Andrea Cardenas Jimenez
Universidad Nacional de Colombia, USA
Title: Resilience and Disability: Life Oral History in Ecological Perspective
Biography
Biography: Andrea Cardenas Jimenez
Abstract
This study`s purpose was to identify, from an ecological perspective, which processes contribute to resilience in four persons with disabilities members of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. This study was a qualitative research, developed using Life Oral History as research method and the Leininger´s four steps method as data analysis strategy. Findings showed that the most relevant processes for resilience are found at the micro-systemic level: individual, familiar, educative and social However, meso-systemic and macro-systemic levels had provided both risk and protective factors for resilience development, too. In conclusion, as a result of transactions intra and between multiple context levels across the time, individuals with disabilities in this study have achieved expected targets of development for every life stages, overcoming adversity associated with disability and reaching performance levels higher than their pairs in academic, professional and social fields.