The continual improvement of the quality of life of people with developmental intellectual disabilities brings with it an increase in life expectancy. We are witnessing more and more people with developmental intellectual disabilities living longer, with aging becoming an integral part of their life cycle

In order to increase knowledge about the question of what people with developmental intellectual disabilities think or know about this stage of life, a video series was developed based on Niri David’s research, as part of her master’s degree at Haifa University. The research dealt with the experiences of women with developmental intellectual disabilities around the questions of aging. The study was conducted with the assistance of the Shalem Foundation

The videos were developed in accordance with the main themes which emerged from the study. The texts were written to be easily understandable, with the help of a booklet of guidelines to linguistic accessibility of the Division of Individuals with Developmental Intellectual Disabilities. Each video used photos and videos of the people themselves and were adapted to this population

The videos include interviews; individual, couple and groups, opinion polls, etc. These were done solely with the population of people with developmental intellectual disabilities on the key issues raised in the research and of concern to them, on the issues of aging. Topics such as work and retirement, appearance and physical well- being, relationships and love, autonomy and decision making, loss and death. Each of these topics has become a separate video

To get the most from watching the videos and the entire process, We have created a written briefing containing information on the videos, tools for facilitating group sessions and suggestions for activities after watching the videos

To read the briefing in Hebrew Click here

All of the videos Click here

This video tells the story behind the production of the video series. The purpose is to raise interest of the professionals, parents and family members and encourage them to make use of the videos and the briefing