Examining differences in internet use aspects among people with intellectual disabilities in Flanders

Abstract

To date, few studies have investigated within-group differences in internet use among people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Previous research on internet use among people with disabilities has compared the internet access and use of people with and without disabilities, has investigated general benefits and risks associated with internet use for people with ID, or has examined how their internet skills and use can be improved. The present study aims to examine whether differences can be found in varying aspects of internet access, use purposes, skills and use support among a group of people with ID. Face-to-face survey data were collected among 94 people with ID (57.4% men; M-age = 45.28, SDage = 12.20). Our study revealed that particularly younger people with ID have more access, use the internet for more different purposes, have more skills and report to be more supported when they encounter problems compared to older people with ID. We further found that employed persons with ID have higher skills than unemployed ones, and that people who rely less on professional caregivers have more skills than those who rely more on professional caregivers. Given these results, we suggest that people with ID should be considered as a heterogeneous group of internet users. Consequently, we recommend organizations and caregivers to differentiate when teaching or applying internet use among this population.