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چکیده
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Objectives: The existing literature reports that most people with intellectual disabilities spend their leisure times alone, and their social interaction is very low. This paper discusses the analysis findings of the research question "What is the nature of leisure activities for people with Down Syndrome? " Methods: This study was undertaken through a thematic analysis of the life history and experiences of Paul Savage who is a person with ‘Down Syndrome’ in Northern city of England. Results: The findings indicated that Paul had variety of leisure activities in his life including visiting relatives (brother, grandmother, and sister in-law); going to the Gateway Club; going to Mencap (National Assembly for Mencap); undertaking physical activities including running, cycling and walking; going to the cinema or theatres; playing football and bowling; participating in drama classes and going to Spark Theatre Company for acting; joining membership of several clubs; shopping, watching TV, video, and sky programmes; reading books; writing about TV programmes in addition to hobbies including listening to music; going to the Park; playing games at home and travelling. Cheseldine and Jeffree cited in Richardson, Katz, and Koller (1993: 432), ‘Leisure activities for people with intellectual disabilities tend to be solitary, passive, and family oriented’. However, Paul’s story indicated that his leisure activity was not family oriented, and it was Paul's own choice. Paul also had a very organised programme for his weekly leisure activities. Conclusion: The findings of this study highlighted important factors which enabled Paul to have various organised leisure activities including having supportive parents with positive attitude toward Paul's abilities; and Paul's membership in the Vollbury Self-advocacy group. Therefore, the story points towards developing self-advocacy services and increasing parents awareness of abilities of their children with Down Syndrome to organise thei
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