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This white paper will provide the reader with insight into the role technology plays for the full participation of persons with disabilities and older people in the digital society. The authors consider equal opportunities to participate in all realms of life a human right. The paper will help the reader to understand what the barriers to full digital inclusion for these groups are, how changing scenarios in society should lead to the definition of new goals and how these goals could be reached. 

This white paper looks forward and challenges the reader to identify strategies to tackle the digital divide. In the first section, it analyses trends and policy objectives as defined by the international community in 6 different areas relevant to the digital divide:

Disability and participation

Education

Employment

Health and social care

Technology

(Social) Media 

The writing of this white paper is the result of a three-year long project funded by the European Commission under the Lifelong Learning Programme. The ENTELIS project has brought together various organisations from different European countries and beyond and has resulted in the establishment of a sustainable network, supported by three European umbrella organisations: EASPD (European Association of Service Providers to Persons with Disabilities), AAATE (Association for the Advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe) and EVBB (European Association of Vocational Training Institutes). For them supporting the network means creating an opportunity for their member organisations and other interested stakeholders to actively engage with technology and technology users with disabilities in education, vocational training and person centred support services. Their common understanding is that ICT and AT can empower people with disabilities, lead to more fulfilled lives and a more inclusive society but that this can only be reached if there is effective collaboration between sectors. Their expectation is that the network will empower their member organisations in making this become reality and this document and in particular the roadmap contained in there might provide good guidance for that. 

The Disability-Inclusive Education Handbook for Teachers is a resource that was developed in Fiji to enable teachers to improve the inclusiveness of their schools and classrooms so that children with specific educational needs benefit from a quality education alongside other children.

It contains general information about creating an inclusive school, information about a range of different types of disabilities, case studies and a selection of reproducible resources in the appendices. It is hoped this provides a balance between general information to make the school a place of quality education and participation for all children, along with a degree of specific information on common impairments and approaches that may help in working with students with these impairments.

Purpose: Inclusive education, widely acknowledged as an alternative method of making education accessible to children with special needs, has been piloted for 10 years in selected districts of Ghana. This article aims to discuss the feasibility of implementing it throughout the country, by assessing the inclusive education programme piloted in Ghana’s Ashanti and BrongAhafo regions.

Method: One round of in-depth interviews was conducted with 31 participants, to collect data on the issue under study. Participants were officials of Special Education at the national Head Office, District Special Education Coordinators, Resource Teachers, Headmasters and Classroom Teachers of inclusive education.

Results: The study findings indicated that the pilot programme did not live up to expectations when faced with challenges such as inaccessible environments, lack of resources, lack of funds, lack of qualified teachers, poor teaching methods and negative attitudes of teachers towards children with disabilities.

Conclusion: It is very unrealistic to commence inclusive education programmes unless practical measures are put in place, such as adequate funding from the government and provision of sufficient resources for inclusive schools.

Students with profound intellectual disabilities disorders (IDDs) have the right to participate in educational opportunities that recognize their unique resources and needs, as do all children. Because of their specific communication challenges, positive relationships with attentive communication partners are critical for success. In fact, the power of positive relationships in schools is recognized to be connected to student well-being more broadly. This article examines the case of one young man with profound IDD and his relationship with his music therapist using a duo-ethnographic informed paradigmatic case study. Video analysis based on multi-voice perspectives is used to generate hermeneutic phenome- nological findings to closely examine the relationship between a young man with profound IDD and a music therapist. The voices of four allied health researchers were also gathered to inform the authors’ construction of an informed commentary on the phenomenon. The results suggest that the essence lay in a combination of attentive, responsive and creative being with the other person over time. Four principles of musical engagement were identified in the video footage as critical to the meaningful relationships through music: the music therapist listens; the music therapist takes responsibility for structure; spontaneous initiation is sought from the young person; and the relationship is built over time. These concepts are contextualized within a discussion of student well-being that is underpinned by positive relationships and leads to students achieving their full potential within diverse school contexts.

Purpose: This paper attempted to profile the contemporary grade level academic performance as well as the frequency, spread and intensity of problem behaviour in relation to a few associated variables, of children adjudged as juvenile delinquents in India.

Method: A cross-sectional exploratory survey design was employed, with randomised convenience sampling of 66 inmates, between 9 and 18 years of age, from two representative Observation Homes. To ascertain their current grade levels, a criterion referenced ‘Grade Level Assessment Protocol’ was prepared exclusively for this study. Another standardised ‘Behaviour Assessment Scale for Indian Children with Mental Retardation, Part B’ was used to profile their problem behaviour.

Results: The contemporary academic performance results satisfy the conventional two-grade discrepancy criteria, usually postulated for identifying children with learning disabilities. Among the associated variables examined in this study, inmates who were booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code showed significantly greater academic grade discrepancy compared to the other children. Similarly, poorer academic performance, greater grade discrepancy, as well as higher frequency, spread and intensity of reported problem behaviour were found among children from intact family backgrounds, where parents were illiterates or educated below primary school level, and more among boys than girls, and among those in the 10-12 year age group.

Conclusions: While these are tentative findings, they call attention to the need for extensive research on the possible links between academic performance, under achievement and learning disabilities, and juvenile delinquency in this country.

One Woman’s journey through the Trials and Triumphs of Disability, Disabled Peoples International 8th World Assembly 2011 Durban, South Africa, October 10–13, 2011. When embarking on my career as a teacher at a special school in South Africa, I never thought that a motor vehicle accident would place me in the position where my learners with disabilities suddenly saw me as an ally. Little did I realise the chasm that exists between able-bodied people and people with disabilities, or the remarkable role I would find myself in whilst actively addressing disability and Inclusive Education issues. My experiences with disability in South Africa drew encouraging attention from delegates at the Disabled People’s International 8th World Assembly when I shared my story. The resounding positive response affirmed that my experiences are not unique to nationality, gender, race or age, and are typical of the time and country in which I live, where people with disabilities are considered to have little potential, and woman with disabilities are further marginalised. In the infancy of our democracy, we are still in the early days of attending to equity amongst all South Africans. This story comprises both a narrative and a graphic presentation which run parallel, although not always telling an identical story; they complement one another and should be experienced simultaneously. Ultimately, it relates the success that can be achieved by pro-active people with disabilities as members of the South African society within their own spheres of knowledge and skill to change attitudes and practices of people without disabilities in education and local communities.

Purpose: This article aims to present the role of community health workers in the implementation of a comprehensive CBR Programme in rural Mongolia, and to explore the main challenges that arise in this specific geographical and socio-economic context.

Methods: Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews with CBR workers from three selected provinces; short meetings and interviews with respective provincial level CBR coordinators complemented the information acquired. Additionally, a workshop with national level CBR stakeholders was carried out in order to review and discuss the findings.

Results: The study highlighted a number of practical barriers (including long distances and lack of transportation, low population density, and harsh climate conditions) which constrain the work of community health workers in the areas studied. In relation to disability, the study shed light on the difficulties found by community workers in shifting from a medical approach to disability to a new approach that emphasizes prevention and rehabilitation. Exploring interviewees’ experience in the five areas of CBR (health, education, livelihood, social, empowerment) the authors found that working in the areas other than health is perceived as difficult due to insufficient training as well as objective contextual barriers.

Conclusions: Despite many challenges, CBR represents a significant improvement for disability action in rural Mongolia. In this context, the local community health workers are well suited and willing to act as CBR workers; nonetheless, more training and some tailoring work to adapt the Programme to the context is needed if all potential results are to be achieved.

Limitations: This study did not include direct observation of CBR activities or consultation of beneficiaries and other stakeholders. Their involvement and consultation would certainly improve the understanding of all the issues raised.

Purpose: This study explored parental attitudes towards children with specific learning disabilities.

Method: The study sample comprised parents of 60 children (30 boys and 30 girls) with Specific Learning Disability (SLD) who attend the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Out-Patient Department at National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India. The attitudes of parents were assessed using the Parental Attitude Scale.

Results: The results revealed significant differences related to gender of the children on various domains of the scale.

Conclusion: The study highlights the need to educate parents to lower their expectations for children with specific learning disabilities, and to strengthen the social support network of these children’s families.