This study, conducted in Pietermaritzburg and surrounding rural and township areas, is a critical exploration of the training of mid-level Community Based Rehabilitation workers with a specific focus on the ability of course participants to understand and address the oppression and empowerment of people with disabilities. The aim of the study was to develop a conceptual framework for curriculum construction of a midlevel Community Based Rehabilitation course, through examining a Community Based Rehabilitation course and the changes that were made to it. The study was conducted within a critical theory paradigm. The social model of disability and an understanding of disability as a form of oppression were the key constructs that guided the research. Participatory action research was used in the initial phase of the research, followed by a second phase that adopted a life history approach. The initial phase of the study consisted of one cycle of action research, beginning with a reflection on the existing curriculum. The action research cycle then moved through stages of planning changes to the curriculum, implementing the changes, observing the effects of the changes and reflecting again. Data collection comprised interviews with staff members, students and community rehabilitation facilitators who had previously completed the Community Based Rehabilitation course, as well as focus groups with people with disabilities and parents of children with disabilities. Several participatory rural appraisal techniques were also used with the students. The action research cycle raised further questions about how the life experiences of the students influenced their responses to the changed curriculum. This stimulated the development of the second phase of the research which used life history methodology, comprising in-depth interviews with four students. The study found that several changes occurred in the students’ attitudes and understanding as well as in some of the activities they undertook. Some students worked with rather than for people with disabilities, indicating a change in the power relationship with their clients. The students were able to analyse their own oppression and that of people with disabilities, unlike previous students. The students also engaged in social action for the rights of people with disabilities. These findings cannot be solely attributed to the changes in curriculum. However, they raise the possibility that Community Based Rehabilitation personnel can work to address the oppression of people with disabilities rather than focusing entirely on technical rehabilitation, which is a common approach in the literature. An analysis of the life histories revealed that those students identified as ‘activists’, more willingly engaged in social action during the Community Based Rehabilitation course than other students. This challenges the dominant discourse in the literature of Community Based Rehabilitation personnel as rehabilitation workers rather than activists. One key contribution of this thesis is to research methodology through its combination of life history methodology and action research in the study. A second is its proposed framework for curriculum construction that incorporates findings from the action research and the life histories. This framework, with its macroenvironment, organisational and student influences on the curriculum, contributes to the under-theorised field of Community Based Rehabilitation training. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu Natal, 2008.

With the move in South Africa towards equal employment opportunities in the open labour market, schools as well as business face the challenge of preparing individuals with disabilities for successful transition from school to work. This study examined the extent to which schools and business are working towards helping with this transition process for the disabled. The study explored how individuals with physical disabilities, who have moved into the open labour market, have experienced vocational transition planning at school level, and whether or not these programmes have adequately prepared them for the workplace. The study used a qualitative research methodology. The sample comprised 5 learners who had attended a special needs school in KwaZulu-Natal. The data collection techniques used were semi-structured interviews, which were audio-taped, and transcribed. The findings indicate that the principles of human rights and social justice for all citizens enshrined in policy documents that have emerged in South Africa since 1994, have not been translated into practice. The rights of individuals with disabilities to achieve equality of opportunity and equal access to service in society and their right to full citizenship continues to be violated. The results also revealed that, although the special needs school was concerned with developing relevant curriculum for students with disabilities, very little is done to prepare students for transition from school to the work environment. The study has revealed that students with disabilities require a far more structured, needs driven vocational transition programme, that will enable them to compete more favourably with their able bodied colleagues in the work place. Legislation must be developed to protect and guarantee the vocational transition services of students with disabilities. This legislation must be augmented by an administrative framework to ensure the smooth management and running of a national vocational transition programme. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, 1999.

Could the contribution of the voluntary sector to development be more fully realized given greater current emphasis on participatory development? This research addresses this question within the context of a voluntary sector organization in KwaZulu-Natal. Thus, the site of this study is the non-governmental, non-profit, voluntary organisation: Very Special Arts - KwaZulu-Natal, which focuses on the development of people with disabilities within the framework of the arts. Disability scholars are beginning to decode the discriminatory practices against people with disabilities which indicates that disability as a development category is relatively new. Therefore it was deemed necessary that the analysis of disability in this research be preceded by a consideration of various discourses on disability which is followed by a contextualisation of disability in KwaZulu-Natal. Development paradigms and paradigms within the arts were investigated and formed the framework against which Very Special Arts - KwaZulu-Natal is analyzed. A single project that the organisation engaged in was utilised as a case study to signify the overall and general workings of the organisation. Through the case-study method the development practices Very Special Arts - KwaZulu-Natal have been investigated and critiqued. The result found that the organizational practice was tangential to its normative design. It was recommended that a convergence of participatory paradigms of development and development paradigms within the arts should transpire. These were then offered as possible pragmatic solutions that Very Special Arts - KwaZulu-Natal could engage in to maximize their efficiency and capacity.' / Thesis (M.A.-Cultural Media Studies)-University of Natal, 1999

Straipsnyje aptariama šokio ir judesio terapija kaip socialinė paslauga šeimoms, auginančioms neįgalų vaiką. Šia socialine paslauga siekiama pagerinti šeimų socialinę situaciją, padėti sėkmingai integruotis, patirti teigiamų emocijų. Atliekant šokio ir judesio terapijos, kaip socialinės paslaugos poreikio tyrimą, buvo atliktas kombinuotas tyrimas. Buvo atlikta anketinė apklausa, kurioje dalyvavo 64 šeimos, auginančios neįgalų vaiką. Paaiškėjo, jog šeimoms trūksta įvairių socialinių paslaugų, tarp jų ir šokio ir judesio terapijos paslaugos. Taip pat tyrimo metu buvo atliktas pusiau struktūruotas interviu su Lietuvos šokio ir judesio terapijos asociacijos vadove – eksperte A. Laurinaityte. Tyrimas atskleidė informacijos trūkumą apie šią socialinę paslaugą, taip pat buvo nustatytas neįgalų vaiką auginančių šeimų poreikis užsiimti šia veikla kaip socialinės situacijos gerinimo galimybe. / This paper discusses the dance and movement therapy as a social service to the person with disability and his family. The social service aims to improve the social situation of families, to help successfully integrate, to experience positive emotions. The dance and movement therapy as a social services needs assessment study was carried out in combination. It was carried out a survey, which included 64 families with a disabled child. It revealed the lack of various social services, including dance and movement therapy services. Also the study was carried out semi-structured interview with Lithuanian Dance and Movement Therapy Association Guide - expert A. Laurinaitytė. The study revealed a lack of information about the social service has also been established families with disabled children need to engage in this activity as a social situation improvement.

Tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti neįgalių asmenų motyvacijos dirbti, socialinio saviveiksmingumo ir savęs vertinimo sąsajas profesinės reabilitacijos procese. Tyrime dalyvavo 206 tiriamieji. Tyrime dalyvavo 122 moterys ir 84 vyrai. Dalyvavusių tyrime negalią turinčių asmenų amžiaus vidurkis - 41,33 metų. Jauniausias tyrime dalyvavęs asmuo buvo 19 metų, o vyriausias – 64 metų amžiaus. Respondentai buvo neįgalieji, kurie dalyvavo profesinės reabilitacijos procese arba lankė neįgaliųjų dienos užimtumo centrus. Apklausa buvo atliekama Vilniuje, Kaune, Klaipėdoje, Šiauliuose ir Tauragėje. Dalyviai, kurie nedalyvavo profesinės reabilitacijos procese buvo apklausiami tik tuose neįgaliųjų dienos užimtumo centruose, kuriuose buvo teikiama ir profesinės reabilitacijos paslauga žmonėms su negalia. Ieškant tiriamųjų buvo bendradarbiaujama su organizacijomis teikiančiomis profesinės reabilitacijos ir dienos užimtumo paslaugas žmonėms su negalia. Tyrime naudotą anketą sudarė demografiniai klausimai ir trys metodikos. Pirmoji metodika matavo motyvaciją dirbti. Klausimai apie motyvaciją dirbti ir dalyvauti profesinės reabilitacijos procese buvo sudarytas šio darbo autorės ir darbo vadovės, remiantis literatūros analize, išskiriant esminius motyvacijos dirbti aspektus. Antroji matavo savęs vertinimą, kurį matuoti buvo pasirinkta Rozenbergo savęs vertinimo skalė (Rosenberg Self – Esteem Scale). Trečioji skalė matavo saviveiksmingumą, kuriam matuoti buvo pasirinkta M. Sherer, J. E. Maddux, B... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim of this research was to identify relationships between disabled people motivation to work, social self-efficacy and self- assessment in vocational rehabilitation process. The study involved 206 subjects. The study included 122 women and 84 men. Participated in the study, people with disabilities average age – 41,33 years. The youngest person involved in the study was 19 years old and the oldest - 64 years of age. The respondents were people with disabilities who participated in vocational rehabilitation of persons with disabilities or attended day care centers. The survey was carried out in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Tauragė. Participants who did not participate in the vocational rehabilitation process has been questioned only in the disabled day care centers, where there were also a vocational rehabilitation service for people with disabilities. Finding subjects was cooperating with organizations that provide vocational rehabilitation services and day care for people with disabilities. The study used questionnaire consisted of demographic questions and three methodological instruments. The first method measured motivation to work. Questions about motivation and participation in vocational rehabilitation was made by the author of this study and scientific adviser, highlighting the key aspects of motivation to work. The second method measured self-evaluation by Rosenberg Self - Esteem Scale. The third scale measured social self – efficacy by M. Sherer , JE... [to full text]

The purpose of this study was to determine whether traditional learn-to-swim progressions, leading to the front and back swim, were developmentally valid for children with physical disabilities. / Forty children between the ages of 5 and 12 years participated in this study. The children were described according to four descriptive characteristics: disability type, functional sport classification, mode of ambulation, and need of a flotation device. The children required recommendation from their regular aquatic instructor as being comfortable in the water to participate in the study. In addition, each child had to pass a water orientation-adjustment test. / The developmental validity of the progressions was assessed by testing the children on seven skills: rhythmic breathing, front float, front glide, front swim, back float, back glide, and back swim. A pass consisted of all criteria for success being met for a particular skill. The data were analyzed to determine the number of children who followed the typical progression and the number who followed an atypical progression. / The results indicated that the proposed learn-to-swim progressions for both the front swim and back swim were not developmentally valid for most children with physical disabilities who were neither extremely high nor low in functional sport ability. / These results are consistent with the views of ecological theory and suggest that not all children with physical disabilities will reach an end-goal using the same means. Aquatic instructors therefore, need to adapt their teaching methods to the individual strengths of their students.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 340-375).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Newcastle, 2004. / School of Social Sciences. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 269-292). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph.D)--University of Wollongong, 2006. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: page 294-309.