Disability studies and social geography make a good marriage: Research on life trajectories of people with intellectual disabilities and additional mental health problems

Abstract

This chapter investigates life trajectories of people with intellectual disabilities and mental health problems. The complex support questions and "difficult behavior" of this population turn out to be precursors of life admissions in specialized, residential units for people with disabilities and short-term or long-term time ins and time outs in mental health care units. Trajectories between and within different support systems and organizations are harsh day-to-day realities for people with intellectual disabilities and mental health problems. People are suspended in schools and organizations, are referred to prison or psychiatric institutions because they are supposed to be dangerous and/or mad. Due to fragmentation and little flexibility within and between care systems for people with disabilities and the mental health care system (De Groef 2002), people with intellectual disabilities and additional mental health problems experience endless trajectories in the landscape of care (Milligan and Wiles 2010).