Fólk með þroskahömlun hefur í gegnum tíðina verið jaðarsettur hópur og átt fá tækifæri til atvinnuþátttöku á almennum vinnumarkaði. Árið 2013 stofnuðu fimm nemendur í starfstengdu diplómanámi fyrir fólk með þroskahömlun við Háskóla Íslands kaffihúsið GÆS í starfsnámi sínu. Rannsóknin sem hér er til umfjöllunar hafði það að markmiði að draga fram og greina þá orðræðu sem skapaðist í samfélaginu um kaffihúsið GÆS en það hlaut mikla umfjöllun á frétta- og vefmiðlum. Auk þess var leitast við að fá fram með hvaða hætti orðræðan um GÆS mótaði reynslu stofnfélaganna fimm og í því skyni voru tekin einstaklings- og rýnihópaviðtöl við þau. Gögnin voru greind með orðræðugreiningu og þemagreiningu. Niðurstöður rannsóknarinnar benda til þess að orðræðan um GÆS hafi einkennst af jákvæðni í garð hópsins sem stóð að kaffihúsinu og birtist hún meðal annars í því að fjölmiðlar og almenningur sýndi kaffihúsinu mikinn áhuga og velvild. Í mótsögn við ofangreinda orðræðu litaðist orðræðan einnig af staðalmyndum um fólk með þroskahömlun sem byggjast meðal annars á því að líta á fólkið sem eilíf börn. Þessar hugmyndir leiddu til þess að fram komu ýmsar efasemdir um getu hópsins til að reka kaffihús og átti það stóran þátt í að rekstrinum var hætt. Jafnframt var stofnfélögunum fimm lýst sem ofurhetjum, snillingum og dugnaðarforkum á samfélagsmiðlum. Þó að orðræðan hafi á stundum virst viðhalda staðalmyndum um fólk með þroskahömlun má álykta að GÆS hafi átt þátt í að opna umræðuna um dugnað og hæfileika fólks með þroskahömlun og átt þátt í að breyta viðhorfum til hópsins.
Employment opportunities in the open labour market for people with intellectual
disabilities have long been of a limited nature and often the only jobs on offer have
been low-paid, with little opportunity for pay rise or promotion. It was, therefore,
a watershed in labour market participation by people with intellectual disabilities
when Café GÆS was opened in the premises of Tjarnarbíó in June 2013. For the first
time in Iceland, people with intellectual disabilities established a company and took
charge of all management as well as the front-of-the-house positions. Five graduates from a vocational diploma program for people with intellectual disabilities at the
University of Iceland launched Café GÆS. One of the students came up with the idea
to open a café run by disabled people. She wanted to see some drastic changes in job
opportunities for disabled people and create a more accepting community in the labor
market. The name GÆS means “goose” in Icelandic but is also acronym for “get,
ætla, skal” (I can, I will, and I shall). The ideology of the project is derived from the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. According to
the convention, disabled people have the right to participate in society on an equal
basis with others and are entitled to live in a community without discrimination.
They also have equal rights to be employed and earn a living and to work in a
disability friendly environment, as well as starting their own business with relevant
support and backing.
This research reports on findings from an ethnographic study carried out in 2012 -
2014. The research falls within the field of disability studies whose academic approach
critiques medical definitions of disability, emphasising, instead, the interplay of
impairments and environment and the importance of human rights for disabled
people. The aim of the research was to identify and analyse the discourse on Café
GÆS, which received significant coverage in news and online media. A particular
emphasis was placed on the way people’s perspectives of intellectual disability were
reflected in the discourse. In addition, a special effort was made to explore how the
discourse shaped the five founding individuals’ life experiences; for this purpose,
participant observations were carried out in the café and both individual and focus
group interviews were conducted with them. The data was analysed by means of
discourse analysis and thematic analysis. The results of the research suggest that the
discourse on GÆS in some ways reflects the general social discourse on people with
intellectual disabilities, particularly with respect to historical views which mirror
a devaluation, placing them in the roles of kids, sources of joy and amusement,
superheroes and geniuses, even with reference to everyday activities. In contradiction
to those perspectives there were also indications that the GÆS group has altered
people’s views by challenging the above-mentioned stereotypes and reversing accepted
notions relating to people with intellectual disabilities. Thus, one might conclude
that GÆS has contributed to a more open discourse on the skills and competences
of people with intellectual disabilities. The findings also indicate that the discourse
on GÆS was characterised by positive attitudes towards the group which established
the café. This, among other things, was manifested in considerable media interest
and goodwill towards the café. But in contrast to the conclusions outlined above, the
discourse was also coloured by ableism and stereotypes of people with disabilities,
attitudes which are, for example, demonstrated by regarding them as eternal children
who cannot assume responsibilities. Ableism presumes that disability is a certain
divergence from the norm and that people who are not disabled should always be
socially classified over and above those with disabilities. There is some likelihood,
therefore, that notions of ableism have led to the expression of doubts regarding their
ability to run a café and that this later became a weighty reason for the operation
being wound up
