This dissertation, “‘Hire the Handicapped!’: Disability Rights, Economic Integration and Working Lives in Toronto, Ontario, 1962-2005,” argues that work significantly shaped the experience of disability during this period. Barriers to mainstream employment opportunities gave rise to multiple disability movements that challenged the social and economic framework which marginalized generations of people with disabilities. Using a critical analysis of disability in archival records, personal collections, government publications and a series of interviews, I demonstrate how demands for greater access among disabled people to paid employment stimulated the development of a new discourse of disability in Canada. Including disability as a variable in historical research reveals how family advocates helped people living in institutions move out into the community and rehabilitation professionals played an increasingly critical role in the lives of working-age adults with disabilities, civil rights activists crafted a new consumer-led vision of social and economic integration. Separated by different philosophies and bases of support, disability activists and allies found a common purpose in their pursuit of economic integration. The focus on employment issues among increasingly influential disability activists during this period prompted responses from three key players in the Canadian labour market. Employers embraced the rhetoric and values of disability rights but operated according to a different set of business principles and social attitudes that inhibited the realization of equity and a ‘level playing field.’ Governments facilitated the development of a progressive discourse of disability and work, but ultimately recoiled from disability activism to suit emergent political priorities. Labour organizations similarly engaged disability activists, but did so cautiously, with union support largely contingent upon the satisfaction of traditional union business first and foremost. As disability activists and their allies railed against systematic discrimination, people with disabilities lived and worked in the community, confronting barriers and creating their own circles of awareness in the workplace. Just as multiple sites of disability activism found resolution in the sphere of labour, the redefinition of disability during this period reflected a shared project involving collective and individual action.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Melbourne, Dept. of Social Work, 2000. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 169-188).

The Australian Disability Rights Movement (ADRM) developed slowly during the century, with a major spurt of growth in the 1980’s, resulting in the formation of two national advocacy organisations controlled by people with disabilities. This thesis uses the insider perspective of the researcher, feminist research methodology, review of relevant theory, and the views of self-selected board members to explore the history and common themes of the ADRM, and the relationship of these organisations to social change. Theoretical sources have been explored concerning past and present status of people with disabilities, new social movements, and second wave feminism. / Participants identifies individual experiences of disability and most felt the formation of such collective action groups had positive effects on social change. Respondents named major significant events in the achievement of disability rights, most naming the development of the two national organisations Disabled People’s International (Australia) (DPI(A) and Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA) as essential to positive outcomes. / Sexism was experienced by most women involved in the more traditional organisation. This, and recognition of feminism, gave impetus to the formation of WWDA. / Opinion was divided about the best way the disability movement could continue without a peak body for both genders. The movement was perceived as ongoing, but less organised in its confrontation of challenges to the citizenship of people with disabilities posed by social and economic changes and governments’ weakening of the concept of advocacy.

The Australian Disability Rights Movement (ADRM) developed slowly during the century, with a major spurt of growth in the 1980’s, resulting in the formation of two national advocacy organisations controlled by people with disabilities. This thesis uses the insider perspective of the researcher, feminist research methodology, review of relevant theory, and the views of self-selected board members to explore the history and common themes of the ADRM, and the relationship of these organisations to social change. Theoretical sources have been explored concerning past and present status of people with disabilities, new social movements, and second wave feminism. / Participants identifies individual experiences of disability and most felt the formation of such collective action groups had positive effects on social change. Respondents named major significant events in the achievement of disability rights, most naming the development of the two national organisations Disabled People’s International (Australia) (DPI(A) and Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA) as essential to positive outcomes. / Sexism was experienced by most women involved in the more traditional organisation. This, and recognition of feminism, gave impetus to the formation of WWDA. / Opinion was divided about the best way the disability movement could continue without a peak body for both genders. The movement was perceived as ongoing, but less organised in its confrontation of challenges to the citizenship of people with disabilities posed by social and economic changes and governments’ weakening of the concept of advocacy.

Social work services prior to the COVID-19 pandemic generally preferred in-person service delivery. When the lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic began, social workers needed to modify their practice and pivot to a virtual delivery format to ensure safety as well as continuity of service for the individuals and communities they support. Current literature on virtual care in social work lacks clear identification of best practices for virtual care service delivery. Additionally, 1 in 5 Canadians have a disability. Given the prevalence of disability, social workers must consider how accessibility is impacted by service delivery methods. This research aims to address the gap in the literature by centering the narratives of 7 social workers who have disabilities, who both access and provide virtual care services. This research is guided by Critical Disability Theory (CDT) and the Nothing About Us Without Us movement to explore the social construction of disability within virtual care service delivery, from the perspective of those with disabilities. A focus group was conducted to elicit the experiences of these social workers. Using narrative and reflexive thematic analysis, five themes were identified: 1) digital literacy, 2) privacy, 3) factors enhancing accessibility, 4) factors challenging accessibility, and 5) practice standards in the digital domain. Reflecting on the themes identified in the data analysis, in conjunction with the literature review, a set of guiding best practices are proposed to support accessible virtual care service delivery in social work. Implications for policy and practice are discussed, as well as limitations of this research and potential directions for future research in virtual care and accessibility. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

Building codes are socio-technical regulations that govern the manner in which the built world is designed, constructed, and maintained. Instituted in order to protect the health, safety, and welfare of humans in the built world, codes also serve as an index of always changing societal values. If codes do not co-evolve with social values, however, they often perpetuate standards that no longer reflect the priorities of mainstream society. As crises arise and as cultural practices change, regulatory institutions are charged with creating new or amend old codes to reflect these societal shifts. Emergent social values are often dismissed by the general public, misrepresented by their political representatives, or abstracted by the louder voices of the market and the state. In a few critical moments in modern history, however, society successfully adopted and institutionalized previously underrepresented values into urban form. Social movements provide a primary venue for such paradigmatic change. They do this through the production of new knowledge that aims to alter the cognitive praxis of its citizenry and to generate the momentum required to codify grassroots ideals into the built world. Exploring how this confluence of socio-technical innovation functions within the built world, this dissertation addresses the primary research question: What is the relationship between urban social movements, the values they espouse, the building codes they construct, and the liberative function of the spaces produced? In this dissertation, I investigate three established and one emerging social movement to discern the characteristics of democratic code formation that lead to civic urban form. These four case studies are analyzed in terms of their origins, the claims made, strategies employed, and outcomes achieved. Patterns are then extrapolated from this analysis to identify qualities of collective action that contribute to the codification of civic urban form. The research discussed herein was conducted in two phases to develop a historical base from which to evaluate contemporary efforts to codify civic urban form. The first phase of this exploratory investigation tells the story of three intrinsically valuable, but also comparable case studies of social change in the United States: the community development strategy pursued by the civil rights movement, the architectural accessibility platform advocated by the disability rights movement, and efforts to institutionalize new building practices through voluntary building assessment systems by the environmental movement. The second phase extrapolates patterns from the established cases to inform the investigation of proto-movements currently coalescing around issues of spatial justice. Both phases are then reflected upon in order to propose a theory of civic urban form that recognizes the dialectic between social movements, emergent social values, building codes, and the physical spaces they inform. The thesis statement underlying this dissertation is that urban social movements in the U.S. require a myriad of different activist organizations— radical and mainstream, professional and grassroots— to simultaneously employ diverse strategies through an integrated frame of collective action in order to institutionalize new types of civic urban form. Based on the theoretical framework developed to conceptualize the production of civic urban form, I go on to argue in the concluding chapters that urban social movements currently seeking various means to codify the tenets of sustainable development in the United States might benefit from couching their collective actions within an integrated action frame of spatial justice. / text

Despite international regulations such as the Convention of the Rights of the Child andthe Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the global SustainableDevelopment Goals in Agenda 2030, everyone does not have the same rights toeducation. Children with disabilities are the most marginalised and excluded groups insociety and also overrepresented among those who are not in school. Disability rightsadvocates are advocating for children with disabilities having the right to education anddiscovering new ways of making their voices heard through digital media. This degreeproject explores how these advocates act as change agents in the Nepal disability rightsmovement, with a focus on communication and the role of media.Through the lens of communication for development and social change, the theoreticalframework outlines advocacy communication for social justice, and social movementsas ‘experience movements’. The material was collected during a two months field studyin Nepal between March and May 2019. A qualitative study was conducted withinterviews as the primary method (semi-structured and focus group discussions) andfield observation as secondary.The findings suggest that advocacy communication was used by all advocates and thatdigital media and information communication technology provided the potential toreach new audiences, without replacing the public sphere. Language and voice werehighlighted as invaluable for effective communication. The movement was not limitedto special education, rather advocated for equity, access and participation in qualityeducation for all children. Digital, policy and behavioural changes were seen; peoplenow talk about children with disabilities and inclusive education. Challenges for themovement (i.e. budget, human resources, collaborations, voice, defined target group(s),data collection) still persisted, nevertheless improved collaborations between thegovernment and the disability people's organisations outlined a will for improvement inparticipation and empowerment.

The intent of this work is to explore how children, youth, and adults with disabilities are discriminated against in cultural systems, specifically the education system, and how the beliefs and structures encompassed in these systems create and recreate the phenomena of ableism. This study will explore the hegemony of ableism within school cultures by exposing prevailing discourses and the systems that enforce these discriminatory discourses and educational practices. Additionally, it will illustrate significant human rights infractions and discriminatory processes that keep disabled peoples throughout the world in states of marginalization and oppression. The analysis of this study shows resistance to the oppression of people with disabilities through the use of critical disability theory, legal theory, and social justice philosophy. In addition, the advancement of inclusive education as a human right is offered as a solution to the collective oppression and states of disenfranchisement that many disabled peoples experience. The exploration of moral and legal theory, equality jurisprudence, and libratory pedagogy will advance a collective human rights framework as an educational model for school cultures globally. This analysis will utilize an equality premise known as the right to belong to defend inclusive education as a fundamental human right. In support of this fundamental right, a theoretical base for inclusive pedagogies reveals how the deconstruction of hegemonic practices and, simultaneously, the development of transformative educational models of learning are necessary best practices in the pursuit of equality for all disabled students. This work concludes with recommendations for changes in educational leadership, philosophy, and research of education for disabled students.

The intent of this work is to explore how children, youth, and adults with disabilities are discriminated against in cultural systems, specifically the education system, and how the beliefs and structures encompassed in these systems create and recreate the phenomena of ableism. This study will explore the hegemony of ableism within school cultures by exposing prevailing discourses and the systems that enforce these discriminatory discourses and educational practices. Additionally, it will illustrate significant human rights infractions and discriminatory processes that keep disabled peoples throughout the world in states of marginalization and oppression. The analysis of this study shows resistance to the oppression of people with disabilities through the use of critical disability theory, legal theory, and social justice philosophy. In addition, the advancement of inclusive education as a human right is offered as a solution to the collective oppression and states of disenfranchisement that many disabled peoples experience. The exploration of moral and legal theory, equality jurisprudence, and libratory pedagogy will advance a collective human rights framework as an educational model for school cultures globally. This analysis will utilize an equality premise known as the right to belong to defend inclusive education as a fundamental human right. In support of this fundamental right, a theoretical base for inclusive pedagogies reveals how the deconstruction of hegemonic practices and, simultaneously, the development of transformative educational models of learning are necessary best practices in the pursuit of equality for all disabled students. This work concludes with recommendations for changes in educational leadership, philosophy, and research of education for disabled students.