A short talk given at the Disability Innovation Summit: Inclusive Interactions conference organised by GDI hub on 13 Sep 2023.
The use of published datasets on the prevalence of disability is reviewed. The numbers of datasets and their harmonisation is described and the advantages, limitations and opportunities for use are outlined.
A brief history of the Washington Group on Disability Statistics and their development of standard questions for the collection of statistics on disability worldwide is presented. A short set of 6 questions was originally developed and an extended set of 30-35 was finalised in 2009. Two modules have been developed in partnership with UNICEF for children: one for 2-4 year olds and one for 5-17 year olds. A module concerned with inclusive education has also been developed
An introduction to the set of 6 questions devised by the Washington Group on Disability Statistics to collect statistics on disability is given. The short set of questions was designed primarily for a census. It has one question for each of 6 domains of functioning: vision, hearing, mobility, communication, self care and cognition. There are 4 categories (no difficulty-cannot do). The questions were validated by testing in various countries.
The process of devising the short set of six questions by the Washington Group on Disability Statistics and recommendations for their use are discussed. The questions were cognitively tested to determine patterns of interpretation and out of scope patterns. Translations were made to give feasible language to get to the same concepts. Cognitive testing was then repeated to examine cross national comparability. Field testing of 1000 people followed. The importance of enumerator training and of using the exact questions and response categories is emphasised.
This seminar video the findings and recommendations from a four year CBM-funded project in Bangladesh and Pakistan to identify children with disabilities and connect them with appropriate rehabilitative services