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Amidst major new initiatives in research that are beginning to address the pedagogic dimension of building capacity in social science research methods, this paper makes the first move to apply the lens of inclusive pedagogy to research methods pedagogy. The paper explores the ways in which learning social science research methods is hard and may be anxiety-provoking, which has sometimes led to a deficit discourse in which learners are positioned as ill-prepared and fearful. Learners can then be blamed for being hard to teach when an inclusive pedagogical lens would support a more asset-based discourse. Nonetheless, the authors argue that without traditional deficit-based solutions of the remedial class, special needs label or special teacher within the methods learning environment, methods teachers have developed their own responses. These pedagogic responses, elicited from the authors’ research using methods of expert interviews, focus groups and video-stimulated dialogue, address challenges associated with the learner, the learning material and the teacher’s context. The paper differentiates between practical solution-focused strategies and more holistic approaches. The authors illustrate how methods teachers reach out to diverse learners and they conclude that data and standpoints are used in inclusive teaching to make connections and to support learning.

Background: With the dawn of the new sustainable development goals, we face not only a world that has seen great successes in alleviating poverty but also a world that has left some groups, such as persons with disabilities, behind. Middle-income countries (MICs) are home to a growing number of persons with disabilities. As these countries strive to achieve the new goals, we have ample opportunity to include persons with disabilities in the emerging poverty alleviation strategies. However, a lack of data and research on the linkages between economic vulnerability and disability in MICs hampers our understanding of the factors increasing economic vulnerability in people with disabilities.

Methods: This article aims to present data related to elements of this vulnerability in one MIC, South Africa. Focusing on out-of-pocket costs, it uses focus group discussions with 73 persons with disabilities and conventional content analysis to describe these costs.

Results: A complex and nuanced picture of disability-driven costs evolved on three different areas: care and support for survival and safety, accessibility of services and participation in community. Costs varied depending on care and support needs, accessibility (physical and financial), availability, and knowledge of services and assistive devices.

Conclusions: The development of poverty alleviation and social protection mechanisms in MICs like South Africa needs to better consider diverse disability-related care and support needs not only to improve access to services such as education and health (National Health Insurance schemes, accessible clinics) but also to increase the effect of disability-specific benefits and employment equity policies.

Background
There has been a growing interest in disability and poverty on the international research and policy stages. Poverty assessments for persons with disabilities may be affected by the experience of extra costs associated with a disability.

Objective
This article provides a systematized review of the global literature on the direct costs associated with living with a disability at the individual or household level.

Methods
We searched three databases for peer-reviewed journal articles that estimated extra costs associated with disability: Econlit, SocIndex and PubMed.

Results
We found 20 such studies conducted in 10 countries. These studies were predominantly from high-income countries. Although studies were heterogeneous (e.g., in terms of disability measures and cost methodologies), estimated costs were sizeable and some patterns were consistent across studies. Costs varied according to the severity of disability, life cycle and household composition. Highest costs were observed among persons with severe disabilities, and among persons with disabilities living alone or in small sized households.

Disability and Health Journal
Volume 10, Issue 4, October 2017, Pages 475-484
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2017.04.007

The issuing of a statement by the Interagency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Indicators in Geneva, a group of leading UN agencies, civil society actors, and independent experts strongly supporting the Washington Group on Disability Statistics’ Short Set of Questions (WGSS) is noted and a short explanation of the questions is provided.

The Lancet Global Health VOLUME 5, ISSUE 7, PE649-E650, JULY 01, 2017

https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30207-3

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a watershed in the human rights of users and survivors of psychiatry. This course is offered with an emphasis on how users and survivors of psychiatry can use the CRPD to advance human rights of persons with disabilities.

The Convention of course guarantees the rights of all persons with disabilities, in all their diversity.  Major constituencies organized at the international level included the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry, World Federation of the Deaf, World Blind Union, World Federation of the Deafblind, Inclusion International (persons with intellectual disabilities and their families), International Federation of Hard of Hearing Persons, and Disabled Peoples’ International (cross-disability).  They organized all disabled people’s organizations and allies into the International Disability Caucus, and aimed for the Convention to be equally relevant to all persons with disabilities irrespective of the type of disability or geographical location.  Every constituency finds what it needs in the text, and the Convention can be approached from a number of different starting points to uncover its potential.

The course is taught by Tina Minkowitz, Esq., a human rights lawyer and survivor of psychiatry who was instrumental in developing the relevant provisions.  She represented the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (WNUSP) in the drafting and negotiation of the CRPD, and subsequently founded the Center for the Human Rights of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (CHRUSP).

The Strategy is the main instrument to support the EU's implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). Progress in all eight areas of the strategy is reported: accessibility, participation, equality, employment, education and training, social protection, health and external action. Initiatives such as the Directive on Web Accessibility, the proposal for a European Accessibility Act, the EU Disability Card project (being piloted in 8 Member States) and provisions in the Erasmus+ programme (allowing better mobility for students with disabilities) are highlighted. 

This report presents progress achieved in the first five years of the Strategy and assesses implementation. Many stakeholders have contributed to this work. The United Nations reviewed how the EU has been implementing its obligations under the UNCRPD3, and issued Concluding Observations with concrete recommendations for follow-up. These contain guidance on priority issues while also highlighting the steps already taken (see Annex 3). The European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee subsequently prepared their own reports on the implementation of the UNCRPD, while civil society organisations provided analysis and proposals (see Annex 4). The Commission also launched a public consultation to collect views from a broad range of stakeholders on the current situation of persons with disabilities and the impact of the Strategy so far, gathering more than 1,500 contributions (see Annex 1). This report also looks at the role of the supporting instruments and at the implementation of the UNCRPD within the EU institutions. Finally, it looks ahead at how the Strategy will continue to deliver on its objectives. In addition, the report includes a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of EU legal acts with an impact on disability matters (Annex 5)

SWD(2017) 29 final

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.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of goals designed to improve the social, economic and well-being of all, while maintaining global and environmental sustainability. Health is one of the 17 goals, and focuses not only on addressing morbidity and mortality, but also on improving access to healthcare services for all through Universal Health Coverage (UHC). While disability is not specifically mentioned in this goal, a focus on people with disabilities is important given the inclusive nature of the SDGs and the fact that people with disabilities make up the largest minority group in the world. This paper aims to critically consider what the health goal could mean for people with disabilities and advocates for inclusive health. It discusses the complex relationship between disability and health, and why people with disabilities are more vulnerable to poor health are discussed, and then considers factors that impact access to quality healthcare for people with disabilities and how these impact on the achievement of the targets in SDG Health Goal and the main principles of UHC. The paper argues that developing an inclusive approach to healthcare will not only improve achieving good health for all, but is also important since experiencing poor health may reduce quality of life and participation (e.g. in education, employment or community activities). Poor quality of life and participation can exacerbate disability, poverty and exclusion in addition to increasing suffering, morbidity and early mortality. The paper concludes that an inclusive UHC will not only fulfil the fundamental rights of people with disabilities to health and rehabilitation, as emphasized within the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, but also contribute to the achievement of the SDGs.

Disability & the Global South (DGS), 2017, Vol. 4 No. 1

We analysed cross-sectional data collected as part of the National Socioeconomic Characterisation Survey (2013) in Chile, in order to explore if there are differences in access to health care between adult Chileans with and without disability. The study included 7459 Chilean adults with disability and 68,695 people without disability. Logistic regressions were performed in order to determine the adjusted odds ratios for the associated variables. We found that despite universal health coverage, Chileans with disabilities are more likely to report worse access to health care, even when controlling for socio-economic and demographic variables, including age, gender and income. Specifically, they are more likely to face greater difficulty arriving at a health facility, obtaining a doctor’s appointment, being attended to in a health facility, paying for treatment due to cost, and obtaining necessary medicine. Both people with and without disability are more likely to face difficulties in accessing health services if they are affiliated with the public health provider, an indication of the economic factors at play in accessing health care. This study shows that universal health coverage does not always lead to accessibility of health services and underlines the disadvantaged position of disabled people in Chile in accessing health services. While efforts have been made recently to improve equity in health care access, disability in Chile poses an additional burden on people’s access to health care, emphasising the necessity for policy to address this perpetual cycle of disadvantage for disabled people.