Uppeldi og menntun - 01.07.2015, Page 113

UPPELDI OG MENNTUN/ICELANDIC JOURNAL OF EDUCATION 24(2) 2015 113
KRISTÍN BJÖRNSDÓTTIR & STEINDÓR JÓNSSON
participants capable of exercising agency rather than being seen as oppressed and
passive victims (Atkinson, 2004; Björnsdóttir & Jóhannesson, 2009). This is a good
example of how wealth is not the only important factor influencing our well-being
because respect, for example, and possessing the status of an agent, also contributes
to a person’s welfare.
CONCLUSION
It is our conclusion that people with intellectual disabilities are at risk of social exclu-
sion and that general human rights treaties are not enough to ensure equality. In this
article we have provided information which demonstrates that people with intellec-
tual disabilities often lack access to resources and rights which influence their ability
to participate in society and affect their quality of life. The rights of people, including
disabled people, are supposed to be secured with legislation and human rights trea-
ties. Even though human rights are universal and egalitarian; that is they apply to all
people everywhere, it has been deemed necessary to construct special human right
conventions or agreements, for example for children, disabled people and refugees
to ensure that these groups of people are treated with dignity and regard for their
human rights. Historically, people with intellectual disabilities have been unable to
assert their rights due to the lack of recognition of people with intellectual disabili-
ties as equal to others. To ensure the rights of people with intellectual disabilities we
must regard impairments as normative to human diversity and recognize that some
people might need more assistance than others to participate in society. Extensive
research in Iceland suggests that people with intellectual disabilities possess the status
of non-participation, lacking access to resources, social institutions and networking.
Those might be seen as unfortunate side-effects to needing support in daily life, but
the situation also implies that although Iceland ranks high on official indexes for
human development, disabled people are being left out.
In the quest for social justice, it is important to recognize that there is no standard-
ized social participation that will automatically result in the social inclusion of peo-
ple with intellectual disabilities. The social participation relevant to social inclusion is
based on the individuals’ interests and society’s opportunities for participation in the
shared social experience. It is, therefore, our conclusion that the inclusion of people
with intellectual disabilities rests on their freedom to make meaningful choices; that is,
choices relevant to the achievement of a basic level of well-being which will conse-
quently result in a higher quality of life.
Furthermore, it is our judgment that including people with intellectual disabilities
rests on the recognition and acceptance of their contribution to society, whether in
economic, social, or political arenas, and consequently their share in society’s well-
being. The first step towards social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities
is to ensure their access to resources (e.g., support) and rights which will broaden
their opportunities and options for social participation, but ultimately we also need