due to the difficulties of everyday life, the reality constructed by the narrators is filled with regret, anger, disappointment, sadness and longing for normality. Negative emotions do not allow them to develop, to open up to people, to build relations with them. This results in a limited participation of adults with intellectual disabilities in culture in a broad sense of the word.

Prezentowane badania dotyczą nieobecnego w dostatecznym stopniu w literaturze naukowej wątku dorosłych osób z diagnozą zaburzeń ze spektrum autyzmu. Ich podmiotem uczyniłam osoby szczególne: takie, które swoją diagnozę otrzymały będąc osobami dorosłymi. W centrum mojego badawczego zainteresowania znajdują się ich biografie. Analiza uzyskanych wywiadów narracyjnobiograficznych skoncentrowana jest przede wszystkim na strukturze biograficznej zwanej biograficznym przełomem. W narracjach dorosłych osób ze spektrum autyzmu diagnoza jawi się jak punkt zwrotny w biografii, który wywiera zasadniczy wpływ na życie nosicieli opowieści poprzez zmianę jego biegu i/lub transformację tożsamości.

The Phenomenon of Grudziądz. The Case of a City without a Higher Education Facility

The article is an attempt of characteristic – Grudziądz as a specific educational environment - phenomenon. As it was proved, Grudziądz is the biggest (almost 100 000 citizens, #40 in the biggest Polish cities list) city with no own university. This status might be both a cause and a result of other city’s problems. First of all – Grudziądz has the highest unemployment rate among all Polish cities – over 23%. Secondly Grudziądz has less investments than other cities in that region. Moreover, thirdly, there’s an proved opinion, that Grudziądz is unpopulating and is so called “town for a rent”. Situation on a educational market and a general economic and social condition causes in specific choices of young Grudziądzans. 1. They plan higher education more often. 2. They declare different set of majors than young Poles in general. Dominating faculties are: medicine, law, education, economics, architecture. 3. We’re finding a huge different – again in comparison to a general data – in a category of school type. Domination of universities, and no private universities. 4. Major – over 78% – chose regular full time studies. Specific a above mentioned choices indicates conservative and safe approach to youths future. Moreover it proves a responsibility. What’s even more important those date may be related to an information about leaving family home plans – that is why we may call it the accelerated adulthood and independence.