Resources search

People with disabilities have been identified as a particularly marginalised and at risk group within Somali society as a result of the numerous attitudinal, environmental, and institutional barriers they face, and the lack of concerted efforts to include them . This rapid review identifies available evidence on the experiences of people with disabilities living in Somalia. It was found that there are still numerous evidence gaps in relation to the experiences of people with disabilities living in Somalia.

This paper expresses wonder about how bodies in motion can lead towards an understanding of lived meaning in silent lifeworlds. In such lifeworlds, expressions are without words, pre-symbolic, and thus embodied. To address the wonder, phenomenological philosophy and phenomenological methodology were employed to frame an approach that acknowledges lives with disabilities as qualitatively different from, and yet not inferior to, nor less imbued with meaning than, lives without.

The paper focuses on spatiality as decisive in determining possibilities for persons to express their perspectives through a wide range of movements. Movements take place in the continuum between the spatiality of positions as objective bodily sensations and the spatiality of situations as embodied interactions with others and the world. Thus, in order to access the perspectives of students with severe and multiple disabilities, transitions between and movements within different spaces are examined.

Approaching an educational everyday life where students are restricted in the possibilities available to them for moving in and out of spaces, the study reported points to the importance of recognizing the relationship between subjective movements and the spaces enveloping them as what creates a spatiality that is meaningful to the subject. It is accordingly suggested that choosing which spaces to include in educational contexts are formative choices that express a view of humanity. The paper also emphasizes the importance of recognizing temporality as a pedagogical resource when detecting and acting upon students’ changing expressions.

This study was carried out to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of society towards children with disabilities, the children themselves, and their peers in Malaysia. The study took place in Selangor, Kelantan, Sabah and Sarawak. There were 756 total respondents/participants including government ministries, community members, service providers, care givers and children and adolescents both with and without disabilities. 

This guide is the result of collaboration between Light for the World (LFTW), Mission East (ME), and ICCO Cooperation.

Based on decades of experience of working with the most marginalized and excluded communities, the three organizations cooperated to record their experiences in a publication which can be used in a variety of relief and development contexts. ‘Towards Inclusion’ is designed to be an easy to use reference for organizational and program/project development with a focus on gender responsiveness and disability inclusion.

The guide is made up of three parts:
• the first part guides users through the process of organizational self-assessment to determine readiness to change and identify key steps towards becoming a more inclusive organization.
• the second part introduces the ACAP framework, as a means of improving inclusion in programming via Access, Communication, Attitude and Participation. A range of tools for measuring and improving inclusion at all stages of the project cycle are provided.
• the third part provides guidelines for the people or ‘change facilitators’ who will guide organizations through the process of change towards becoming more inclusive.

The publication can be found at “Towards Inclusion Guide” and the accessible version of the publication can be downloaded. Both are free of charge.

Possibilities for organisation trainings and/or webinars on the practical application of the guide are under consideration. Contact ACAP@gmail.com.

This report highlights existing key evidence on the relationship between disability and HIV. It discusses the concrete steps needed for a person-centred, disability-inclusive HIV response that allows for increased participation of people with disabilities and integrates rehabilitation within the continuum of HIV care. Globally, it is estimated that 1 billion people (15% of the world’s population) have a disability. Of those aged over 15 years, approximately 110–190 million (2.2–3.8%) experience significant disabilities. Disability is increasing in prevalence due to ageing populations, trauma, accidents and the increase in chronic health conditions, including HIV. Persistent discrimination against and exclusion of people with disabilities, in particular women and girls with disabilities, increases their vulnerability, including their risk of HIV infection.
 

Recently, research has focused on attitudes towards inclusive education, and the majority of studies use questionnaires to measure this vital variable. In two consecutive experiments, we showed that attitudes towards inclusive education are not stable but instead are significantly influenced by social context. We manipulated information on the organisation conducting a survey regarding attitudes of participants towards inclusive education. The results show that the attitude of the organisation conducting the survey – as perceived by the participant – outperforms well- documented variables (e.g. sex, age, and contact to a person with disability) in predicting the attitudes of the participant towards inclusion. This one variable explains as much variance as all other predictors combined. We argue that social desirability is a neglected issue in research on attitudes towards inclusive education. Our findings challenge the validity of numerous studies on this topic because they show a positive bias in the attitudes of participants when they were surveyed by a university. Thus, we outline the first steps to reduce social desirability-induced validity problems in research on attitudes towards inclusion.

"This reports looks at the main barriers to the realisation of disabled people’s right to live independently and be included in the community, which is set out in Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). They are grouped in seven broad areas: (1) misunderstanding and misuse of key terms, (2) negative attitudes and stigma, (3) lack of support for families, (4) prevalence of institutional services, (5) barriers related to community support services, (6) barriers in mainstream services and facilities, and (7) barriers, concerning other CRPD provisions, with effect on Article 19. A set of recommendations is also provided, outlining measures required to address these barriers"

"For the second year, Together 2030 has carried out a survey to collect evidence on stakeholder awareness of, and participation in, national planning and review around the 2030 Agenda. In 2017, the survey was conducted in partnership with the Newcastle University. The survey received 461 responses from a range of stakeholders, including national, regional and global organisations. This perceptions survey asked 20 questions in total (though not all questions were directed to all respondents). It was issued in three languages: English, Spanish and French, and was shared broadly with civil society and stakeholder mailing lists and via social media from March 3 to March 24 2017."

This report addresses two key questions about people’s participation in the 2030 agenda for sustainable development:

• How extensive is stakeholder awareness of, and participation in, the process of country Voluntary National Reviews which are a central component of the High Level Political Forum
• How aware and engaged is civil society and stakeholders across the world in national level planning and review of the SDGs?

This report presents statistical, survey-based evidence that helps to address these two questions. 

Purpose: Beliefs about communication disability vary according to the cultural context, and influence people’s attitudes and help-seeking behaviour. Little is known about Fijians with communication disability or the communities in which they live, and specialist services for people with communication disability are yet to be established in Fiji. An understanding of Fijian beliefs about the causes of communication disability and attitudes towards people with communication disability may inform future service development.

Method: An interpretivist qualitative research paradigm and the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework informed this project’s design. Scenarios of adults and children with communication disability were presented to 144 participants, randomly sampled across multiple public spaces in two Fiji cities. Thematic analysis of responses to 15 survey questions revealed participant beliefs about the causes and attitudes towards people with communication disability.

Results: Three clusters describing perceived causes emerged from the analysis - internal, external, and supernatural. Major clusters across child and adult scenarios were similar; however, response categories within the scenarios differed. Community attitudes to people with communication disability were predominantly negative. These community attitudes influenced individual participants’ beliefs about educational and employment opportunities for Fijians with communication disability.

Conclusion: Determination and acknowledgement of individuals’ belief systems informs development of culturally appropriate intervention programmes and health promotion activities.

Implications: Speech-language pathologists and other professionals working with Fijian communities should acknowledge community belief systems and develop culturally-specific health promotion activities, assessments, and interventions.