Working with the children and youth with intellectual disabilities in the environment of a nursing home – the trajectory of social orphans’ lives

The main aim of this article is to present the issues of working with children and youth with intellectual disabilities in the environment of a nursing home. The authors try to answer the questions which methods and forms of work with children with intellectual disabilities are practiced, and which of them are considered the most effective. The attention is also drawn to the relationship with a family and socio-economic situation of parents as important factors which determine the decision about putting a child in the nursing home. The considerations have the theoretical and empirical character.