Leisure time in the lives of people with intellectual disabilities

Table of contents

1. Introduction

2. circle

3. leisure
3.1. Definition of leisure
3.2 Leisure needs
3.3. Leisure activities

5. On the situation of leisure time for people with intellectual disabilities
5.1 Empirical studies on the leisure situation
5.2. Summary and interpretation

6. Recreational education for people with intellectual disabilities
6.1 Importance of leisure education
6.2 Tasks and objectives of leisure education
6.3. Forms of leisure activities

7. summary

8. Bibliography

1. Introduction

Leisure time and its organisation is a very important part of the social rehabilitation of people with intellectual disabilities. It offers the opportunity to remedy exclusion and promote social inclusion. The offer of leisure time, education and cultural participation is just as important for a meaningful and self-determined life as work. "Especially (above all) the field of leisure time is attributed a fundamental (original) importance for life realization, life satisfaction and happiness, since leisure time in contrast to work is not subject to compulsion or pressure to perform, but is based on voluntariness, freedom and self-decision" (Theunissen 1995, p.70).

In the present work I would like to deal with the topic "Leisure time in the life of people with intellectual disabilities". I would like to find answers to the following questions: What leisure needs do mentally disabled people have and what may affect them? What is the leisure situation of people with intellectual disabilities? What tasks does this entail for leisure education?

For the preparation I mainly used books by H. Ebert, R. Markowetz and H. Opaschowski. To supplement my record, I used literature from Zielniok, Theunissen and others (see literature list).

First of all, I will go into more detail about the positive concept of Opaschowski's leisure time, as it can be transferred to all population groups, and thus also has validity for people with disabilities. After that, I will talk about leisure needs and their difficulties. I will then come to the question of the leisure situation, so that I can then better explain the tasks and objectives of leisure education at the end.

2. circle

"Mentally handicapped is anyone who is so impaired in his overall psychological development and his ability to learn as a result of organic-genetic or other damage that he is likely to need lifelong social and educational assistance. Cognitive impairments are accompanied by those of linguistic, social, emotional and motor development" (Bundesvereinigung Lebenshilfe 1990, p.5; quoted from: Deutscher Bildungsrat).

Above all, people with a severe intellectual disability need support and care in the leisure sector. People with an intellectual disability are not the same as people with an intellectual disability, they differ in many ways: according to their age, their physical development, their mental-spiritual development and according to their psycho-social level of development and the disability-specific symptoms (see Bundesvereinigung Lebenshilfe 1990, p.5). Consequently, recreational educational measures must be based on individual characteristics and individual needs, inclinations and wishes.

As a result of his disability-related need for help and stimulation as well as a lack of spontaneity and initiative, the mentally handicapped person is dependent on appropriate help and increased stimulation from his environment for meaningful leisure activities. These include, among other things, intensive contact, an open-minded environment, the practice of leisure techniques and appropriate social behaviors, the instructions for the selection and independent use of leisure activities as well as the mediating help for participation in community life in the age group (see Bundesvereinigung Lebenshilfe 1990, p.5).

3. leisure

3.1. Definition of leisure

"Against the background of an increasingly shorter working life, the work-free part of life is becoming increasingly important for education and training" (Opaschowski 2001, p.186). In the literature we find different leisure concepts, leisure theories and conceptual descriptions, such as e.B. "Pedagogy of the free lifetime", leisure education or leisure pedagogy, which are largely used synonymously (Opaschowski 2001, p.186).

Opaschowski proposes a positive concept of leisure. He is of the opinion that leisure time is no longer to be understood in dependence on work, but in the broad sense leisure time as free time, which is characterized by free choice, conscious self-decision and social action. This positive definition aims to remove the division between work and leisure and to put a holistic concept of life in this place (cf. Opaschowski 1976, p. 106). Opaschowski no longer speaks of work and leisure, but of " lifetime ".

The lifetime is characterized by a more or less great freedom of disposition and decision-making competence. It can be divided into three time periods "depending on the existing degree of free availability over time and corresponding freedom of choice, decision and action" (Opaschowski 1976, p.107): Disposition time, obligation time and determination time. the Disposition time is that time that is freely available, divisible and self-determinable. Obligation time is characterized by purpose. It is mandatory, binding and binding. The individual feels obliged to a certain activity or is bound to time for professional, social or societal reasons. A time that is fixed and externally determined is called Determination time denoted. Here, the individual is forced into an activity or it is determined spatially, temporally and in terms of content in the exercise of an activity.

Leisure time means a relative freedom from obligations and constraints. The positive determination includes the following six indispensable elements (cf. Opaschowski 1976, p.107/ 108):

(1). voluntariness
(spontaneous self-activity and participation depending on the investment, inclination and interest)
(2.) Time variability
(Availability over time taking into account one's own needs)
(3.) unconventionality
(Open action situation without coercion, control and pressure to perform)
(4.) initiative
(Acting of one's own accord and relatively little social control)
(5.) Decision-making authority
(Self-determination and participation in the planning and design of joint
Leisure activities)
(6.) choice
(Opportunity for your own choice from a wide range of activities)

The free time (disposition time) includes time expenditure for playful work (mentally tense and at the same time personally satisfying activities), targeted activities, which can be person-, partnership-, small-group, large-group or factual, as well as for casual leisure. The casual leisure is at the center of the free time. It includes individually available time for own activities (e.B. hobby, hiking or reading) as well as purpose-free time for non-employment and idleness (e.B. entertaining, sitting together or thinking) (cf. Opaschowski 1976, p.109/ 110). According to Opaschowski, the positive concept of leisure time can be transferred to all population groups and is therefore also valid for people with disabilities (cf. this 1976, p.107).

For the field of special education, Theunissen takes up the generic term of lifetime and extends it, with a view to people with an intellectual disability, to five periods of time: (professional) working hours, commitment time, educational time, free disposition time, rest and sleep time. Under the aspect of a mental severe and multiple disability, a sixth type of time, that of the supply time, can be added (cf. Markowetz 2001, p.263). For Theunissen, leisure time is the time that the individual can freely dispose of. In this free time, it has the opportunity to be self-staltend and to realize its own initiatives. Subjectivity, spontaneity, chance, recreation, entertainment, play, conviviality, hobby, joie de vivre and freedom essentially determine the free time. Whether this can be lived out, however, depends on the given circumstances and the individual possibilities of an individual. Furthermore, leisure time is bound to subjective objectives, choice of needs and taste (cf. Theunissen 1995, p.77). Depending on individual conditions, needs and external factors, there is often a mixture of the different time types or a dominance or absence of individual types (cf. Markowetz 2001, p. 263).

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