Resources search

‘Inclusive education’ in India largely exclusive of children with a disability

GRILLS, Nathan
DEVABHAKTULA, Jacob
BUTCHER, Nicole
AROKIARAJ, Sarojitha
DAS Prottoy Kumar
ANDERSON, Pam
2019

Expand view

Exclusion of children with a disability from education negatively affects national economic growth. Education is important for children with a disability to acquire skills that allow them to gain employment, and thus address a key driver of poverty. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015 to better understand the relationship between disability, education and health among children in India. Across 17 states in India, the study sample included 39,723 households with a child aged 0-59 months (163,400 individual cases in total), based on randomised cluster sampling methodology. Key outcomes of interest were school attendance, completion of early childhood education and highest level of education. The study found one percent prevalence of disability, nearly double among boys (1.38%) compared to girls (0.77%), and linked disability to lower level access to education and highest level of education. This study confirms the negative relationship between disability and educational exposure among children, and highlights that India’s efforts to make education a fundamental right of every child have not yet translated to benefits for children with a disability. There remains a pressing need for well-designed longitudinal studies that capture the barriers and protective factors of school attendance at every transition between stages of schooling in children with a disability.

 

Disability and the Global South, 2019, Vol.6, No. 2

Adapting an education program for parents of children with autism from the United States to Colombia

MAGANA, Sandy
TEHERO HUGHES, Marie
SALKAS, Kristen
MORENO ANGARITA, Marisol
2019

Expand view

One of the lingering aspects of coloniality in the Americas is paternalism. In Latin America, this power structure plays out among people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) through beliefs that people with disabilities need to be protected and guarded at home, and that they are unable to learn and function in society. We developed a program to empower parents of children with ASD through peer education to help their children realize their potential. This program was implemented in the United States (US) for Latino immigrant families and then adapted for use in Bogotá, Colombia. In this paper, we discuss some of the ways the manifestations of colonialism have influenced the adaptation of this program from North to South. For example, in Colombian society it is not common to use non-professionals or peers to deliver scientific information because within a paternalistic society there is ‘respeto’ (respect) for persons who are older, male and have credentials. Therefore, promoting the use of peer-mothers in this context was a challenge in the adaptation that warranted compromise. We explore and discuss similarities and differences in the adaptation and delivery between North and South and problematize the idea of Latinos in the US versus Colombia.

 

Disability and the Global South, 2019 Vol.6, No. 1

Health information-seeking behaviour of visually impaired persons in Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria

SALAMI, Karibou
2018

Expand view

Persons living with visual impairments form a major group of people with various types of impairments in African countries. Little has been reported about the means and forms of information they seek to cope with their environment, and studies in Nigeria specifically, have not explored health information-seeking behaviour of visually impaired persons. This paper documents the health information-seeking behaviour of visually impaired persons (VIPs) in Ibadan Metropolis. A standardized questionnaire was administered to 200 VIPs sampled from two health facilities in Ibadan Metropolis. Most (66%) of the VIPs were partially sighted, 43% reported health issues as their most worrying challenge, while 20% reportedly had daily unmet health information needs. VIPs accessed information about medication for ailments from friends (45%), adopted herbal medication (50.5%) and /or indulged in selfmedication (21%). They reportedly had worse health (9.5%) status, while 4.5% reportedly remained worse off emotionally. The study concludes that VIPs considered health challenges and limited access to health information as their major concerns. Care for visually impaired persons should be incorporated in the primary healthcare routine and school health curriculum. Media programmes are also required to sensitise the general public about health information needs of VIPs.

 

Disability and the Global South, 2018 Vol.5, No. 1

The role of indigenous and external knowledge in development interventions with disabled people in Burkina Faso: the implications of engaging with lived experiences

BEZZINA, Lara
2018

Expand view

This paper explores the significance of engaging with the lived experiences of disabled people in countries like Burkina Faso in order to implement long-lasting and beneficial development. It looks at the way disability was conceived of in pre-colonial times and how knowledge imported from the colonisers conflicted with, and continues to influence today, indigenous knowledge in Burkina Faso. Although Burkina Faso obtained its independence from European colonisers over fifty years ago, disability as a terrain for intervention continues to be colonised by international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) that frame their approaches in western models, which are not necessarily applicable in countries like Burkina Faso. In a context where the predominant view of disability is that of disabled people being an economic burden, many disabled people in Burkina Faso feel the need to prove themselves as economically independent; and yet development agencies often do not engage with disabled people’s voices when designing and implementing development programmes. This paper argues that there is a need to engage with disabled people’s lived experiences and knowledges through processes such as participatory video which create spaces where marginalised people’s voices can be heard and listened to by the development agencies that influence disabled people’s lives.

 

Disability and the Global South, 2018, Vol.5, No. 2

‘Disabled asylum seekers?… They don’t really exist’: The marginalisation of disabled asylum seekers in the UK and why it matters

YEO, Rebecca
2015

Expand view

This paper is based on a study conducted with disabled people seeking asylum in the UK, using art as a means to bring out and promote people’s key messages in public spaces. The findings suggest that people with these intersecting identities lack sufficient numbers, resources or allies to assert their needs and rights in statutory, nonstatutory or even peer support organisations in the UK. This results in such deprivation and isolation, that their very existence is often obscured. The paper argues that not only does such marginalisation cause unnecessary suffering among those directly affected, but also negatively impacts on the whole population. A hierarchy of entitlement may impede recognition of the causes and commonalities of oppression and therefore also hinder solidarity. Where reduced standards become acceptable for certain people, the imposition of similar standards on others is facilitated, particularly in the context of neo-liberal austerity. Many of the recent restrictions imposed on disabled citizens and other benefit recipients have been used on disabled asylum seekers for more than a decade. If, as Barbara Young Welke suggests (2010:156) the problem is systemic, then inclusion cannot be the solution. This paper concludes that systemic change is needed to end the differential ranking of people’s worth and to build greater solidarity.

 

Disability and the Global South (DGS), 2015, Vol. 2 No. 1

E-bulletin