Tożsamość osoby z niepełnosprawnością intelektualną w świetle społeczno-kulturowych uwarunkowań

The article “Identity of an intellectually disabled person in the light of socio-cultural conditions” is an attempt to answer the following question: How much do social and cultural conditions influence the process of self creating picture of an intellectually disabled person? Each person is formed by environment in which one lives any by people one meets with, it very often occurs without one’s conscious will and intention. These factors belong to the weakest ones in the structure of personality with intellectual disorders. Therefore tradition, prejudice, lack of knowledge or ignorance of social environment may deprive the intellectually disabled person stimuli which could develop one’s personal potential and help in identity moulding. A human being lives in given cultural and social conditions which may favour some of them or handicap and even deprive the others. The author of the paper is looking for the answers for the following questions: Does contemporary culture support a human being in the development in one’s humanity? Isn’t it a danger for preserving one’s identity? What is the picture of a person with intellectual disability in society and what does this picture from – myth stereotypes or reliable scientific knowledge and experience of direct contact with these people? One should have a proper picture of not only a person with intellectual disability but also his/her family whose expresses and duties are multiplied. Changes in social mentality concerning disability are taking place although they are often of declared character which is not supported by authentic readiness for coexistence based on the rule of different rights and equal chances. The picture of people with intellectual disability is still inappropriate to reality, harmful and unfortunately modelling negative attitudes towards them. They perceive themselves in the same way as they are perceived by society. Therefore fully-efficient society is obliged to take responsibility for the shape and quality of relations with disabled people towards greater normalisation of inter-human relationships in all spheres of social life.