Sexual abuse in adulthood: Ongoing risks for people with learning disabilities

This paper reports findings of a 3-year research programme into the sexual abuse of adults with learning disabilities conducted at the University of Kent. Inconsistent reporting to and by services can be seen in the results, including lack of agreed practice around consent to sexual activities between service users. Abuse is also perpetrated by staff, volunteers, family members and other known and trusted adults. Thus both definition and detection are important competencies for services to develop. Abuse reported was predominantly perpetrated by men on both women and men with learning disabilities, and the gender issues raised by tackling sexual abuse in unequal staff teams, with their male style of management and a female workforce, are considered. Outcomes of the reporting process are considered and services for adults are urged to take a more proactive stance.     

Holding the line online: exploring wired relationships for people with disabilities

Clearly, the Internet represents a huge new step in interpersonal communications. It offers people with disabilities the possibility of confronting the issues of time, space, communication and the body, but what happens when people with disabilities engage with the computer? Do they use the Internet to develop friendships and intimate relationships? Does online communication enhance self‐identity and social being? Do people use the Internet to transcend the vagaries of their frail and vulnerable bodies? Or are they simply ‘holding the line’ online, using the Internet as they would use a letter or a telephone? Is the Internet a chimera, a failed promise, for people with disabilities?     

Impact of retirement type on income for people with disabilities

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of involuntary retirement on the economic security of persons with a disability. Very little research examines the economic consequences to forced retirement and no research focuses on persons with disabilities who have a higher rate of involuntary retirement than the general population. Analysing the 2006 Canadian Participation and Activity Limitation Survey, we find that persons with a disability who involuntarily retire have lower median personal and household incomes and they are more likely to be under the low-income cut-off point than those who retire voluntarily. When socio-demographic, socio-economic and geographical characteristics are controlled; those who retired involuntarily are more likely to be under the low-income cut-off point than those whose retirement was voluntary. Further, those who retired involuntarily are more likely to receive disability benefits whereas those who retired voluntarily are more likely to receive retirement income. The authors argue for employers and governments to implement accommodation in the workplace and flexible employment opportunities so that more persons with disabilities are able to continue in their employment for as long as possible.     

Negotiating a third space for participatory research with people with learning disabilities: an examination of boundaries and spatial practices

The focus of this article is participatory research with and by people with learning disabilities. Drawing on discussions that took place across a series of seminars, we use the concepts of space and boundaries to examine the development of a shared new spatial practice through creative responses to a number of challenges. We examine the boundaries that exist between participatory and non-participatory research; the boundaries that exist between different stakeholders of participatory research; and the boundaries that exist between participatory research with people with learning disabilities and participatory research with other groups. With a particular focus on participatory data analysis and participatory research with people with high support needs, we identify a number of ways in boundaries are being crossed. We argue that the pushing of new boundaries opens up both new and messy spaces and that both are important for the development of participatory research methods.     

School memories of young people with disabilities: an analysis of barriers and aids to inclusion

This article presents a selection of the results gleaned from research analyzing the way social exclusion processes are constructed among young adults between the ages of 18 and 25. The paper focuses on a subset of the population studied: young people with disabilities. Likewise, we limit our study to the dimension of school‐related experiences. Our research methodology – based on individual personal narratives and first hand accounts – allows a dynamic, participative and integrated approach to the study of exclusion. Participants in the study were asked to reflect on their experiences and, thus, were given a voice. Our specific objective in this article was to identify and explain the barriers and aids to inclusion encountered in a variety of educational environments as expressed by interviewees who had experienced them personally.     

Accommodation issues in the work place for people with disabilities: a needs assessment in an educational setting

The passage in the USA of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has mandated the private sector to provide a sweeping variety of accommodations to individuals with disabilities. Objections to ADA focused on costs in an era of scarcity. These assumptions have been presented with insufficient information about the actual needs of individuals with disabilities. This study is a needs assessment of employees with disabilities at a major university setting. In-depth interviews were conducted with a small number of individuals who described their work situations and accommodations. Findings challenge prevailing assumptions. Costs are often not large, many accommodations are simple, and much depends on the match between a person's disability and job duties. Additionally, informational needs, psychological concerns and the existing social climate provide a more balanced picture of the lives of these employees.     

Social enterprises as enabling workplaces for people with psychiatric disabilities

In recent years, western governments influenced by neoliberalism have emphasized paid work as a key route to social inclusion and community participation for people with psychiatric disabilities. Although paid work can offer many rewards, access to mainstream employment for people with psychiatric disabilities is difficult as they continue to encounter discrimination and a lack of workplace accommodation. One response to these challenges has been the creation of social enterprises as ‘alternative spaces’ of employment for people with psychiatric disabilities. On the basis of interviews with key informants from 21 different social enterprises across Ontario, Canada, this paper critically analyzes the strategies used by organizations to create jobs that are both accommodating for people, but also conducive to the ongoing success of the business.     

International Ethical Safeguards: genetics and people with learning disabilities

This paper discusses the ethical issues and international standards relating to genetic research on people with learning disabilities. Research protocols must acknowledge the people who are subjects of such research and must reflect emerging disability philosophies. This research provides a brief historical context and considers five issues of fundamental importance to people with learning disabilities through a discussion of participation in the research design, independent advocacy, justice, non-discrimination and autonomy. These concerns have been investigated in England and abroad, and it is therefore valuable to undertake a review of the legal and ethical context of genetic research for vulnerable people who may be deemed unable to provide consent.     

城市规划应成为重要公共政策

我国正处于经济建设加速发展、城市化水平不断提升和城市蓬勃发展的时期,而人均资源短缺和环境脆弱的状况已经开始成为发展的硬制约;我国社会主义市场经济体制尚未完善,国家经济实力还不够强大,而社会发展不公平、不和谐的现象已经凸现.这些矛盾在城市又集中表现出来.面对严峻的现实,我们如何应对?科学发展观的真正落实是迫切的大事.     

Negotiating accommodations so that work-based education facilitates career development for youth with disabilities

Workers with disabilities are entitled to have their individual needs accommodated in a way that allows them to perform the essential duties of their job. However, adults with disabilities are often lacking in career development and are ill-prepared to negotiate workplace accommodations. This has led educators to seek workplaces that can accommodate the needs of adolescents with disabilities, so these adolescents can learn to negotiate accommodations and enhance their career development through work-based education. This paper reports on two case studies in which employers had agreed to accommodate the needs of adolescents with disabilities participating in work-based education. Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) framed the analyses of these two cases - a case of a student with physical disabilities and a case of a student with developmental disabilities. SCCT proves valuable in understanding the role of work-based education in the career development of disabled youth.     

Ergonomic intervention methods for inclusion of people with disabilities at work: Brazilian scene

The aim is to identify ergonomic intervention methods used for including people with disabilities (PD) in the Brazilian labor market, with emphasis on discussion of methods to analyze the fit between the worker and the workplace. Methods to evaluate the fit of the worker to the workplace identify the capabilities and limitations of PDs and the demands of work, combining these data, and comparing them, in order to obtain a detailed analysis of the fit were drawn from national and international publications. These show that the use of specific methods for PDs and others focused on the general population. Mutatis mutandis, there is a need for complementary tools to address this segment. Thus, for the Brazilian scenario, it is essential to develop specific methodological tools to assess the capabilities of a PD so that they may better interact with their job.     

Rehabilitation and welfare restructuring in East Asia: deciphering an assessment tool for people with disabilities in Hong Kong

While many East Asian economies have in the past witnessed the coexistence of economic growth and modern welfare provisions, this has no longer been the case since the Asian Financial Crisis. This article is an attempt to unravel the latent policy objectives behind an assessment tool for residential services ostensibly aimed at rationalizing residential services for people with physical and/or mental disabilities in Hong Kong. The central argument is that such a policy instrument, whilst appearing technocratic and professional in policy discourse, nonetheless fails to hide its true purpose of implementation - the rationalization of welfare resources within a cutback environment. Moreover, in screening out people with disabilities, the new Assessment Tool further perpetuates a rehabilitation service rooted in paternalism and traditionalism, a service which sees those affected by disabilities as dependent and helpless, and which moves ever further away from the ideals of inclusion, dignity and independent living.     

Social work with people with disabilities in Croatia: a qualitative study

In conducting this study, the authors aimed to gain insight into social work with people with disabilities. Due to the lack of research in this field, qualitative methodology was applied. Using semistructured interviews, data were collected about 30 respondents: 10 people with disabilities, 10 parents of people with disabilities, and 10 social workers who work in the public sector with people with disabilities. Analysis of the results revealed characteristics of approaches to social work, knowledge and skills used in working with people with disabilities, difficulties related to specific work with clients, and the position of the profession in society.     

Creating employment opportunities for people with disabilities in healthcare: the Bristol Employment Collaborative

Unemployment is a significant problem among working-age adults with disabilities. The Bristol Employment Collaborative (BEC), one of five Regional Employment Collaboratives in Massachusetts, brings together State agencies, community employment service providers, educational institutions, local businesses, economic development organizations, and people with disabilities to design and implement regional strategies to enhance employment opportunities and outcomes for people with disabilities. Launched in 2009, BEC has developed an innovative model to train people with disabilities to become personal assistance services workers, a healthcare occupation with high demand. The case study describes the strategic planning process undertaken by BEC partners to develop a certificate program to be offered by the local community college. The first class enrolled in September 2010 and graduated ten weeks later. Innovative approaches such as the one being pursued and developed by the BEC could help address both unemployment for people with disabilities and the labor shortages in the healthcare sector.     

Caring for people with disabilities in the Haredi community: adjustment mechanism in action

This study aims at examining the change in caring for individuals with developmental disability in the Haredi (Jewish ultra-Orthodox) community in Israel. Using qualitative methods, we examined the setting up and operating of educational, residential, and recreational facilities for this population. Of the 31 such facilities in two Israeli cities, 16 were randomly selected. The findings revealed three central issues expressing the process of a gradual change in the attitudes and in the forms of caring for persons with disabilities in this sector: (a) social crisis as a catalyst for change; (b) the Social model and rehabilitation principles; and (c) the role of the rabbis in the change process. These issues were explained based on the concept of 'adjustment mechanism'.     

Community participation and inclusion: people with disabilities defining their place

Disability‐related public policy currently emphasises reducing the number of people experiencing exclusion from the spaces of the social and economic majority as being the pre‐eminent indicator of inclusion. Twenty‐eight adult, New Zealand vocational service users collaborated in a participatory action research project to develop shared understandings of community participation. Analysis of their narratives suggests that spatial indices of inclusion are quiet in potentially oppressive ways about the ways mainstream settings can be experienced by people with disabilities and quiet too about the alternative, less well sanctioned communities to which people with disabilities have always belonged. Participants identified five key attributes of place as important qualitative antecedents to a sense of community belonging. The potential of these attributes and other self‐authored approaches to inclusion are explored as ways that people with disabilities can support the policy objective of effecting a transformation from disabling to inclusive communities.     

Unmet health care needs of people with disabilities: population level evidence

The present study examined population level data on unmet needs for adults with physical, sensory and cognitive disabilities, using the National Population Health Survey. The study revealed that disabled adults (aged 20–64) reported more than three times as many unmet health care needs as their non‐disabled counterparts. Even after controlling for the effects of age, gender and poor health, disability had a significant effect on the perception of unmet needs, particularly disabilities associated with pain, hearing impairment and emotional problems. The greatest deterrent to receiving needed services among individuals with disabilities was cost. Despite being publicly funded and thereby presumably equally accessible to all, the health care system in Canada fails to meet the needs of some of its most vulnerable constituents – adults with disabilities.     

The empowerment of people with disabilities through qualitative research

The purpose of this article is to explore the use of qualitative research in vocational rehabilitation as a means of empowering people with disabilities to (a) take greater control of their lives and (b) directly inform public policy and vocational rehabilitation service delivery. After exploring various definitions of the construct empowerment, we provide a rationale for the use of qualitative research as an empowerment mechanism based on (a) philosophies espoused by leaders of the independent living movement, (b) disability legislation, and (c) a multi-constituency call for more consumer involvement in research. We then describe empirical properties of various qualitative methodologies that lend themselves to consumer empowerment. The article concludes with several examples of qualitative approaches to scientific inquiry from the rehabilitation literature that include many of the empowerment aspects described herein.