Conception of working and leisure in adults with disability.

Aim: The present study intended to verify whether persons with mild or moderate intellectual disability in competitive work settings had a more articulate conception of working compared to those with the same type of intellectual disability in sheltered work settings, in contact only with other disabled workers. A second aim was to study their conception of leisure and the relationship between those two conceptions and other abilities, such as problem solving, decision making and self-determination abilities. Method: Thirty adults with intellectual disability −15 inserted in competitive settings and 15 in sheltered settings – and 15 adults without disability, matched by age and gender, were administered a structured, open-ended questionnaire about their beliefs regarding working (Chaves et al., 2004).To assess the other dimensions, some instruments standardized for the Italian context were used. Results: Besides highlighting a series of significant differences between the three groups, participants with disability working in competitive settings displayed higher problem solving abilities, more sophisticated decisional strategies and anchorage to a more complex and articulate conception of working. Conclusions: Inclusion in a competitive work setting may influence conception of working in adults with disability and also the development and expression of their socio-cognitive abilities.