People with learning disabilities are subject to a wide range of potential interferences with their choices and freedoms when they are 'placed' in institutional care services. The cumulative and pervasive impact of these regimes can be monumentally detrimental to self and wellbeing. Some have suggested that a new law, the Mental Capacity Act 2005, may limit the interferences that people with disabilities are subject to in care services. In this thesis, I subject the Mental Capacity Act to a critique drawn from new republican political theory. I argue that far from limiting the interferences that people with disabilities are subject to, the Act creates a mechanism which permits a proliferation of arbitrary interferences in people's everyday lives, with little recourse for people to 'invigilate' such interferences. I base this argument on a critical analysis of case law connected to the Mental Capacity Act, and by critically examining four key mechanisms of enforcement: Independent Mental Capacity Advocates, the Court of Protection, complaints procedures and regulation by the Care Quality Commission. I argue that, paradoxically, a framework for detention introduced by the Act - the deprivation of liberty safeguards - in fact contains more ingredients for ameliorating states of domination in these services than the Mental Capacity Act itself. However, the safeguards also suffer from serious defects. I conclude by discussing what lessons may be drawn from the problems with the Mental Capacity Act and the safeguards for wider reform efforts connected with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The first purpose of this study was to develop and validate the Inventory of Opinions About Persons with Disabilities (IOPD). The IOPD was developed to collect preservice early childhood educators’self-report data related to inclusion. A total of 332 participants enrolled in graduate programs in a college of education served as the validation sample. After validation and revision of the IOPD, the researcher used the instrument to investigate preservice early childhood educators’ beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge about students with disabilities and their inclusion in general education classrooms. Data were collected from 172 participants from 10 universities in Texas during their student teaching/final intern semesters. This research demonstrated that an instrument, the IOPD, could be developed to effectively measure preservice early childhood educators’ beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge about the inclusion of children with disabilities in their classrooms. The participants reported positive self-perceptions (mean = 2.0388) about their beliefs and attitudes toward inclusion. However, the participants reported less positive attitudes about training (mean = -.09884). Discriminant function analyses indicated a negligible statistical effect for type of program (professional development school or traditional) and a statistically significant effect for preferred classroom setting (non-inclusive, special education, inclusive). Further research with the same participants or similar cohorts at one and three years of inservice teaching could broaden the scope of knowledge regarding early childhood teachers’ opinions about inclusion and students with disabilities. In addition, including procedures for gathering qualitative data with the Inventory of Opinions About Persons With Disabilities might provide more specific information about individual beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge about inclusion.

Introdução. As pessoas com deficiência são um grupo populacional que em virtude de suas condições de saúde, apresentam algumas dificuldades na acessibilidade aos serviços de saúde. Objetivo. Estudar os problemas de acessibilidade de pessoas com deficiências físicas, visuais e/ou auditivas aos serviços de saúde em áreas do Estado de São Paulo, bem como as variações existentes segundo o tipo de deficiência e variáveis sociodemográficas. Material e Métodos. Estudo transversal com entrevistas domiciliares realizado em duas fases distintas. Fase I: entrevistas com 25 indivíduos com alguma deficiência, por meio de questionário qualitativo, com perguntas abertas, sobre os problemas de acessibilidade enfrentados no uso dos serviços de saúde, analisadas pelo método do \"Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo\". Fase II: entrevistas com 333 pessoas com deficiência, por meio de questionário fechado, que teve como tema os problemas de acessibilidade aos serviços de saúde, além de outros. Esse questionário originou-se dos resultados da Fase I, de perguntas encontradas em outras pesquisas e de conceitos da Classificação Internacional de Funcionalidade, Incapacidade e Saúde (CIF). Os dados foram analisados com frequências simples, Qui-quadrado, Qui-Quadrado de tendência e regressão de Poisson com variância robusta. O software utilizado na análise é o Stata 9.2®. Resultados. Os principais problemas de acessibilidade citados pelos entrevistados são o tempo de espera para ser atendido, a ausência de rampas, de estacionamento e de sanitários adaptados, de salas de espera com lugares insuficientes, falta de cadeira de rodas para pacientes e salas bloqueadas por obstáculos. Problemas de acessibilidade aos serviços de saúde foram relatados por 15,92 por cento dos 333 entrevistados. As pessoas com paralisia, amputação ou deficiências múltiplas, as pessoas com idade menor que 78 anos de idade ou as que precisavam de ajuda para ir ao serviço de saúde, tiveram mais problemas que os outros. Dos 160 entrevistados com alguma deficiência auditiva, 35 por cento relataram problemas para ouvir e entender o que foi dito pelos profissionais de saúde. Conclusões. Problemas como tempo de espera, ausência de rampas e/ou estacionamento, dificuldades de comunicação com os profissionais de saúde e acessibilidade às salas do serviço de saúde foram relatados pelos entrevistados. O estudo dos problemas de acessibilidade de pessoas com deficiência aos serviços de saúde pode ajudar na orientação e na criação de políticas e de programas específicos para esse grupo populacional, visando a melhoria da sua saúde geral e qualidade de vida, por meio do incremento da acessibilidade aos serviços de saúde / Introduction. People with disabilities are a population group that have some difficulties in accessibility to health services due to their health conditions. Objective. To study the problems of accessibility of people with physical, hearing and/or visual disabilities to health services in areas of São Paulo state, as well as some discrepancy according to the type of disability and socio-demographic variables. Methods. Cross-sectional study with household interviews conducted in two phases. Phase I: 25 persons with disability were interviewed with an open questionnaire. The interviews were taped, transcribed and the method of data analysis was the Discourse of the Collective Subject. The program Qualiquantsoft was used to analyze the qualitative data. Phase II: 333 persons with disabilities were interviewed with a closed questionnaire that was derived from the original results of Phase I, questions found in other questionnaires and concepts of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Data were analyzed using simple frequencies, ?2-test, ?2-test for trend and Poisson regression with robust variance. The software used in the analysis was Stata 9.2®. Results. The main accessibility problems cited by respondents was the waiting time to be served; no ramps, parking and/or adapted toilets; waiting room with insufficient places; lack of wheelchairs for patients; and rooms blocked by obstacles. Problems of accessibility to health services were reported by 15.92 per cent of the 333 respondents. People with paralysis or amputation or multiple disabilities, as well as those younger than 78 years of age or those who needed help to go to health service, had more problems than others. 35 per cent of the 160 interviewed reported hearing problems to listen and understand what had been said by health professionals. Conclusions. Problems such the waiting time; no ramps; inappropriate parking; poor communication with health professionals and accessibility to the rooms of the health service were reported. The determination of these issues may influence the creation of specific policies and programs for this population group, aiming to improve their overall health and quality of life, through the increment of the accessibility to health services

O direito à educação de pessoas com deficiência tem provocado e instigado inúmeras discussões, de caráter político e acadêmico, de forma intensa desde os anos 90. Tais discussões transitam pela defesa do acesso à educação, pela busca de novas formas de se compreender e analisar as situações de deficiências, pela constituição de políticas sociais não assistencialistas, pela discussão da relação público e privado na promoção de serviços de atenção às especificidades das deficiências, e, ainda, pelo financiamento necessário para uma atenção de qualidade. Esses campos se desdobram em seus interiores em tantos outros, mas todos terão como diretriz de suas proposições a garantia de um tratamento igualitário, sob as premissas dos direitos humanos. A proposição da pesquisa, desenvolvida nessa dissertação, centrou-se especificamente no campo da educação e na análise da Política Nacional de Educação Especial na Perspectiva Inclusiva (PNEE), considerando-se que tal documento buscou interpretar e direcionar as transformações necessárias no direito à educação das pessoas com deficiência, como uma resposta, ao conjunto de discussões. O papel da educação especial e a correlação com a educação inclusiva também serão abordados buscando compreender as relações e as consequências destas aproximações na política educacional. Dessa forma, a partir do fundamento, talvez principal na escrita desse documento, de que a reconfiguração dessa área primava pela atenção aos direitos humanos, definiu-se como objetivo primeiro e basal, inclusive como procedimento metodológico, retomar o estabelecimento da educação como um direito humano, no conjunto dos direitos sociais, e a implicação dessa diretriz na formulação das políticas públicas. Apresentou-se, complementar à análise, a necessária discussão sobre o universal e o focalizado na elaboração das políticas públicas, além da necessidade de se diferenciar, no interior das ações específicas direcionadas a grupos também específicos, as ações direcionadas de atenção e aquelas formuladas sob a égide da focalização no interior de uma política de Estado mínimo. Outro objetivo estabelecido, temática também muito cara no interior do objeto de estudo proposto para análise, foi compreender como perpassa ao debate a discussão sobre a experiência humana da deficiência, proposta por diferentes modelos e abordagens, e que tem consequências diretas na formulação das políticas sociais, seja na forma de atenção direcionada ou focalizada. Tomou-se como pressuposto para a análise as discussões do modelo social de compreensão da deficiência, pois esse é o modelo de maior aderência, até o presente momento, nos debates das políticas públicas de atenção à pessoa com deficiência no cenário nacional. Por fim, retomo o documento da PNEE buscando realizar análise do conteúdo, aí presente, das interpretações do direito à educação, a partir das perspectivas construídas nas discussões propostas anteriormente nessa dissertação. Não se colocou como objetivo nesse ponto analisar os contextos de influência que resultaram na elaboração, no entanto, ainda que se apresente como expressão discursiva de uma hegemonia do pensamento nacional, as brechas e contradições se apresentam. / The right to education of persons with disabilities has provoked and instigated numerous discussions of political and academic character, intensely since the 1990s. Such discussions transit through the defense of access to education, seeking new ways to understand and analyse situations of disability, by the constitution of nonassistentialist social policies, the discussion of public and private relations in the promotion of attention services to the specificities of disabilities, and also by the financing needed for quality attention. These fields unfold in their interiors and in so many others, but all of them will have as guideline of their propositions the guarantee of an equal treatment, under the premises of human rights. The research proposition, developed in this dissertation, focused specifically on the field of education and analysis of the National Policy on Special Education in the Inclusive Perspective (PNEE), considering that such document sought to interpret and direct the necessary transformations in the right to education of persons with disabilities, as an answer to the set of discussions. The role of special education and the correlation with inclusive education will also be addressed aiming to understand the relationships and consequences of these approaches in educational policy. Thus, from the foundation, perhaps main in the writing of this document, that the reconfiguration of this area highlighted by the attention to human rights, it was defined as a first and basal objective, including as a methodological procedure, to retake the establishment of education as a human right, in the social rights as a whole, and the implication of this guideline in the formulation of public policies. The necessary discussion about the universal and the focused on the elaboration of public policies was presented, complementary to the analysis. It was also considered necessary to differentiate the specific actions also directed to specific groups, the targeted actions of attention and those formulated under the support of focusing inside a minimal state policy. Another established objective, which is also thematically important within the study object proposed for analysis, is to understand the discussion about the human experience of disability, proposed by different models and approaches and which have direct consequences on the formulation of social policies, either in the targeted or focused attention way. The discussion of the social model of understanding disability was taken as the presupposition for this analysis, since this is the greater adherence model, up to the present moment, in the debates of the public policies of attention to the persons with disability, in the national scenario. Finally, I return to the PNEE (National Policy on Special Education in the Inclusive Perspective) document aiming to content analysis of the present discourse of the interpretations of the right to education, from the built up perspectives earlier proposed in this dissertation. It was not aimed at this point to analyse the contexts of influence that resulted in the elaboration, however, even if it presents itself as a discursive expression of a hegemony of national thought, the breaches and contradictions are present.

Introdução. As pessoas com deficiência são um grupo populacional que em virtude de suas condições de saúde, apresentam algumas dificuldades na acessibilidade aos serviços de saúde. Objetivo. Estudar os problemas de acessibilidade de pessoas com deficiências físicas, visuais e/ou auditivas aos serviços de saúde em áreas do Estado de São Paulo, bem como as variações existentes segundo o tipo de deficiência e variáveis sociodemográficas. Material e Métodos. Estudo transversal com entrevistas domiciliares realizado em duas fases distintas. Fase I: entrevistas com 25 indivíduos com alguma deficiência, por meio de questionário qualitativo, com perguntas abertas, sobre os problemas de acessibilidade enfrentados no uso dos serviços de saúde, analisadas pelo método do \"Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo\". Fase II: entrevistas com 333 pessoas com deficiência, por meio de questionário fechado, que teve como tema os problemas de acessibilidade aos serviços de saúde, além de outros. Esse questionário originou-se dos resultados da Fase I, de perguntas encontradas em outras pesquisas e de conceitos da Classificação Internacional de Funcionalidade, Incapacidade e Saúde (CIF). Os dados foram analisados com frequências simples, Qui-quadrado, Qui-Quadrado de tendência e regressão de Poisson com variância robusta. O software utilizado na análise é o Stata 9.2®. Resultados. Os principais problemas de acessibilidade citados pelos entrevistados são o tempo de espera para ser atendido, a ausência de rampas, de estacionamento e de sanitários adaptados, de salas de espera com lugares insuficientes, falta de cadeira de rodas para pacientes e salas bloqueadas por obstáculos. Problemas de acessibilidade aos serviços de saúde foram relatados por 15,92 por cento dos 333 entrevistados. As pessoas com paralisia, amputação ou deficiências múltiplas, as pessoas com idade menor que 78 anos de idade ou as que precisavam de ajuda para ir ao serviço de saúde, tiveram mais problemas que os outros. Dos 160 entrevistados com alguma deficiência auditiva, 35 por cento relataram problemas para ouvir e entender o que foi dito pelos profissionais de saúde. Conclusões. Problemas como tempo de espera, ausência de rampas e/ou estacionamento, dificuldades de comunicação com os profissionais de saúde e acessibilidade às salas do serviço de saúde foram relatados pelos entrevistados. O estudo dos problemas de acessibilidade de pessoas com deficiência aos serviços de saúde pode ajudar na orientação e na criação de políticas e de programas específicos para esse grupo populacional, visando a melhoria da sua saúde geral e qualidade de vida, por meio do incremento da acessibilidade aos serviços de saúde / Introduction. People with disabilities are a population group that have some difficulties in accessibility to health services due to their health conditions. Objective. To study the problems of accessibility of people with physical, hearing and/or visual disabilities to health services in areas of São Paulo state, as well as some discrepancy according to the type of disability and socio-demographic variables. Methods. Cross-sectional study with household interviews conducted in two phases. Phase I: 25 persons with disability were interviewed with an open questionnaire. The interviews were taped, transcribed and the method of data analysis was the Discourse of the Collective Subject. The program Qualiquantsoft was used to analyze the qualitative data. Phase II: 333 persons with disabilities were interviewed with a closed questionnaire that was derived from the original results of Phase I, questions found in other questionnaires and concepts of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Data were analyzed using simple frequencies, ?2-test, ?2-test for trend and Poisson regression with robust variance. The software used in the analysis was Stata 9.2®. Results. The main accessibility problems cited by respondents was the waiting time to be served; no ramps, parking and/or adapted toilets; waiting room with insufficient places; lack of wheelchairs for patients; and rooms blocked by obstacles. Problems of accessibility to health services were reported by 15.92 per cent of the 333 respondents. People with paralysis or amputation or multiple disabilities, as well as those younger than 78 years of age or those who needed help to go to health service, had more problems than others. 35 per cent of the 160 interviewed reported hearing problems to listen and understand what had been said by health professionals. Conclusions. Problems such the waiting time; no ramps; inappropriate parking; poor communication with health professionals and accessibility to the rooms of the health service were reported. The determination of these issues may influence the creation of specific policies and programs for this population group, aiming to improve their overall health and quality of life, through the increment of the accessibility to health services

Background: At the central administrative level in Sweden, care work is presented as a complex task for which personnel require special qualifications. In elderly care, questions of training and qualifications form the highly topical theme noticed by central actors. According to The National Board of Health and Welfare, the supply of manpower and the educational levels of the workers are the most important factors in ensuring high quality care for the elderly. The question of educational levels is, however, with the exception of personal assistants, not given as much attention in care for people with disabilities. Aim: The aim of this dissertation is firstly to compare elderly care and care for persons with disabilities with the focus to describe and analyse education and work environment in these sectors. Secondly, the aim is to analyse if, and if so how, questions of education interacts with personnel’s view of the social work environment. Methods: The thesis is comprised of four studies and paper 1, 2 and 3 are based on the results of a qualitative interview study, which was comprised of 48 persons who worked in elderly care and the care for persons with disabilities. Of the 48 persons who took part in the study, 11 of them worked as middle managers and 37 worked as care workers in the every day care. Paper 4 consists of a research summary on how education for care workers is being studied in a Swedish and an international context. The personnel who participated in the interview study work in different care settings; in elderly care the personnel work in both sheltered housing and public home care services. In the care for disabled persons, the personnel work in residential housing with special services, in public daily activities for people with intellectual disabilities and as personal assistants. Result: Both managers and personnel find it important for care workers to have a degree of educational background as a basis for the learning process at the work place. The results also show that educational levels and the work environment are themes that are discussed differently by different actors. In previous research on education for care workers in both elderly care and the care for People with disabilities, academic education or education at a ground level has been seen as problematic due to the distance it is said to create between the worker and the care recipient. My results show that the discussion about education for care workers has become rather biased, and that highly educated personnel tend to be more aware of the power they possesses and that the relation to the care receiver is important. In elderly care the issue of education seems to be more a question of a general educational level. In the care for people with disabilities, the question of education for personnel is on a more individual basis, where the care workers learn together with the care recipient. Educational levels, the work environment and relations with colleagues and care recipients are connected and support from the managers is important for understanding the work and the relational perspective.

<p>Internationally, the rights of persons with disabilities to participate as full members of society through inclusive education has become a high priority with the adoption of the first legally binding treaty, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006). In keeping with our culture of acknowledging the rights of all, South Africa has already made great strides towards fulfilling these rights and is in the implementation phase of Education White Paper 6: Building an Inclusive Education and Training System (Department of Education, 2001). In spite of this, the practicability of implementing inclusive education is questioned by many. The inclusion of learners who are blind in neighbourhood schools, as opposed to &lsquo / special schools&rsquo / , is a particularly daunting task. However, the more local cases we have from which to draw insights, the better our chances of making inclusive education both practicable and widely accessible across a range of local contexts. A public, mainstream neighbourhood school that included two learners who are blind was therefore investigated to learn more about how the learners who are blind were physically, socially and academically included in the local school community. Qualitative data collection methods including semi-structured interviews and observations were used to uncover useful strategies, challenges and enabling factors that contributed to their successful inclusion. The findings revealed that the participants in this study had very little knowledge or experience in building an inclusive educational setting at the outset, but engaged in the process with open minds, creativity and trust. By adopting a collaborative approach and an attitude of &lsquo / failing forward&rsquo / , the objective of social and academic inclusion was to a great extent achieved in the school.</p>

<p>Internationally, the rights of persons with disabilities to participate as full members of society through inclusive education has become a high priority with the adoption of the first legally binding treaty, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006). In keeping with our culture of acknowledging the rights of all, South Africa has already made great strides towards fulfilling these rights and is in the implementation phase of Education White Paper 6: Building an Inclusive Education and Training System (Department of Education, 2001). In spite of this, the practicability of implementing inclusive education is questioned by many. The inclusion of learners who are blind in neighbourhood schools, as opposed to &lsquo / special schools&rsquo / , is a particularly daunting task. However, the more local cases we have from which to draw insights, the better our chances of making inclusive education both practicable and widely accessible across a range of local contexts. A public, mainstream neighbourhood school that included two learners who are blind was therefore investigated to learn more about how the learners who are blind were physically, socially and academically included in the local school community. Qualitative data collection methods including semi-structured interviews and observations were used to uncover useful strategies, challenges and enabling factors that contributed to their successful inclusion. The findings revealed that the participants in this study had very little knowledge or experience in building an inclusive educational setting at the outset, but engaged in the process with open minds, creativity and trust. By adopting a collaborative approach and an attitude of &lsquo / failing forward&rsquo / , the objective of social and academic inclusion was to a great extent achieved in the school.</p>

Šiomis dienomis ypač didelis dėmesys skiriamas žmonių su negalia integracijai į informacinę visuomenę, o taip pat ir skaitmeninės atskirties mažinimui. Pasaulyje vyrauja nuomonė, kad informacija turi būti prieinama visiems visuomenės nariams, nepriklausomai nuo jų turimos negalios. Todėl magistro baigiamajam darbui pasirinkta tema „Lietuviškų elektroninių parduotuvių prieinamumas asmenims su regos negalia“ yra ypač aktuali. Magistro baigiamojo darbo tikslas yra išanalizuoti lietuviškų elektroninių parduotuvių prieinamumą asmenims su regėjimo negalia. Šiam tikslui pasiekti keliami uždaviniai yra: išanalizuoti elektroninę parduotuvę, kaip vieną iš elektroninės komercijos formų; nustatyti būdus ir priemones, padedančius mažinti žmonių su regos negalia skaitmeninę atskirtį; ištirti lietuviškų elektroninių parduotuvių prieinamumą asmenims su regėjimo negalia. Darbo objektas – elektroninių parduotuvių prieinamumas asmenims su regėjimo negalia. Naudojant mokslinės literatūros ir dokumentinių bei internetinių informacijos šaltinių analizės, dedukcinį bei indukcinį metodus, nustatyta, jog dalis elektroninių parduotuvių yra nepatogios net ir regos negalios neturintiems asmenims. Jose vartotojams sudėtinga rasti reikiamą informaciją, tinklalapių kūrėjų naudojami navigaciniai sprendimai yra neprieinami, todėl siekiant išlaikyti esamus klientus ir norint pritraukti naujų, svarbu prisitaikyti prie įvairių vartotojų grupių poreikių. Nuolatinis vartotojų poreikių stebėjimas, analizė ir... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / These days, much attention is paid to the integration of disabled people into information society and to the digital divide bridging. In the world it is generally felt that information should be available to all society members, nevertheless of their existing disability. Therefore, master work topic “The access to the Lithuanian internet shops for the people with visual impairment” is particularly important. The aim of this master work is to analyze the access to the Lithuanian internet shops for the people with visual impairment. The goals of the work are: to analyze the online shop as one of the forms of e-commerce; to identify ways and means that could help reduce digital divide for people with visual impairment; to explore access to the Lithuanian electronic shops for the people with visual impairment. The object of this master work is the access to the online shops for the people with visual impairment. Using deductive and inductive methods of scientific literature and information resources analyses, it was detected that some of the online shops are problematic to use even to the people without visual impairment. In these shops sometimes it is actually difficult to find relevant information; furthermore Web developers are using inaccessible navigation solutions. Therefore, in order to retain existing customers and to attract new ones, it is important to adapt to different user groups' needs. Continuous monitoring of user needs analysis and endeavor to meet them is one of... [to full text]

Remiantis mokslinės literatūros analitiniu apibendrinimu ir kokybiniu tyrimu, siekiama atskleisti psichikos negalios asmenų požiūrį į gaunamas paslaugas.Tyrimo metu taikytas struktūruotas interviu. Atlikus tyrimą nustatyta su kokiomis funkcionavimo problemomis susiduria psichikos sergantys psichikos ligomis (šizofrenija, depresija), kokios jiems reikalingos socialinės paslaugos, taip pat aptarti bendravimo ypatumai neformalioje aplinkoje. / In the article are analysing persons having mental disabilities needs to get the social service. Also discussing what kind off difficulties they meet with. On the basis of scientific literature and quantitative study care out in the employment study in Vilnius Republican psychiatric hospital aim to uncover the mental incapacity of persons approach to push social services. Investigation, used the interview questionnaire for mental disability for individuals. Quantitative study was selected the respondents who could be the available sources of information, because they are experts of this sphere.