Acknowledging Social Connectedness: Young Adults with Disabilities

Human beings are social creatures and need social connections to thrive in society. I observed low social connectedness amongst the students with disabilities in my high school and wanted to do more research on the cause of this occurrence. In my literary analysis and proposal, I highlight the effects social isolation and loneliness have on the well-being of people. While concluding that negative health effects come from low social connection, I researched the prevalence of low social connection amongst the disabled population and found that although low social connectedness can impact anyone, those with disabilities experience more low social connectedness than those without disabilities. I then analyzed ways in which low social connection can be addressed and focused on measuring social isolation and loneliness as indicators of low connectedness. I proposed a promising mentorship program intervention for my chosen population, young adults with disabilities, to help them increase social connection. This proposal may be adapted for use with any population. My goal for this program is to help increase social connection, promote societal support, and increase self-esteem and knowledge of their desired career and life skills as they transition into adult roles. Furthermore, I hope this paper may help spread awareness and get society to think of ways interventions to promote social connectedness can be implemented for people, like young adults with disabilities, who experience low social connectedness.