ABSTRACT

Background: Dedifferentiation refers to the trend of positioning people with intellectual disabilities together with other disabled individuals for political purposes, to act as a counter to differentiated approaches. This article explores the influence of dedifferentiation in professional support settings through the lived experiences of people with intellectual disabilities and their staff.

Methods: Ethnographic research, including participant observation and interviews, conducted with an intellectual disability social care provider and an independent community café, both based in an area of England.

Results: Tensions exist between dedifferentiation aims and the lived experiences of people with intellectual disabilities, who often struggled to achieve in areas including independent community inclusion and paid employment.

Conclusion: Dedifferentiation has disadvantages for people with intellectual disabilities. It can underestimate and mask needs that people experience in relation to their disabilities. Policy and professional support might be improved by (1) recognising these limits and (2) incorporating people’s real-world needs into support provision.

摘要

背景：去差异化是指为了政治目的而将智障人士与其他残疾人一起定位的趋势，以对抗差异化的方法。本文通过智障人士及其员工的生活经历来探讨去差异化在专业支持环境中的影响。

方法：与一个智障社会护理服务提供者和一个独立的社区咖啡馆一起进行的人种学研究，包括参与者观察和访谈，均位于英格兰地区。

结果：去分化的目标与智障人士的生活经验之间存在着紧张关系，他们常常在包括独立社区包容和有偿就业在内的领域中难以实现。

结论：去分化对智障人士不利。它可能会低估并掩盖人们在残疾方面遇到的需求。通过（1）认识到这些限制和（2）将人们的现实需求纳入支持提供中，可以改善政策和专业支持。