ABSTRACT
Background: Humor, both producing and appreciating, underpins positive social interactions. It acts as a facilitator of communication. There are clear links to wellbeing that go along with this form of social engagement. However, humor appears to be a seldom studied, cross-disciplinary area of investigation when applied to people with an intellectual disability. This review collates the current state of knowledge regarding the role of humor behavior in the social interactions of people with intellectual disabilities and their carers. Method: A systematic review utilizing the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines was completed, which aimed to explore the current state of knowledge and quality of empirical evidence relating to humor in people with intellectual disabilities. Following this, articles were grouped thematically and summarized. A comprehensive search of four electronic databases (1954-2017) and additional search strategies yielded 32 articles which met the final inclusion criteria. Results: Humor played a significant positive and negative role in the social interactions of people with intellectual disabilities. Research had investigated humor in the classroom and humor expression in different groups including those with autism, Down syndrome, Angelman syndrome, Williams syndrome, and Rett syndrome. Few investigations directly studied humor appreciation and comprehension. Humor comprehension was reportedly supported by gestures. Some groups with intellectual disabilities found non-literal humor (e.g., sarcasm, irony) more difficult to understand, which may affect social relationships. Various types of humor were found to be appreciated. The role of humor in relationship development, social facilitation, creativity, and stigma had all received some limited attention. Humor also played a role for carer groups in coping with and enjoying the caring role. Research varied in quality with few experimental studies and mainly quasi-experimental and well-conducted, qualitative studies. Conclusions: This review revealed the importance of humor behavior in many aspects of the social lives of people with intellectual disabilities. Limited disparate research exists pertaining to humor in this group, suggesting the need for further robust research in this area, including more high quality primary research in the areas of humor production, appreciation, comprehension, and stigma.
ABSTRACT
Eating and drinking problems are common among people with intellectual disabilities. Having a compromised swallow or being at risk of inadequate nutrition are two reasons for introducing non-oral feeding. Such procedures involve the creation of an external opening for food and drink to be delivered directly into the stomach through a tube. In recent years maintenance of the swallow and quality of life issues have led to introduction of small amounts of food and drink (oral tastes) for people who are non-orally fed. Little evidence exists about the reasoning used to inform this decision or the types of oral tastes offered. This study aims to address these omissions. An exploratory survey, distributed via email, was used to gather information from speech and language therapists and dietitians about their current practice and their decision-making processes when offering oral tastes to people who are non-orally fed. Data presented here reflect the responses from respondents working primarily with people with intellectual disabilities (55 out of 158 respondents). Oral tastes were being offered and clinical decision-making around this centred on balancing the wellbeing and wishes of the person with intellectual disabilities and their carers with the risks to wellbeing inherent in implementing and supporting an oral taste programme.
