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This publication draws together research and learning from around the world, in papers which highlight the need for inclusive education and some of the steps being taken to implement it. 

The settings brought to life here reveal the work of teachers, leaders and policy makers in geographically and culturally diverse situations. In each of the chapters we see the challenges they face and the significant efforts they make to ensure access to, and engagement with, a quality education for all children. The collection includes 15 case studies:

Special educational needs and disability section:

• Teaching for All: mainstreaming inclusive education in South Africa
• Successful inclusive education starts with teachers: what have we learned? A multi-country case study
• Teaching English as a second language to the visually impaired in disadvantaged contexts: a case study from Chiapas, Mexico
• The Theatre of the Classroom

Displaced populations section

• Teaching on the run: safe learning spaces for internally displaced persons
• Developing resilience through English language teaching in youth centres across Iraq
• Capacity building for inclusive classrooms: the Living Together training
• Integrating Syrian refugee children and their parents into Lebanese early education systems

Gender and inclusion in the classroom section

• A gender equality and social inclusion approach to teaching and learning: lessons from the Girls’ Education Challenge
• Teacher development and gender equality in five Nigerian states
• Creating gender-inclusive schools in Turkey: the ETCEP project in action
• Education, English language, and girls’ development: exploring gender-responsive policies and practices in Nepal

Minority ethnic groups in the classroom

• Social inclusion and the role of English language education: making a transition from school to higher education in India
• Storytelling for diverse voices
• Inclusive education in marginalised contexts: the San and Ovahimba learners in Namibia

In November 2018, with the support of UK Aid, Humanity & Inclusion (HI) conducted a participatory assessment of access to humanitarian assistance for persons with disabilities in Jadimura Camp, Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar District. The team evaluated both the barriers for persons with disabilities, as well as the facilitators that improve access to such assistance. They surveyed 63 refugees with disabilities including men, women, boys, and girls, in addition to 11 humanitarian service providers working in the camp.

Headline facts and recommendations are presented.

Access to assistive products (AP) is an under-researched public health issue. Using an adaptation of a draft World Health Organization tool—the ‘Assistive Technology Assessment—Needs (ATA-N)’ for measuring unmet needs and use of AP, we aimed to understand characteristics of AP users, self-reported needs and unmet needs for AP, and current access patterns in Bangladesh. The ATA-N was incorporated in a Rapid Assessment of Disability (RAD), a population-based survey to estimate prevalence and correlates of disability. In each of two unions of Kurigram and Narsingdi districts, 60 clusters of 50 people each aged two years and older were selected using a two-staged cluster random sampling process, of whom, 4250 (59% Female; 41% Male) were adults, including 333 using AP. We estimate 7.1% of the studied population used any AP. AP use is positively associated with age and self-reported functional difficulty. The proportion of people using AP is higher for mobility than for sensory and cognitive difficulties. Of all people with any functional difficulty, 71% self-reported an unmet need for AP. Most products were home or self-made, at low cost, but provided benefits. Needs and unmet needs for AP are high, especially for people with greater functional difficulties. Assessing unmet needs for AP revealed important barriers to scale that can inform policy and practice.

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15(12), 2901;
doi:10.3390/ijerph15122901

The 3rd World Disability & Rehabilitation Conference 2018 was held from 12th and 13th November 2018 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. People with disabilities and researchers, practitioners, policy makers, industry experts, university faculty and organizations along with advocates and volunteers working with people with disabilities participated and presented their original and unpublished results of conceptual, constructive, empirical, experimental, experiential or theoretical work through abstract and poster presentation. Total 33 participants presented their abstract and poster throughout this conference. The theme of WDRC 2018 was “Global advocacy and rights of people with disabilities”

Purpose: People who use wheelchairs face a range of physical, social, and economic barriers to regular participation in their communities. These barriers may be more acute in countries such as Bangladesh which are affected by poverty and often lack the physical infrastructure or resources necessary to create inclusive or accessible environments. This research aimed to identify: (a) the barriers and facilitators to accessibility faced by wheelchair users in Bangladesh; (b) how these barriers affect the inclusion of wheelchair users in Bangladeshi society; and (c) what could be done to improve accessibility and inclusion for wheelchair users in Bangladesh.

Methods:  This participatory action research (PAR) project used Photovoice and semi-structured interviews to identify barriers and facilitators to accessibility for people who use wheelchairs in Bangladesh.

Results: Participants mentioned a number of barriers in public spaces, such as roads, missing or inadequate ramps, inaccessible restrooms, and negative attitudes. There were also participants who had made their home environments more accessible with accommodations such as ramps, arrangement of space, and low countertops/work spaces. Women wheelchair users seemed to face greater barriers to access, as compared to men, in a range of community spaces and activities. Participants’ recommendations for improvement targeted government stakeholders and included greater focus on road infrastructure, particularly during flooding in the rainy season, and modifications to the public transportation system.

Conclusion: A key goal of the study was to identify barriers and facilitators, and use the information gathered to promote social change on the ground. Future research and action should encourage more people to get involved in removing barriers for people with disabilities, in Bangladesh as well as globally

This 14-month exploratory research project aimed to increase the understanding of the links between disability and climate resilience, and in turn to support the delivery of policy and programme work that builds the resilience of people with disabilities to climate shocks and stresses. 

The research comprises: an extensive literature review to identify the current evidence and gaps; a global online survey to identify current practices being implemented in the field around climate change and climate-related disasters, and the extent to which disability issues are addressed in programming; policy analyses, complemented by key informant interviews with policymakers and practitioners; and focus group discussions with people with disabilities in climate-impacted areas of Bangladesh and Kenya. This report synthesises the results of the desk- and field-based research, and outlines implications of the findings for policy and programming and identifies recommendations for further action. It is hoped that the findings highlighted in this report can be extrapolated to develop more disabilityinclusive practice and will also be applicable for other contextually marginalised people

Research articles are:

• Lived Experience of Psychosocial Disability and Social Inclusion: A Participatory Photovoice Study in Rural India and Nepal
• Barriers and Facilitators for Wheelchair Users in Bangladesh: A Participatory Action Research Project
• A Cross-sectional Survey of Rehabilitation Service Provision for Children with Brain Injury in Selangor, Malaysia
• Effect of Abacus Training on Numerical Ability of Students with Hearing Loss
• Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Evaluation of Psychometric Properties of Persian Version of Supports Intensity Scale among Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Review:

• Developmental Social Work for Promoting the Socioeconomic Participation of Persons with Disabilities: An Application of the Capability Approach

Brief reports:

• Zero Rejection Policy in Admission of Children with Special Needs - Myth or Reality
• Ujamaa and Universal Design: Developing Sustainable Tactile Curricular Materials in Rural Tanzania

The aim of the review was to create a capacity building and professional learning opportunity based on inclusive education experience and expertise in another context. The background, methodology, findings of the study are enclosed within the document. Specific objectives include: (1) to create focused peer-to-peer sharing and learning opportunities across countries, (2) record key strategies, opportunities, remaining challenges and achievements, (3) document lessons learned for targeted quality improvements during the last year of each project, and (4) use information collected for developing a responsible, phased exit strategy for 2018.

Research summaries, case studies and process documentation from “Inclusive Protection and Empowerment Project for Children with Disabilities (IPEP)” are presented.  The aim of the project was to build resilience and capacity among children with disabilities and to create a violence-free community for them. The project ran in five districts of Bangladesh i.e. Sylhet, Dhaka, Barishal, Rangpur and Gaibandha from 2014- 2017. 

The research topics were:

• Understanding the Vulnerabilities of Children with Disabilities Living in both Government-run and Private Residential Institutions
• The Vulnerabilities of Children with Disabilities from Low-income Households
• Social Protection Schemes Relevant to Children with Disabilities and their Families