Family Voices: A survey for families of people with an intellectual disability

 

Dear Parent/Caregiver,

We are a group of parents who want a better life for our sons and daughters with an intellectual disability, and also a better deal for family carers. We need your help and for you to complete the enclosed survey. We are interested in your views about the things that are important to you and whether you are satisfied with how things are at present. We want the views of carers from all over Ireland and aim to get 500 carers to complete the survey. We hope you will be one of them!

This is NOT just another survey! Your views will help us to fight for positive change in the lives of people with an intellectual disability and their families. What we find out will strengthen our case when we talk to politicians, professionals and service providers.

We have joined forces with researchers from the National Institute for Intellectual Disability at Trinity College Dublin to do this survey. On the following pages are questions about different aspects of life that families across Ireland have told us are important to them. We would like you to answer all the questions but understand some may not be relevant to you, please feel free to skip these. Take as long as you need to complete the survey. We are keen to have the views of both men – fathers and brothers for example and women – mothers and sisters. As we are interested in the views of ALL family carers, more than one person from your family can complete the survey.

Thank you so much for sharing your opinions with us!

Frieda Finlay, Seamus Greene, Ann Lawlor, Jean Spain