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The focus of this dissertation was to gain a better understanding of how families construct autism. Studies have overwhelmingly used the medical model or the institutional narrative to interpret how autism is understood in families. More recently, a counter-narrative has emerged resisting this medical model. Both narratives, however, simplify the intricate nature of the disability construct within families. Additionally, the term “family” has been used euphemistically to refer to mothers, fathers or siblings of children who have autism. This study explored the constructs of the whole family through shared stories of their day-to-day lives. Through a narrative inquiry, this study used semi-structured interviews and participant observational data collected in homes and communities of three families who have elementary school-aged children diagnosed with autism. Selection criteria consisted of English-speaking families who completed a university-based early intervention program. Attempts were made to select multidimensional or diverse families. Resulting data were analyzed using NVivo software. Five findings emerged. First, contexts and the interactions held within them played a significant role in the type of narrative that was used to construct disability. Second, constructs of disability were in process and fluid. Third, families held competing constructs of disability at both the group and individual levels. Fourth, the dominant cultural narrative of disability founded upon the medical model was used by families; however, its use was predicated on the desire to protect family members (i.e., child with disability as well as siblings) from perceived and directly-experienced exclusions from mainstream society. Fifth, a dominant construct of disability existed within families and was contingent upon the strength of that construct within various contexts with which the family engaged. Knowledge was added to the current literature on the complexity and fluid nature of the disability construct at the group and individual levels. In addition, these constructs were argued to be influenced by the interactive contexts and the embedded narratives of disability. Knowledge generated by this study can be used to integrate different lenses within professional training programs, and help to re-imagine the methods and aims of research that explore families who have children with disabilities.

This research analyzed all available hearings from 2013 to 2015 in a national database of due process hearings regarding placement issues and determinations of the least restrictive environment for individual students with significant disabilities. The main research question was whether parents/guardians and due process hearing officers sought placements for these children with significant disabilities that considered creatively and holistically a range of options rather than just a dialogue between already extant possible programmatic offerings. The research resulted in a description and taxonomy of the types of issues and factors arising in the hearings for students with significant disabilities from 2013 to 2015. This research shows almost no evidence of creative or holistic thinking in these due process decisions, and there was little evidence of parent advocacy for general education classes and creative options for their students with significant disabilities beyond existing offerings. The most unique placements to be found in public school settings for these students were in general education classes. Twenty-four students in this analysis were offered general education classes with their typically achieving peers. In general, though, for this unique group of students with significant disabilities, very few due process hearings could be found to have demonstrated creativity, or the consideration of holistic options, for such students. In general, in due process hearings for students with significant disabilities from 2013 to 2015, parents were overwhelming advocating for, and due process hearing officers were deciding among, options on the continuum of placements already traditionally considered for students with significant disabilities.

Informed by the disciplines of disability studies and interpretive sociology, and using the social model of disability and the collective identity model, this dissertation pursues an investigation of underemployment. Underemployment, conceptualized as the underutilized skills and knowledge of the employed and unemployed, occurs at higher levels amongst disabled persons than among non-disabled people (Canada, 2009). Semi-structured interviews with 14 underemployed disabled people conducted, to investigate the experiences of disabled persons who worked in the fields of education, computer, healthcare, fitness, environment, travel, social work, government and non-government agencies. In addition, Canadian social policies were analyzed to address the research questions: 1) How do disabled workers understand and address experiences of underemployment? 2) How do organizations and social policies account for underemployment amongst disabled persons? 3) How can practices which acknowledge and enhance collective identity be used to address underemployment and advance the disability movement? 4) How can underemployment amongst disabled persons be addressed at the organizational level? The texts of these narratives and Canadian social policies were analyzed using a critical interpretative textual analysis approach. The analysis demonstrates the depths of the negative consequences of high levels of underemployment resulting from structural, environmental and attitudinal barriers. Such consequences include lack of opportunities for recognition, compensation, promotion, accommodations, and career fulfillment, as well as poor mental, physical, emotional and social health. This research study is unique as it reveals the struggles that disabled persons experienced in work contexts, their narratives of resistance, and their recommendations for socio-political change to build more inclusive work environments

Informed by the disciplines of disability studies and interpretive sociology, and using the social model of disability and the collective identity model, this dissertation pursues an investigation of underemployment. Underemployment, conceptualized as the underutilized skills and knowledge of the employed and unemployed, occurs at higher levels amongst disabled persons than among non-disabled people (Canada, 2009). Semi-structured interviews with 14 underemployed disabled people conducted, to investigate the experiences of disabled persons who worked in the fields of education, computer, healthcare, fitness, environment, travel, social work, government and non-government agencies. In addition, Canadian social policies were analyzed to address the research questions: 1) How do disabled workers understand and address experiences of underemployment? 2) How do organizations and social policies account for underemployment amongst disabled persons? 3) How can practices which acknowledge and enhance collective identity be used to address underemployment and advance the disability movement? 4) How can underemployment amongst disabled persons be addressed at the organizational level? The texts of these narratives and Canadian social policies were analyzed using a critical interpretative textual analysis approach. The analysis demonstrates the depths of the negative consequences of high levels of underemployment resulting from structural, environmental and attitudinal barriers. Such consequences include lack of opportunities for recognition, compensation, promotion, accommodations, and career fulfillment, as well as poor mental, physical, emotional and social health. This research study is unique as it reveals the struggles that disabled persons experienced in work contexts, their narratives of resistance, and their recommendations for socio-political change to build more inclusive work environments

The present article has the objective of analysing the provisions that the peruvian State has been adopting for the implementation of the persons labour law with disabilities. In concrete, the article examines the provisions of the employment rate, the obligation to adopt reasonable settings and the bonification for the access to public employment. Additionally, it will develop some problems originated from this implementation and it will explain the remaining normative problems that still exist in the protection of other dimensions about labour colective law and people with disabilities. / El presente artículo tiene como objetivo analizar las medidas que el Estado peruano viene adoptando para la implementación del Derecho al Trabajo de las personas con discapacidad. En concreto, el artículo examina las medidas de cuota de empleo, deber de adoptar ajustes razonables y la bonificación para el acceso al empleo público. Asimismo, se desarrollarán algunos problemas derivados de esta implementación y se explicarán los vacíos normativos que aún existen en la protección de otras dimensiones del Derecho al Trabajo del colectivo de personas con discapacidad en nuestro país.

abstract: According to national data, there continues to be an ongoing achievement gap between students with disabilities and their non-disabled peers (USDE, n.d.b). This data is representative of a continued disparity in academic performance for students in local Arizona school districts. To address this gap, many districts have implemented inclusion models in which students with disabilities spend increasing amounts of time in general education classrooms, in some cases for the majority of or all of their school day. However, the persistence of the achievement gap suggests that general education teachers working in inclusion models may be lacking systematic instructional methods for ensuring access to the curriculum for those with disabilities and other diverse learning needs. The purpose of this action research study was to examine the impact that a series of professional development workshops had on teacher beliefs and understanding of disability, intelligence, and accessible pedagogy. The study was conducted over the course of a school semester at a kindergarten through 8th grade school in a large, semi-rural school district in southeastern Arizona. Ten teachers from a variety of grade levels and subject areas participated in the study along with a school psychologist and two school administrators. Theoretical frameworks guiding this project included critical disability theory, growth mindset, universal design for learning, and transformative learning theory. A mixed-methods action research approach was used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data in the form of surveys, interviews, and written reflections. The workshop series included five modules that began with activities fostering critical reflection of assumptions regarding disability and intelligence and ended with pedagogical strategies in the form of universal design for learning. The results indicate that the innovation was successful in reshaping participant views of disability, intelligence, and pedagogy; however, changes in classroom instruction were small. Implications for future research and practice include more extended sessions on universal design for learning and a more diverse sample of participants. Workshop sessions utilized a variety of active learning activities that were well received by participants and will be included in future professional learning plans across the district. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2018

The purpose of this study was to better understand howLSS-officials within several swedish municipalities understand and handles their discretion in regard to children and guardians who has a certain form of physical or mental disability. If or how those LSS-officials shape the services they are responsible for to help the families as a whole with their parental abilities. We will try to illustrate how the LSS-officials reflects upon the guardians ability to care for their children and how they assess the services they are able to provide in relation to those children and guardians needs. We have used qualitative method and semi-structured interviews in the study. To help analyze our material we have used Michael Lipsky’s theory about street-level bureaucracy as well as Roine Johansson’s criticism and attempt to refine the theory. Our results showed us that the LSS-officials we interviewed have varying discretion in their work with children and guardians with disabilities due to the swedish law that supports services for disability. Moreover we found that the LSS-officialshad trouble understanding how some available services could function in regards to different forms of disability. We also found that they sought different services such as parental guidance for the parents in their homes to improve the work with the children and guardians.

Disability classification systems belong to the core of states’ social/disability policies through which persons with disabilities are classified as eligible or ineligible for having access to disability allowances. The study of disability classification systems has stimulated the interest of several scholars from the broader area of disability studies. Either by conducting comparative studies between different states and describing the similarities and differences of these systems around the world or by conducting studies focusing on the politics and semantics in the development of disability classification systems in specific states, all studies have shown a pluralism in the systems for assessing and certifying disability. In Greece, the development of disability classification systems for social welfare reasons emerged as a controversy that lasted for almost twenty years. One factor that strengthened the controversy was the outbreak of the economic crisis late in 2009 followed by the announcement by the governmental authorities of the enactment of a new system for assessing and certifying disability as part of the austeritydriven policies that the Greek state would enact for facing the consequences of the economic crisis. Drawing on an interdisciplinary approach, the overall aim of this study is to describe and analyze the enactment of disability classification systems in the context of Greek social policy from 1990 to 2015. For the collection of empirical material, a qualitative research method was employed, consisting of interviews, written material, and newspaper articles. The main findings of this thesis are: I) the involvement of the political parties in the development of the systems for certifying and assessing disability; II) the involvement of the disability movement in policymaking; III) the “creative” use of statistics by governmental authorities for the enactment of disability/social policies; IV) how the concept of “disability fraud” has been constructed as a “threat” to the society; and V) the vulnerability of disability classification systems in times of austerity.

Lorsque l’on entend parler d’un crime ou d’un acte de violence, les premières questions que nous nous posons concernent généralement l’auteur et la victime de l’infraction puis l’acte qui a été commis. Au regard des taux élevés de victimisation des personnes handicapées, il semble pertinent et important de s’interroger sur la façon dont le handicap est appréhendé dans le domaine de la justice. Cette thèse se situe à l’intersection de trois domaines différents que sont la psychologie sociale, le handicap et la criminologie. Son but principal est d’examiner l’influence du handicap face à une situation infractionnelle, que la personne handicapée soit auteure ou victime de l’infraction. Pour cela, cinq études combinant les approches descriptives et expérimentales ont été réalisées. Les deux premières recherches portent sur l’analyse d’archives judiciaires (violences conjugales et vols avec violence), avec pour objectif la comparaison de différents facteurs (individuels, familiaux, sociaux et légaux) entre les situations avec ou sans handicap. Trois études expérimentales ont été menées afin de déterminer l’effet de la présence d’un handicap et du type de handicap (moteur, mental, psychique) sur l’attribution de responsabilité des protagonistes, ce qui est ressenti lorsqu’une infraction est commise ainsi que sur les actions pouvant être entreprises. Les résultats indiquent une relative similarité des facteurs entre les archives judiciaires qu’il y ait ou non présence d’un handicap. Ceux des études expérimentales montrent un effet de la présence d’un handicap ainsi que du type de handicap sur les taux de responsabilité et sur ce qui est ressenti. L’implication de ces résultats est discutée d’un point de vue théorique et pratique. / When we hear about a crime or an act of violence, the first questions we ask ourselves concern generally the author and the victim then the act which was committed. With regard to the high rates of victimization of the disable people, it seems relevant and important to investigate how disability is apprehended in the field of justice. This thesis is situated at the intersection of three different domains that are social psychology, handicap and criminology. Its main purpose is to examine the influence of disability in the face of an unlawful situation that the disabled person is the author or the victim of the offense. Five research combining descriptive and experimental approaches have been made. The first two studies focus on the analysis of court records (domestic violence and thefts with violence), with the aim comparison of different factors (individual, family, social and legal) between the situations with and without disabilities. Three experimental studies were conducted to determine the effect of the presence of a disability and the type of disability (physical, intellectual, mental) on the attribution of responsibility of the protagonists, what is felt when an offense is committed and on possible actions. The results indicate a relative similarity factors between the judicial archives whether or not the presence of a disability. Those of the experimental studies show an effect of the presence of a disability as well as the type of disability on rates of responsibility and on what is felt. The implication of these results is discussed from a theoretical and practical perspective.