In Sweden, the majority of people with intellectual disabilities lives in their own homes with access to service and support. The strong focus on independence in Swedish disability politics includes leaving the parental home when school is finished. Living of one's own is considered a sign of adultness in Swedish society.

In this study, however, adults with intellectual disabilities who live with their parents in Sweden are studied. These families belong to a minority group and deviate from the norms of how family life with grown up children should look like.

An overarching theme of the study is how everyday life is organized in these families and what the motives are for living together as adults.

Data

The study is based on qualitative interviews with

1) parents who have adult children with intellectual disabilities living at home and

2) adults with intellectual disabilities living with their parents

Age, as a social practice and structure, is used as a theoretical perspective. This includes age as proper behavior for certain age categories, how changing ages bring new demands and what biological aging means both to parents and adult children.

Results

The preliminary results show

1) the difficulties for people with ID to be considered adults partly because of staying with their parents

2) how the parents also violate norms of age-appropriate behavior when practical parenting continues to resemble parenting of young children such as being forced to keep appointments, to support participation in activities, and difficulties in finding "time of their own"

3) how aging and growing old may change the division of labor and the relations within the families