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This event was organised by Leonard Cheshire Disability Philippines Foundation Inc and Chambers of Massage Industry of Visually Impaired in partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development Sustainable Livelihood Program. The programme is outlined and followed by an Open Forum for questions and discussion.

Topics covered in this disability inclusion evidence digest Jan -Mar 2020 include: 

• COVID-19/Coronavirus
• Mental health and development
• Employment
• Education, children and disability
• Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) 
• Transport
• Displacement

There is a section on Policy and News and a list of recently published (Oct 2020) Helpdesk updates

There are many different perspectives for understanding autism. These perspectives may each convey different levels of stigma for autistic individuals. This qualitative study aimed to understand how autistic individuals make sense of their own autism and experience the stigma attached to autism. The study used critical grounded theory tools. Participants (N1⁄420) discussed autism as central to their identity, and integral to who they are. While participants thought of autism as value neutral, they expressed how society confers negative meanings onto autism, and thus, them. The findings also indicate that different understand- ings of autism confer different levels of stigma. Participants expressed constant exposure to stigma and managed this stigma in different ways. Such methods included reframing to more positive understandings of autism, the reclamation of language, and using concealment and disclosure stra- tegically. The implications of these findings are discussed further in the article.

This report presents the findings from a rapid global survey of persons with disabilities and other stakeholders which took place between April and August 2020. The organisations behind the study seek to “catalyse urgent action in the weeks and months to come,” as transmission rates of COVID-19 continue to rise in many countries and persons with disabilities are again subjected to restrictions which have already had severe consequences.

The report analyses over 2,100 responses to the survey from 134 countries around the world. The vast majority of responses were from individuals with disabilities and their family members. Within the questionnaire responses respondents provided more than 3,000 written testimonies documenting the experiences of persons with disabilities and their family members during the pandemic. The qualitative and quantitative data provide in-depth, comprehensive insights into the experiences of persons with disabilities and the consequences of government actions or inactions on the rights of persons with disabilities.

The report is organised around four themes which emerged during the process of analysing responses received to the survey. These themes are:

1. Inadequate measures to protect persons with disabilities in institutions

2. Significant and fatal breakdown of community supports

3. Disproportionate impact on underrepresented groups of persons with disabilities

4. Denial of access to healthcare

A webinar was held to mark the launch of the report

Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and disability are major global health issues. Although they can cause and influence each other, data on their co-existence are sparse. This study aims to describe the prevalence and patterns of disability among a cohort of children with SAM.

A longitudinal cohort study in Malawi followed SAM survivors up to 7 years postdischarge. Clinical and anthropometric profiles were compared with sibling and community controls. Disability at original admission was identified clinically; at 7-year follow-up a standardised screening tool called ‘the Washington Group Questionnaire’ was used.

BMJ Global Health 2020;5:e002613

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-002613

In many societies, people with cognitive disability have been pre- sumed to lack reasoned decision-making capacity. Consequently, substituted decision-making laws and practices have traditionally authorised some people such as parents, guardians or medical professionals, to make decisions on their behalf. Several countries are now moving towards an alternative supported decision-making paradigm whereby people with different cognitive abilities are supported to make decisions that reflect as much as possible their ‘will, preferences and rights’. In this paper we examine how geo- graphical thinking about temporalities might illuminate some of the legal, ethical and practical complexities of supported decision- making. The paper draws on qualitative data from interviews with people with intellectual disabilities or acquired brain injury, and those who support them in making decisions. We examine how temporal scales and boundaries shape the determination of decision-making capacity; how decision-makers’ ‘will and preferences’ are interpreted by supporters; and how the labour of support for decision-making is organised. We argue that further geographical engagement with supported decision-making can help significantly advance this important disability rights agenda.

This webinar, hosted by Global Disability Innovation (GDI) hub, brings together a diverse panel of experts to discuss what inclusive design looks like in practice for them, who benefits and how it can offer methods to build a more accessible world that benefits all of us.

Speakers presentations were:

• What inclusive design means to GDI Hub and why it matters, drawing on our experience working in both the UK and globally
• An overview of inclusive design of the built environment in the UK and Kenya, including the role of access panels to embed the views of disabled people in planning and decision-making
• An introduction to GDI Hub’s AT2030 programme including our Inclusive Infrastructure research sub-programme that is conducting six global case studies in LMIC cities around the world over the next 2-3 years.
• The challenges and opportunities for an accessible Mongolia and the importance of Disabled People’s Organisations (DPO) engagement in decision-making
• The importance of inclusive planning processes for accessible cities in Indonesia

The Inclusive Infrastructure sub-programme of the AT2030 programme began in March 2020, right out the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over three years this part of the AT2030 programme will be conducting case studies in six cities on the current state of accessibility and inclusion of the built environment in each of those places. 

The first case study took place in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. In March 2020, research was about to begin, Mongolia closed its border as the Coronavirus pandemic escalated. This meant to travel to Ulaanbaatar to conduct research was not possible and new ways of working remotely had to be adopted.

Research was carried out by collaborating with a local team based in Ulaanbaatar: AIFO, an Italian NGO that has been working in Mongolia since 1993 and two Disabled Persons’ Organisations: ‘Universal Progress’ Independent Living Center and Tegsh Niigem.

Perspectives on working together, collaborating remotely and why this research is relevant to the country are shared.

This Humanitarian Practice Network Paper (Number 83) explores the challenge of improving the collection, analysis and use of disability data to support more inclusive, impartial and accountable humanitarian action. It considers both the obstacles in this area and the potential opportunities for improving practice going forward. The paper draws directly on the experience and outcomes of a recent UK Aid-funded multi-partner action research project led by Humanity & Inclusion which explored how the use of the internationally validated Washington Group Questions on Disability can support the collection of more reliable and comparable quantitative data on persons with disabilities in humanitarian settings.

Based on a broader desk review of practice-based reports and case studies, this paper also draws on a further range of methods and approaches that have been taken to collect, analyse and use data and information to support inclusion of people with disabilities across different stages of the humanitarian programming cycle, focusing particularly on instances where qualitative information is used in combination with quantitative data. The paper looks at the collection and use of data on the accessibility and inclusiveness of humanitarian programmes, as well as data on the number, needs and capacities of persons with disabilities