Resources search

Sightsavers, HelpAge International, ADD International and Alzheimer’s Disease International worked together with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) to bring the perspectives of those who live in poverty or who are highly marginalised into post-2015 policy making. The aim of the research was to understand better the experiences of social, political and economic exclusion of persons with disabilities and older people in Bangladesh from their own perspectives. Two groups (community and NGO) of peer researchers collected 70 stories from poor and/or excluded persons with disabilities and older people from each of the two sites: Bhashantek, an urban slum in Dhaka; and Cox’s Bazar, a rural area in southeast Bangladesh. From the stories collected and analysed in workshops, the peer researchers identified 13 priority areas that affect persons with disabilities and older people: accidents and disasters; livelihoods; access to education; medical treatment; family support; exclusion and mistreatment; superstition; access to services; mobility; marriage; land; rape and sexual abuse; the role of grassroots community-based organisations. Recommendations from the researchers are made in each area. The peer research programme was evaluated and guidelines for its use are provided.

Original Research Articles

• Narratives Around Concealment and Agency for Stigma-reduction: A study of Women affected by Leprosy in Cirebon District, Indonesia
• Exploring a Model of Effectual Learning for a Student Speech Pathology Placement at a Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) Centre in Malaysia
• Community Mobilisation in a CBR Programme in a Rural Area of Sri Lanka
• Barriers to Early Diagnosis, Intervention and Social Integration of Children with Developmental Disabilities: A Qualitative Study from Rural Villages and a Poor Urban Settlement of Bangalore, South India.
• Assessing Parental Role as Resource Persons in Achieving Goals of Early Detection and Intervention for Children with Hearing Impairment
• Disability Inclusion in Primary Health Care in Nepal: An Explorative Study of Perceived Barriers to Access Governmental Health Services
• Knowledge and Beliefs about Ear and Hearing Health among Mothers of Young Children in a Rural Community in South India

Letters to the Editor

• The Application of Focus Group Discussions and Interviews in Community Physiotherapy

Original Research Articles

• A Population-based Study on the Prevalence of Impairment and Disability Among Young Cambodian Children
• Survey of Reproduction Needs and Services: Situation of Persons with Spinal Cord Injuries
• Violence Against Persons with Disabilities in Bidar District, India
• Sunil Deepak, Jayanth Kumar, Bapu Santosh, Suresh Gornalli, Praveen Manikappa, Umadevi Vyjantha, Ramesh Giriyappa
• What has worked for Bringing Out-of-school Children with Disabilities into Regular Schools? A Literature Review
• Developing the Content of a New Quality of Life Questionnaire for Children with Hearing Loss

Brief reports

• Improving Disability and Rehabilitation Systems in Low and Middle-income Countries: Some Lessons from Health Systems Strengthening

Experiential Accounts

• Evolution of Community Physiotherapy in India

Letters to the Editor

• Computer-based Communication Aid using EEG for Paralytic Clients

This journal volume includes:

6 research articles

Beggars with disabilities are among the poorest and most disadvantaged in society. Yet they are virtually invisible in the policy agenda of countries around the world, and are often overlooked in programme and advocacy efforts to improve opportunities for people with disabilities in general. This literature review originated as part of an exploratory study of beggars with disabilities in Ethiopia, published by the Leonard Cheshire Disability and Inclusive Development Centre in collaboration with the ILO in 2013 based on fieldwork undertaken by Professor Groce in Addis Abba. It has been updated and published separately as a contribution to debates on the social and economic inclusion of people with disabilities, on poverty reduction and social protection

Gender, Equality and Diversity Branch, Working Paper No. 1

“The aim of this study was to use the KIM to estimate the prevalence of moderate/severe physical, sensory and intellectual impairments and epilepsy among children in two districts (Ntcheu and Thyolo) in Malawi. The Key Informant Method (KIM) is a novel method for generating these data. KIM focuses on training community volunteers to identify local children who may have disabilities, who are then screened by medical professionals and referred on for appropriate health and rehabilitation interventions. Consequently, the method offers an alternative to population-based surveys of disability in children, which can be costly and time consuming”

Background: Disability research in the global South has not received significant critical consideration as to how it can be used to challenge the oppression and marginalisation of people with disabilities in low-income and middle-income countries. The Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled (SAFOD) embarked on a programme to use research to influence policy and practice relating to people with disabilities in Southern Africa, and commissioned an audit on research expertise in the region. In this article, a research audit is reported on and situated in a framework of mancipatory research.

Objectives: This article sets out to describe a preliminary audit of disability research in the southern African region and to draw conclusions about the current state of disability research in the region and make recommendations.

Method: The research method entailed working with disability researchers in the ten SAFOD member countries and utilising African disability networks hosted on electronic media. Disability researchers working in the region completed 87 questionnaires, which were reviewed through a thematic analysis.

Results: The discussion of results provides a consideration of definitions of disability; the understanding of disability rights, research topics and methodologies; the participation of people with disabilities in research; and the challenges and opportunities for using research to inform disability activism.

Conclusion: The conclusion highlights critical issues for future research in the region, and considers how a disability researcher database can be used as a tool for disability organisations to prioritise research that serves a disability rights agenda.

This article presents research into the use of  subjective (quality of life) as well as objective criteria to classify visual disability. When both subjective and objective criteria were used, instead of just the commonly accepted objective criteria, visual disability could be  objectively reclassified

Indian Journal of Ophthalmology, Vol. 62, Issue 4

All students want to feel like they belong and that they are valued in their school community. School is a centrally important place to young people — not only where they learn fundamental academic knowledge, but also where skills in making and keeping friends, relating to peers, and social justice principles are learnt and practiced. What happens when young people feel like they don’t belong?

This paper examines a series of key issues about belonging and connection for students with disability and demonstrates research that shows:

• Feeling a sense of belonging and connection makes a positive difference to school life

•There are a number of key elements to belonging and connection — friendship, peer acceptance, capability, being valued and supportive relationships with key adults

• When belonging and connection are threatened, there are several areas in which the impact is seen. The friendships of students are limited; they are lonely; the places they can go within the school are controlled; there are tensions in negotiating support relationships; students feel and are excluded; and kid’s strengths aren’t seen by other students or adults in their school communities

• Bullying is a particularly strong threat to a felt sense of belonging and connection