Assisted normality--a grounded theory of adolescent's experiences of living with personal assistance.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of the study was to explore how adolescents with disabilities experience everyday life with personal assistants.


METHODS
In this qualitative study, individual interviews were conducted at 35 occasions with 16 Swedish adolescents with disabilities, in the ages 16-21. Data were analyzed using grounded theory methodology.


RESULTS
The adolescents' main concern was to achieve normality, which is about doing rather than being normal. They try to resolve this by assisted normality utilizing personal assistance. Assisted normality can be obtained by the existing relationship, the cooperation between the assistant and the adolescent and the situational placement of the assistant. Normality is obstructed by physical, social and psychological barriers.


CONCLUSIONS
This study is from the adolescents' perspective and has implications for understanding the value of having access to personal assistance in order to achieve assisted normality and enable social interaction in everyday life.


CONCLUSIONS
Access to personal assistance is important to enable social interaction in everyday life. A good and functional relationship is enabled through the existing relation, co-operation and situational placement of the assistant. If the assistant is not properly sensitized, young people risk turning into objects of care. Access to personal assistants cannot compensate for disabling barriers in the society as for example lack of acceptance.
a Division of Social Work, Department of Neurobiology , Care Sciences and Society (NVS), Karolinska Institutet , Stockholm , Sweden.
Lill
L
Hultman
a Division of Social Work, Department of Neurobiology , Care Sciences and Society (NVS), Karolinska Institutet , Stockholm , Sweden.|b Department of Social Work , Stockholm University , Stockholm , Sweden.
Ulla
U
Forinder
c Sweden Childhood Cancer Research Unit, Department of Women's and Children's Health , Karolinska Institutet , Stockholm , Sweden.
Pernilla
P
Pergert
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D001294:Attitude to Health; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology / Q000592:standards; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D056348:Emotional Intelligence; D005195:Family Relations / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D066296:Grounded Theory; D006262:Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011788:Quality of Life; D013548:Sweden; D055815:Young Adult
Adolescent; Sweden; disability; grounded theory; interviews