Leisure Activity of People with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) in the Kansai District of Japan

The aim of this study is to investigate leisure activities of people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Participants were 70 people with ID between the age of 20 and 56. Out of 70 people, 36 have mild or moderate ID and 34 have severe or profound ID. We interviewed individually for one hour about usual leisure activities, friends to play with, use of helpers and experiences of typical leisure activities. 50 people (71.4%) were able to answer the questions 〔mild or moderate (86.1%), severe or profound (55.9%)〕. As for usual leisure activities on holidays, about 60% of them go outside (shopping, sports, dating, church-going) by themselves or with their families, and 30% are staying home (TV, video, music, game, taking a nap, hanging around). The majority doesn' t have knowledge of helpers nor want their help. Regarding typical leisure, most of them have experiences of shopping, sports and amusement parks, but there are many people who wishes relaxation but don' t have experiences of travel overseas, dating and going to concerts. Although people with ID have many chances to get involved in various leisure activities, some can not do even what they want to do. Leisure is one of the important activities of QOL (quality of life) even for people with ID, so these results indicates that more support is needed