The problem of this study was to determine if career awareness groups which use Guided Imagery (GI) and the California Occupational Preference System (COPS), both individually and in combination, have a positive effect on career attitude maturity, oi* disabled college students as measured by the Career Maturity Inventory Attitude Scale (CMI-A). This study involved three experimental groups (GI, COPS, & GI-COPS) and a control group. Participants included thirty-two volunteer disabled college students attending four community colleges in an urban area in the Southwest (Texas). There were eight volunteers per campus, and each campus constituted a group. Each group met once for 120 minutes. After consent was obtained, subjects completed the CMI-A. The general sequence was: introduction; instructions specific to the group condition; presentation of assigned stimulus condition; group discussion of reactions to the presented stimulus; control group members completed the post administration of the CMI-A; and group members' completion of the post administration of the CMI-A, with the exception of the control group which discussed reactions to the presented stimulus.

The purpose of this research study was to foster improved intercultural communication and understanding in the studied organizations and to foster diversity related discussion in the Oregon developmental disabilities services industry. Research was conducted by collecting data from 16 human resource managers who work in human services organizations serving people with developmental disabilities. Through the use of an email survey and follow-up telephone interviews with a subgroup ofthe 16 participants, data were gathered regarding participant perspectives on their organizations' diversity initiatives and on their suggestions for effective diversity strategies. Specific areas of focus included: the benefits and barriers to workplace diversity and strategies to foster workplace diversity. The research produced a comprehensive set of strategies that focused on the following six areas: leadership commitment to diversity; organizational commitment to diversity; organizational commitment to diversity training; the modification of human resources practices to accommodate diverse cultural needs; the consideration of alternative service configurations and job descriptions to accommodate different cultural needs; and the development of a comprehensive community outreach program.

Mozambique is a least developed country (LDC), and is among the five lowest on the Human Development Index and is known to have no specific protection of people with disabilities (PWDs) with as up to specific legislation has been adopted but g but general laws on social welfare. Although the 2004 Constitution has a generic protection norm nothing much can be found in the whole system. Unfortunately, the 1990 Constitution was more protective and more specifics; the former roughly reduced the extent of protection that existed before. It can be said that Mozambique does not have any protection of PWDs at all. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2011. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / nf2012 / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

No description available.

Disability rights laws in the United States have been designed to promote integration through a “mainstreaming” model—integrating disabled people into mainstream society. In contrast, this dissertation documents and analyzes the emergence of a different integration model—inverse integration—which involves situations in which nondisabled people enter disability-focused settings or participate in disability-focused activities. As this dissertation demonstrates, inverse integration is surprisingly popular. For example, in contemporary U.S. society, nondisabled students study in “special education” programs, nondisabled people reside in housing projects for disabled individuals, hearing actors perform in Deaf theatres, and nondisabled athletes compete in wheelchair sports. By looking outside the mainstream, this dissertation tests the normative underpinnings of conventional integration. For example, by analyzing the integration of nondisabled children into special education classrooms, the dissertation provides an explanation for why interactions between disabled and nondisabled students in schools have so far failed to shift attitudes toward disability. Similarly, by examining the reasons behind nondisabled people’s desire to play wheelchair basketball or learn sign language, it sheds new light on disability rights law’s limitations in promoting relationships. Finally, by pointing to the differing ways in which elite sports organizations treat athletes’ physical injuries, on one hand, and mental health issues, on the other, this dissertation exposes another angle of the stigma surrounding mental health in the mainstream discourse. In terms of methodology, this dissertation has taken a socio-legal approach, using empirical and theoretical work in the areas of sociology, anthropology, history, and social psychology. In one chapter, I conducted an empirical study (systematic content analysis) of legal decisions. Influenced by disability studies, this dissertation has also drawn upon the personal experiences of disabled people and references memoirs of disabled athletes, scholars, and activists, as well as personal narratives featured in blog posts, op-eds, and legal scholarship. The dissertation is divided into three chapters. The first chapter, Reversing Reverse Mainstreaming, documents and criticizes the practice of “reverse mainstreaming,” whereby nondisabled children are integrated into classes for disabled students. Using a historical account and systematic analysis of hundreds of administrative decisions, this chapter describes the circumstances that gave rise to reverse mainstreaming and analyzes the practice’s normative underpinnings. In doing so, this chapter exposes a conundrum: On one hand, educators and judges have long justified reverse mainstreaming by pointing to its potential to reduce prejudice through structured interactions between disabled and nondisabled students. On the other hand, reverse mainstreaming often treats disabled students as inferior to their nondisabled peers and imposes mainstream norms at the expense of disability culture. Thus, rather than reducing prejudice, such structured interactions may perpetuate the very stigma and misconceptions they are designed to eradicate. Moreover, as this chapter details, reverse mainstreaming can lead to distributional inequality when it comes to scarce resources. Combining insights from social psychology and disability studies, this chapter proposes guidelines for legal and policy reform aimed at ensuring that intergroup interactions in educational settings take more egalitarian forms. The second chapter, Inverse Integration and the Relational Deficit of Disability Rights Law, takes a broader perspective. It develops a typology of inverse integration practices and analyzes the interaction of such practices with existing U.S. disability law. It shows that legal and social norms generally hinder the involvement of nondisabled people in disabled spaces or activities. Against this backdrop, the seeming popularity of inverse integration is a puzzle. What is driving this practice? The answer has to do with relationships. Combining insights from sociology, anthropology, social psychology, disability studies, and law, this chapter demonstrates how inverse integration allows disabled and nondisabled people to share experiences, interests, and common language with family members, friends, and intimate partners. These interactive features of inverse integration stand in stark contrast to disability rights laws’ general failure to protect, facilitate, and reinforce interpersonal relationships. In a society where in-person interactions are becoming less and less common, these relational advantages of inverse integration seem particularly exigent. Drawing upon instances of inverse integration, this chapter imagines what a more relational disability rights regime would look like and proposes specific interventions. The third chapter, Gambling on disability Rights, identifies a barrier for inclusion of disabled athletes in elite sports: the regulation of sports betting. It argues that recently adopted rules of elite sports organizations, which ban the disclosure of material information that might be used for betting (“anti-tipping rules”), have a detrimental effect on athletes with psychosocial impairments (e.g., general anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder). Because psychosocial impairments may significantly affect the ability of athletes to perform at the highest levels, anti-tipping rules prohibit athletes from disclosing their impairments. This forced secrecy, in turn, may adversely affect athletes’ mental health and might prevent them from claiming protections to which they are entitled under disability rights laws. Perhaps most importantly, given that athletes are public figures who serve as role models for many, these rules might perpetuate the stigma surrounding mental health in society at large. The chapter proposes strategies to resolve this problem by drawing on the rule against insider trading in securities law.

Section A is a review of the current literature on sports involvement with respect to people with learning disabilities. It begins by describing the health status of people with learning disabilities and provides a context of sport and wellbeing in the general population. It continues by describing four reviews of the literature exploring people with learning disabilities with respect to sports involvement. This section ends with a description of the Special Olympics research and suggests future research needs in this area. Section B describes a quantitative cross-sectional study comparing two groups of sports active and non-active people with learning disabilities using several psychological measures. Objectives. There is evidence that people with learning disabilities have poorer mental and physical wellbeing compared with that of the wider population. The aim of this study was to explore whether a group of people with learning disabilities involved in sport differed in terms of psychological well-being compared with a group not involved in sport. Design. A cross sectional design was employed comparing two groups, sports active and non-active on the variables: Self-esteem, quality of life, stress levels and social networks. Methods. Seventy four participants were recruited across South East England. They completed a number of psychological measures. Results. Analysis revealed that self-esteem, quality of life, social networks and stress were all significantly correlated with Special Olympics involvement. A logistic regression analysis was used to explore whether scores on these variables were able to predict sport membership. Self-esteem was found to be a high predictor of group membership, those in the Special Olympics having higher self-esteem. Conclusions. The findings provide further evidence of a positive association between sport involvement and increased psychological wellbeing. The implications of these findings for theory and future research into the relationship between sport and psychological wellbeing within the learning disabled population is considered. Section C is a critical appraisal of the quantitative study that considers four aspects: research skills; amendments to the study if it were replicated; how the study may have influenced clinical practice; and finally, further research and methods relating to this area.

This thesis is about pastoral work with people who live with mobility impairment. The research address two main questions, namely "What are the implications of acquired mobility impairment for personal identity and collective identity?" and "How can we in Christian faith communities, through pastoral work, facilitate a sense of belonging and strengthen personal identity and collective identity for people who are mobility disadvantaged?" This thesis therefore addresses the problem of identity. Thus, a theoretical analysis from literature sources is undertaken to explore theories about narrative identity in relation to personal identity and the importance of the metaphor "belonging" to bridge the gap of personal identity to collective identity. Consequently, religious identity is discussed in relation to the notion of multiple identities and the importance of collective identity to shaping personal identity. The research questions are answered through a theoretical exploration of approaches to disability and qualitative, narrative empirical research is undertaken. A few people who are quadriplegic, a family member and an occupational therapist are interviewed and the recounting of their "stories" facilitated. The empirical research results in highlighting that the research participants' "stories" discloses a link between bodily restrictions and social restrictions to mobility. This combination works together to make social interaction very difficult and clearly influenced the transition from pre-quadriplegia to post-quadriplegia. Analysing the "stories" told by the research participants allows for critical reflection on a preferred pastoral work praxis to people living with mobility impairment. Narrative identity is linked with a theology of embrace and metaphors of "covenant" and "belonging" which expresses that faith communities should imitate the embracing love and compassion of the Triune God who through the act of suffering included all humankind. It provides the foundation for a preferred pastoral work praxis of "embrace" which can be practised holistically and actively through integration with the other practices of faith communities to facilitate a sense of belonging to a collective identity. / Practical Theology / D. Th. (Practical Theology)

This study, BLACK COMMUNITY ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE DISABLED - EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS, set out to investigate the attitude of the black community towards the disabled. Literature was consulted to provide a backdrop against which the empirical surveys could be measured. The study used systematic observation interviews for data collection. Appointments were made to conduct the interviews. The study obtained responses from 70 interviewees from four African cultures namely the Vend~ Pedi, Tsonga and Ndebele, who were divided into seven groups, ten per group, i.e. parents of the disabled, the disabled themselves, siblings of the disabled, parents of non-disabled, youth, old people and professional workers. Findings indicated that disabilities such as cerebral palsy, orthopaedic disabilities, blindness and deafness are undesirable and constitute problems in the life of a disabled, their families in general perspective and the community at large. Disabilities constituted different attitudes and were identified as varying from total rejection to acceptance which are brought about by the components of the TRIPARTITE MODEL I A B C MODEL being cognitive, affective and behavioural. Education of the whole black community concerning the issue of disabled people seems to be the only answer to bring about a change of attitude towards the disabled. Therefore a number of recommendations were included to serve as guidance and counselling so that myth and witchcraft ideologies and negative attitudes can be uprooted. The researcher hopes that the effort that went into this· study will be beneficial in the process of educating the black community about the disabled with the ultimate goal of changing existing negative attitudes towards the disabled into positive attitudes of acceptance and support. / Psychology of Education / D Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Thesis (DPhil (Psychology))—University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Since the 1970s, the international disability movement has galvanised around the "social model" of disability, as an adversarial response to traditional, individualising "medical" accounts of disablement. The model foregrounds "disablist ideology", identifying systematic exclusion and discrimination as central mediators of disabled life. Latterly, feminist authors within disability studies have problematised the "arid" materialist orientation of the social model, for its eschewing of personal and psychological aspects of disability, and poor theorising of embodiment. Social model orthodoxy construes the psychological as epiphenomenal, diversionary, and potentially misappropriated in the buttressing of pathologising accounts of disablement. A legacy of "traditional" psychoanalytic theorising on disability implies causal links between bodily difference and psychopathology, eliding a critical interrogation of oppression in mediating the severely marginal social and economic destiny of the disabled minority. The new "critical" psychoanalytic approach to disability interprets broad social responses to disablement as the enactment of defences engaged in reaction to the universal unconscious existential conflicts evoked by disability images. The present work seeks to elaborate the integration of psychoanalysis into disability studies, towards development of a politically situated psychology of disability oppression, which creates theoretical links connecting ideology with the nature of individual subjectivity. Conceptual ideas to begin describing the psycho-emotional aspects of disablist oppression and impairment were developed via an integration of clinical data with a renewed, psychoanalytically informed critical synthesis of disability-related research from a range of disciplines. Clinical data was gathered via psychoanalytically oriented group psychotherapy with severely physically impaired university students. Full transcriptions and in-depth fieldnotes were utilised as a record of data, which was then analysed via interpretive, psychoanalytic and "interpretive auto-ethnographic" methods. Follow-up interviews were held to assess the resonance and utility of new concepts. A range of theoretical contributions was combined in illuminating the modernist cultural and political underpinnings of oppressive responses to the impaired body, and integrated with accounts of the psychological and relational predicaments of disablism gleaned from the clinical record. Topics drawn from literature, critically evaluated, developed and re-synthesised included narcissistic culture, the family, "medicalisation", social mirroring, internalised oppression, liminality, and representations of disability in charity, art and modern bioethics. The nature of countertransference dynamics in therapeutic work with disabled people was considered. Key concepts from the clinical data were developed and progressively reformulated; these included the distortion of boundaries, the discourse of loss, control, independence, identity, complicity, trauma, and the imperative to silencing the subjective experience of disabled life. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die internasionale gestremdheidsbeweging mobiliseer sedert die 1970’s rondom die “sosiale model” van gestremdheid - in afwysende reaksie op tradisionele individualiserende, “mediese” diskoerse. Dié model plaas die kollig op “gestremdheidsideologie”, en identifiseer sistematiese uitsluiting en diskriminasie as die sentrale bemiddelaars van die gestremde lewe. In die laaste tyd word die “droëe” materialistiese benadering van die sosiale model egter deur feministiese outeurs binne gestremdhiedsstudies geproblematiseer, spesifiek as synde ontwykend van die persoonlike en sielkundige aspekte van gestremdheid, en vanweë die model se swak teoretisering van beliggaming. Die ortodokse sosiale model beskou die sielkundige as ‘n epifenomeen, ’n afleiding, en potensieël kaapbaar in diens van patologiserende narratiewe oor gestremdheid. ‘n Nalatenskap van “tradisionele” psigoanalitiese teoretisering oor gestremdheid impliseer kousale verbande tussen liggaamlike alteriteit en psigopatologie, wat lei tot die weglating van ‘n kritiese ondervraging van verdrukking in die bemiddeling van die uiters marginale sosiale en ekonomiese lotsbestemming van die gestremde minderheidsgroep. Die nuwe “kritiese” psigo-analitiese benadering tot gestremdheid interpreteer breë sosiale response op gestremdheid as die aktivering van verdedigingsmeganismes in reaksie op universele onbewuste eksistensiële konflikte wat deur beelde van gestremdheid na vore geroep word. In hierdie verhandeling word daar gepoog om die integrasie van psigo-analise binne gestremdheidstudies uit te dy, en ‘n aanset te lewer tot die ontwikkelling van ’n polities-gesitueerde sielkunde van gestremdheidsverdrukking, waardeur teoretiese verbande tussen ideologie en die aard van individuele subjektiwiteit gelê word. ‘n Aanvanklike begripsapperatuur ten einde die beskrywing van die psigo-affektiewe aspekte van gestremdheidsverdrukking en –benadeling aan die gang te sit, is deur middel van ’n integrasie van kliniese data met ’n hernude, psigoanalities skatpligtige kritiese sintese van gestremdheidsgeoriënteerde navorsing in ‘n verskeidenheid van vakdissiplines ontwikkel. Kliniese data is met behulp van psigo-analitiesgerigde groepspsigoterapiesessies met fisiek swaar gestremde universiteitstudente versamel. Volledige transkripsies en uitgebreide veld-aantekeninge is gebruik as data-rekord, wat dan vervolgens deur middel van interpretatiewe, psigo-analitiese en “interpretatiewe autoetnografiese” metodes geanaliseer is. Opvolg-onderhoude is gehou ten einde die mate van weerklank en bruikbaarheid van die nuwe konsepte te evalueer. ’n Verskeidenheid teoretiese bydrae is gekombineer ten einde die modernistiese kulturele en politieke stutte van verdrukkende response tot die belemmerde liggaam te belig, en is voorts geïntegreer met beskrywings van die sielkundige en verhoudingsmatige verknorsings van gestremdheid wat uit die kliniese rekord vergader is. Onderwerpe wat uit die literatuur ontleen, krities geëvalueer, ontwikkel en hersintetiseer is, sluit in die kultuur van narcisme, die gesin, “medikalisering”, sosiale spieëling, geïnternaliseerde verdrukking, liminaliteit, sowel as uitbeeldings van gestremdheid in barmhartigheidsdiens, kuns en bio-etiek. Die aard van teenoordrag-dinamieke in terapeutiese werk met gestremdes is ook in oorweging geneem. Sleutelbegrippe ontleen aan die kliniese data is ontwikkel en vootdurend herformuleer; hierdie sluit in die verwringing van grenslyne, die diskoers van verlies, van beheer, onafhanklikheid, identiteit, medepligtigheid, trauma, en die imperatief tot stilswye oor die subjektiewe ervaring van die gestremde lewe.

A literature review examines how mental health difficulties may differ for people with learning disabilities (PwLD) and the general population; with respect to their vulnerability to mental ill-health and the definition, presentation and treatment of mental health problems. Factors which have been found to positively impact on the mental health of PwLD are then explored. The review considers methodological limitations and gaps in our understanding, highlighting a need for further research focusing on mental health recovery for individuals with learning disabilities. Section B presents a study exploring what recovery means for people with learning disabilities and mental health difficulties. Interviews were conducted with nine individuals and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis used. A model was developed which described participants’ entry to the therapeutic service and their progression towards recovery. The model firstly describes how participants felt entering the service, their Mental Health/Therapy Experience, and explains how these experiences were validated and the recovery process enabled through the therapeutic alliance. Once enabled, the second dimension of the model is detailed, that of the Client Recovery Experience which extends across three phases of recovery. The first phase, Feeling Better describes elements perceived as integral to improved mental health. The second phase, Recovery Ongoing identifies that more input is required. Thirdly, Attainability?: Reality, Ideals and Fantasy, reveals PwLD’s perceptions of recovery and the techniques used in striving to achieve this. Salient features of recovery specific to PwLD are recognised as important to clinical practice, and results suggest there is a need to openly discuss LD identity, and address idealisations surrounding a non-LD one. This would involve setting realistic goals and managing expectations accordingly and focussing on social integration as a way of enabling ongoing recovery.