International Views On Disability Measures

As a voluntary organization of National Statistical Office representatives, the Washington Group addresses problems in statistical methods associated with the measurement of disability. This volume features papers which reflect a sampling of the work done by the Washington Group to address disability, an important public health problem.

This volume provides an informed review of the accomplishments of the Washington Group on Disability Statistics (WG) in the provision of international data and statistics on disability. It does so within the context of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The volume includes a description of the development and testing of a short set of questions for Censuses, now used in approximately 29 countries and recommended in the U.N.’s Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses: The 2020 Round, which includes disability as a core topic to be collected in censuses. It discusses the experiences of several countries on the use of the WG questions and how this has impacted on national agendas in the area of disability. It follows the development and testing of an extended set of questions for use in national surveys other than censuses and examines the challenges of translation and the importance of generating comparable question sets in different languages and within different cultures. It studies the examination of cognitive testing techniques in a variety of countries, and presents the results of the first round of censuses in 2010 in countries using the six question set. The volume includes discussions of the new development of question modules on a broad range of child disability and functioning, and the environmental contexts of participation that are part of the current work of the WG. In addition, it contains a reflection on the use of the WG’s functionality approach to identifying disabilities by humanitarian agencies to identify disabilities in populations of displaced persons. A thoughtful conclusion addresses what the development of cross-nationally comparable data can mean for the improvement of circumstances for all persons with disabilities.

Learn how to include multiculturalism in disability-related social work! International Perspectives on Disability Services: The Same but Different presents different cultural and societal contexts on services for people with disabilities. This book covers a range of topics on disabilities related to physical status, emotional conditions, and community settings. This useful introductory reference will help you develop culturally sensitive disability services both locally and overseas, and it will promote better understanding of people with disabilities. This book is a unique examination of services for people with disabilities as they exist in several countries. Until recently, cultural context was used to describe race or ethnicity, but this innovative text recognizes people with disabilities as a worldwide community that is advocating for equality and respect. International Perspectives on Disability Services focuses on the need for human and social services that endorse capability and empowerment—promoting the person rather than the disability. In International Perspectives on Disability Services, you’ll learn about: using the term “culture” to describe the community of people with disabilities—how cultural sensitivity and competency can be applied to the disability culture the dynamics of a transcultural relationship between psychotherapist and deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals the recent development in aphasia treatment—Life Participation Approach to Aphasia (LPAA)—and the international perspective of communication therapy a comparison of attitudes among social work students in the United States and Japan toward people with disabilities—people with disabilities are not yet integrated into Japanese society, but both groups showed room for needed improvement a comparison of disability-related services and experiences in the United States and in Germany—child-raising leave, child-raising money, and Kindergeld (child money) helps support parents financially for the first few years, but the United States has more options for integrated schooling later in life Hong Kong’s 25-year-old objective to encourage community integration and normalization for people with disabilities to live in the community the primary support network of family, community leaders, and shaman for people with disabilities among Hmong Americans in Northern California The informative reports, research findings, case studies, and international comparisons offer new directions for human service professionals and students to help them better meet the social, psychological, and cultural needs of people with disabilities. International Perspectives on Disability Services provides clear-cut evidence that disability-oriented social workers need to improve their perspectives as the disability culture gains momentum as a social entity. This book is a must-read for anyone who works or provides disability-related services, as well as for people with disabilities who need more information on other countries’ services.

The World Report on Disability suggests more than a billion people totally experience disability. They generally have poorer health, lower education and fewer economic opportunities and higher rates of poverty than people without disabilities. This report provides the best available evidence about what works to overcome barriers to better care and services.

Efforts to reduce discrimination and increase diversity on campuses, coupled with shrinking budgets causing administrators to devote more resources toward recruiting and retaining students with disabilities, are fuelling an explosion of research in the area of inclusive education. An important focus that has been largely neglected is the place of teachers with disabilities in academe. International Perspectives on Teaching with Disability brings together 25 multi-disciplinary scholars with disabilities from Africa, Canada, the Caribbean, the UK, Israel and the United States to share their struggles and successes in teaching with disability. The 18 chapters are written largely from autoethnographic perspectives grounded in solid academic research but full of anecdotes and self-reflexive narratives that provide insights into the lived experiences of the authors. Woven into the narratives are discussions of the complexities of self-disclosure and self-advocacy; the varied—and often problematic—ways disability is experienced, perceived and discussed in society and in the classroom; the challenges of navigating academe with disability, the value of disability pedagogy, the positive student outcomes achieved by teaching through disability, as well as practical applications and lessons learned that will benefit educators, administrators and students preparing to become teachers. This book is written to champion the integral place and role of disabled educators in academe. Current educators with disability will be affirmed. Those with disability aspiring to become teachers will be encouraged. Temporarily able-bodied administrators and educators will be challenged. Everyone will be informed. This book will be a welcome addition to reading lists in a wide array of academic fields including: Education, Pedagogy, Disability Studies, Human Resources Management, and Sociology.

Focuses attention on the quality of life issues for disabled individuals around the world as they live, work, play and go to school.

This book concerns the process of transition that we all make throughout our lifetime, and the necessary skills individuals with disabilities need to function outside of school. The book illustrates that the problems of transition are not just for persons with disabilities, but for everyone. Acceptance of differences, understanding that our perceptions may not be accurate, and the ability to be honest with one another are shown to be key elements in assisting transition.