DIRE DAWA UNIVERSITY

College of Social Science and Humanities

Department of Psychology

Reading Material for Inclusiveness Course

For All Undergraduate Students

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Chapter 1: Understanding Disabilities and Vulnerabilities

1.1 Definitions of Basic Terms (Impairment, Disability and Handicap)

Impairment
Impairment means a lack/abnormality of an anatomic, physiological or psychological
structure or function or deviation on a person.
It refers to any loss or abnormality of physiological, psychological or anatomical structure or
function. It is the absence of particular body part or organ. It could also a condition in which
the body exists but doesn’t function. Some children, for instance, have impairments such as
eyes that do not see well, arms and legs that are deformed, or a brain not developing in a
typical way etc.
Disability
The term disability is ambiguous as there is no single agreement on the concept (Mitra, 2006)
It is not synonymous with AKAL-GUDATENGA
(የአካል ጉዳተኛ) meaning impairment
The concept of disability is complex, dynamic, multidimensional, and contested (WHO and
World Bank, 2011).
The full inclusion of people with impairments in society can be inhibited by:
1. Attitudinal (societal barriers, such as stigma)
2. Physical barriers (environmental barriers, such as absence of stairs), and
3. Policy barriers (systemic barriers),
Where all together can create a disabling effect and inhibit disability inclusive development.
They are disabling factors
If these problems addressed, impairment may not lead to disability
Where all together can create a disabling effect and inhibit disability inclusive development.
Societal, environmental, and systemic barriers are the most popular disabling factors:
 A disabled persons
 Persons with disability

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What is disability?
1. Medical Approach
Disability is pathology (physiological, biological and intellectual). Disability means
functional limitations due to physical, intellectual or psychic impairment, health or psychic
disorders on a person (WHO,1996). The medical definition has given rise to the idea that
people are individual objects to be “treated”, “changed" or “improved" and made more
“normal”. The medical definition views the disabled person as needing to “fit in” rather than
thinking about how society itself should change. This medical definition does not adequately
explain the interaction between societal conditions or expectations and unique circumstances
of an individual
The social definition of disability:
• Disability is a highly varied and complex condition with a range of implications for
social identity and behavior.
• Disability largely depends on the context and is a consequence of discrimination,
prejudice and exclusion.
• Emphasizes the shortcomings in the environment and in many organized activities in
society, for example on information, communication and education, which prevent
persons with disabilities from participating on equal terms.

Medical model: Social model:

Child is faulty Child is valued

Diagnosis and labeling Strengths and needs identified

Impairment is focus of attention Barriers identified and solutions developed

Medical model: Social model:

Segregation and alternative services Resources made available

Re-entry if normal enough or permanent Diversity welcomed; child is welcomed

exclusion

Society remains unchanged Society evolves

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Causes of disability
Disability can be caused by the following factors.
Genetic Causes
Abnormalities in genes and genetic inheritance can cause intellectual disability in children. In
some countries, Down syndrome is the most common genetic condition. Sometimes,
diseases, illnesses, and over-exposure to x-rays can cause a genetic disorder. .

Environmental
Poverty and malnutrition in pregnant mothers can cause a deficiency in vital minerals and
result in deformation issues in the unborn child. After birth, poverty and malnutrition can
also cause poor development of vital organs in the child, which can eventually lead to
disability. The use of drugs, alcohol, tobacco, the exposure to certain toxic chemicals and
illnesses, toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus, rubella and syphilis by a pregnant mother can
cause intellectual disability to the child. Childhood diseases such as a whooping cough,
measles, and chicken pox may lead to meningitis and encephalitis. This can cause damage to
the brain of the child. Toxic material such as lead and mercury can damage the brain too.
Unfortunate life events such as drowning, automobile accidents, falls and so on can result in
people losing their sight, hearing, limbs and other vital parts of their body and cause
disability.
Unknown Causes
The human body is a phenomenal thing. Scientists have still not figured out what and how
some things in the body, cells, brain, and genes come about. Humans have still not found all
the answers to all the defects in the human body .

Inaccessible environments
Sometimes society makes it difficult for people with some impairment to function freely.
When society develops infrastructure such as houses, roads, parks and other public places
without consideration to people with impairment, the basically make it impossible for them
to take care of themselves. For example, if a school is built with a ramp in addition to stairs,
it makes it easy for people with wheelchairs to move about freely. This way, their
impairment is not made worse. Lack of education, support services, health and opportunities
for people with impairment can cause additional disability to people with disabilities and
even people with no disability.
Some type of disabilities: Some nine major disabilities are listed and briefly discussed in the
coming pages below.

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 1. Visual impairment
Visual impairment in general designates two sub- classifications. These are blindness and
low vision.
 Blindness, total or partial inability to see because of disease or disorder of the eye,
optic nerve, or brain. The term blindness typically refers to vision loss that is not
correctable with eyeglasses or contact lenses. Blindness may not mean a total absence
of sight, however. Some people who are considered blind may be able to perceive
slowly moving lights or colors.
 The term low vision is used for moderately impaired vision. People with low vision
may have a visual impairment that affects only central vision—the area directly in
front of the eyes—or peripheral vision—the area to either side of and slightly behind
the eyes.

2. Hearing Impairment
Different people define the term hearing impairment differently. The definitions given to
hearing impairment convey different meaning to different people. Different definitions and
terminologies may be used in different countries for different purpose. Pasonella and Carat
from legal point of view, define hearing impairment as a generic term indicating a continuum
of hearing loss from mild to profound, which includes the sub-classifications of the hard of
hearing and deaf.
 Hard of Hearing: "A hearing impairment, whether permanent of fluctuating, which
adversely affects a child's educational performance but which is not included under the
definition of 'deaf'." Whelan, R. J. (1988). This term can also be used to describe
persons with enough (usually with hearing aids) as a primary modality of acquisition of
language and in communication with others.
 Deaf: Those who have difficulty understanding speech, even with hearing aids but can
successfully communicate in sign language. Cultural definitions of deafness, on the
other hand, emphasize an individual’s various abilities, use of sign language, and
connections with the culturally deaf community.

3. Specific learning disability

Specific Learning Disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological
processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may

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manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do
mathematical calculations.

The term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain
dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. The term does not include learning
problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; of intellectual
disability; of emotional disturbance; or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.
Learning disabilities should not be confused with learning problems which are primarily the
result of visual, hearing, or motor handicaps; of intellectual disability; of emotional
disturbance; or of environmental, cultural or economic disadvantages.

Generally speaking, people with learning disabilities are of average or above average
intelligence. There often appears to be a gap between the individual’s potential and actual
achievement. This is why learning disabilities are referred to as “hidden disabilities”: the
person looks perfectly “normal” and seems to be a very bright and intelligent person, yet may
be unable to demonstrate the skill level expected from someone of a similar age. A learning
disability cannot be cured or fixed; it is a lifelong challenge. However, with appropriate
support and intervention, people with learning disabilities can achieve success in school, at
work, in relationships, and in the community.

Types of Specific Learning Disabilities

Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)

Also known as Central Auditory Processing Disorder, this is a condition that adversely
affects how sound that travels unimpeded through the ear is processed or interpreted by the
brain. Individuals with APD do not recognize subtle differences between sounds in words,
even when the sounds are loud and clear enough to be heard. They can also find it difficult to
tell where sounds are coming from, to make sense of the order of sounds, or to block out
competing background noises.

A. Dyscalculia
Dyscalculia is a specific learning disability that affects a person’s ability to understand
numbers and learn math. Individuals with this type of LD may also have poor comprehension
of math symbols, may struggle with memorizing and organizing numbers, have difficulty
telling time, or have trouble with counting.
B. Dysgraphia

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Dyscalculia is a specific learning disability that affects a person’s handwriting ability and
fine motor skills. Problems may include illegible handwriting, inconsistent spacing, poor
spatial planning on paper, poor spelling, and difficulty composing writing as well as thinking
and writing at the same time.
C. Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that affects reading and related language-based
processing skills. The severity can differ in each individual but can affect reading fluency;
decoding, reading comprehension, recall, writing, spelling, and sometimes speech and can
exist along with other related disorders. Dyslexia is sometimes referred to as a Language-
Based Learning Disability.
D. Language Processing Disorder
Language Processing Disorder is a specific type of Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) in
which there is difficulty attaching meaning to sound groups that form words, sentences and
stories. While an APD affects the interpretation of all sounds coming into the brain, a
Language Processing Disorder (LPD) relates only to the processing of language. LPD can
affect expressive language and/or receptive language.
E. Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities
Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities is a disorder which is usually characterized by a significant
discrepancy between higher verbal skills and weaker motor, visual-spatial and social skills.
Typically, an individual with NLD (or NVLD) has trouble interpreting nonverbal cues like
facial expressions or body language, and may have poor coordination.
F. Visual Perceptual/Visual Motor Deficit
Visual Perceptual/Visual Motor Deficit is a disorder that affects the understanding of
information that a person sees, or the ability to draw or copy. A characteristic seen in people
with learning disabilities such as Dysgraphia or Non-verbal LD, it can result in missing
subtle differences in shapes or printed letters, losing place frequently, struggles with cutting,
holding pencil too tightly, or poor eye/hand coordination.

4. Speech and Language Impairments

Speech and language impairment means a communication disorder such as stuttering,

impaired articulation, language impairment, or a voice impairment that adversely affects a
child’s educational performance. It is disorder that adversely affects the child's ability to

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talk, understand, read, and write. This disability category can be divided into two groups:
speech impairments and language impairments.

Speech Impairments

There are three basic types of speech impairments: articulation disorders, fluency disorders,
and voice disorders. Articulation disorders are errors in the production of speech sounds that
may be related to anatomical or physiological limitations in the skeletal, muscular, or
neuromuscular support for speech production. These disorders include:

 Omissions: (bo for boat)

 Substitutions: (wabbit for rabbit)
 Distortions: (shlip for sip)

Fluency disorders are difficulties with the rhythm and timing of speech characterized by
hesitations, repetitions, or prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases. Common
fluency disorders include:

 Stuttering: rapid-fire repetitions of consonant or vowel sounds especially at the

beginning of words, prolongations, hesitations, interjections, and complete verbal
blocks
 Cluttering: excessively fast and jerky speech

Voice disorders are problems with the quality or use of one's voice resulting from disorders
in the larynx. Voice disorders are characterized by abnormal production and/or absences of
vocal quality, pitch, loudness, resonance, and/or duration.

Language Impairments

There are five basic areas of language impairments: phonological disorders, morphological
disorders, semantic disorders, syntactical deficits, and pragmatic difficulties. Phonological
disorders are defined as the abnormal organization of the phonological system, or a
significant deficit in speech production or perception. A child with a phonological disorder
may be described as hard to understand or as not saying the sounds correctly. Apraxia of
speech is a specific phonological disorder where the student may want to speak but has
difficulty planning what to say and the motor movements to use.

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Morphological disorders are defined as difficulties with morphological inflections
(inflections on nouns, verbs, and adjectives that signal different kinds of meanings).

Semantic disorders are characterized by poor vocabulary development, inappropriate use of

word meanings, and/or inability to comprehend word meanings. These students will
demonstrate restrictions in word meanings, difficulty with multiple word meanings,
excessive use of nonspecific terms (e.g., thing and stuff), and indefinite references (e.g., that
and there).

Syntactic deficits are characterized by difficulty in acquiring the rules that govern word order
and others aspects of grammar such as subject-verb agreement. Typically, these students
produce shorter and less elaborate sentences with fewer cohesive conjunctions than their
peers.

Pragmatic difficulties are characterized as problems in understanding and using language in

different social contexts. These students may lack an understanding of the rules for making
eye contact, respecting personal space, requesting information, and introducing topics.

Autism

Autism means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal

communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three that adversely
affects a child’s educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism
are engaging in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental
change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences. The term
autism does not apply if the child’s educational performance is adversely affected primarily
because the child has an emotional disturbance, as defined in #5 below. A child who shows
the characteristics of autism after age 3 could be diagnosed as having autism if the criteria
above are satisfied.

Autism is a neurodevelopment disorder defined by impairments in social and

communication development, accompanied by stereotyped patterns of behavior and interest
(Landa, 2007). Autism is pervasive developmental disorder characterized by lack of normal
sociability, impaired communication and repetitive obsessive behavior such as politeness,

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turn-taking (Young & Nettlebeck, 2005). Linked to Profound Learning Disability (PLDs) are
further impairments in the production of speech. Among these are (i) personal pronouns
reversal for instance the use of “I” instead of “you” and vice-versa, (ii) the misuse of such
prepositions as “in”, “on”, “under”, “next to” (...), and (iii) the prevalence, in speech, of
echolalia formal repetition of other’s utterances (Arron and Gittens, 1999).
Children with autism vary literally in their use of words, (Rutter, 1966). Communication
deficiencies may leave a lasting mark of social retardation on the child. The link, between
social skills and language is made evident by the often-spontaneous appearance of
affectionate and dependent behavior in these children after they have been trained to speak
(Churchill, 1966 & Hewett, 1965).

1. Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

According to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the term Emotional and
Behavioral Disorders means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following
characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects
educational performance
1) An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors;
2) An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and
teachers;
3) Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances;
4) A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; or
5) A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school
problems.
Kauffman (1993) conclude that emotion or behavioral disorders fall into two broad
classifications:
1) Externalizing Behavior: also called under controlled disorder, include such problems
disobedience, disruptiveness, fighting, tempers tantrums, irresponsibility, jealous, anger,
attention seeking etc…
2) Internalizing Behavior: also known as over controlled disorders, include such problems
anxiety, immaturity, shyness, social withdrawal, feeling of inadequacy (inferiority), guilt,
depression and worries a great deal

Causes of behavioral and emotional disorders

Behavioral and emotion disorders result from many causes, these includes the following.

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1. Biological- includes genetic disorders, brain damage, and malnutrition, allergies,
temperament and damage to the central nervous system.
2. Family factors- include family interactions, family influence, child abuse, neglect, and
poor disciplinary practices at home.
3. Cultural factors- include some traditional and cultural negative practices, for example
watching violence and sexually oriented movies and TV programs.
4. Environmental factors- include peer pressure, living in impoverished areas, and schooling
practices that are unresponsive to individual needs.

2. Intellectual Disability

Intellectual disability is a disability characterized by significant limitations in both

intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior, which covers many everyday social and
practical skills. This disability originates before the age of 18. An individual is considered to
have an intellectual disability based on the following three criteria:

1. Sub average intellectual functioning: It refers to general mental capacity, such as learning,
reasoning, problem solving, and so on. One way to measure intellectual functioning is an IQ
test. Generally, an IQ test score of around 70 or as high as 75 indicates a limitation in
intellectual functioning.

2. Significant limitations exist in two or more adaptive skill areas: It is the collection of
conceptual, social, and practical skills that are learned and performed by people in their
everyday lives.

 Conceptual skills—language and literacy; money, time, and number concepts; and
self-direction.
 Social skills—interpersonal skills, social responsibility, self-esteem, gullibility,
innocence (i.e., suspicion), social problem solving, and the ability to follow
rules/obey laws and to avoid being victimized.

 Practical skills—activities of daily living (personal care), occupational skills,

healthcare, travel/transportation, schedules/routines, safety, use of money, use of the
telephone.

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People with intellectual disabilities academic learning can be affected, as well as their ability
to adapt to home, school, and community environments are presented under the following
sub-headings:

Physical disability/Orthopedic Impairment and Health impairment

Physical disability is a condition that interferes with the individual’s ability to use his or her
body. Many but not all, physical disabilities are orthopedic impairments. (The term
orthopedic impairment generally refers to conditions of muscular or skeletal system and
sometimes to physical disabling conditions of the nervous system).
Health impairment is a condition that requires ongoing medical attention. It includes asthma,
heart defects, cancer, diabetes, hemophilia. HIV/AIDS, etc.
Classification and Characteristics
How can you classify physical impairment?
Physical disabilities:- based on the impact of physical disability on mobility and motor skills,
it is divided into three. These are:-
A. Mild physical disability:- these individuals are able to walk without aids and may make
normal developmental progress.
B. Moderate physical disability:- individuals can walk with braces and crutches and may
have difficulty with fine-motor skills and speech production.
C. Severe physical disability:-these are individuals who are wheel-chair dependent and
may need special help to achieve regular development.
The physical disability could be broadly classified in to two
I. The neurological system (the brain ,spinal cord & nerve) related problems.
II. Musculo skeletal system ( the muscles, bones and joints) are deficient due to
various causes.
I. Neurological system:-with a neurological condition like cerebral palsy or a traumatic
brain injury, the brain either sends the wrong instructions or interprets feedback incorrectly.
In both cases, the result is poorly coordinated movement. With the spinal cord injury or
deformity, the path ways between the brain and the muscles are interrupted, so messages are
transmitted but never received. The result is muscle paralysis and loss of sensation beyond
the point where the spinal cord or the nerve is damaged. These individuals may have motor
skill deficits that can range from mild in coordination to paralysis of the entire body. The

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most severely affected children are totally dependent on other people or sophisticated
equipment to carry out academic and self-care task
Additional problems that can be associated with cerebral palsy include learning disabilities,
mental retardation. Seizures, speech impairments, eating problems, sensory impairments, and
joint and bone deformities such as spinal curvatures and contractures (permanently fixed,
tight muscles and joints). Approximately 40 percent of those with cerebral palsy have normal
intelligence; the remainders have from mild to severe retardation. This is an extremely
heterogeneous group having unique abilities and needs.
Epilepsy:-is disorder that occurs when the brain cells are not working properly and is often
called a seizure disorder.
-Some children and youth will epilepsy have only a momentary loss of attention (petit
mal seizures); others fall to the floor and then move uncontrollably
-Fortunately, once epilepsy is diagnosed, it can usually be controlled with medication
and does not interfere with performance in school. Most individuals with
epilepsy have normal intelligence.
- Epilepsy is a condition that affects 1 to 2 percent of the population. It is characterized
by recurring seizures, which are spontaneous abnormal discharge of electrical
impulses of the brain.
Spinal bifida and spinal cord injury:- damage to the spinal cord leads to paralysis and loss
of sensation in the affected areas of the body. The spinal blfida is a birth defect of the
backbone (spinal column). The cause si unknown but it usually occurs in the first twenty-six
days of pregnancy.

II. Musculoskeletal system: - it includes the muscles and their supporting framework
and the skeleton.
2. Progressive muscle weakness (muscular dystrophy);
3. Inflammation of the joints (arthritis), or
4. Loss of various parts of the body (amputation)
The list of the impairment and associated with musculoskeletal malformation are the
following:
A. Muscular dystrophy:- is an inherited condition accruing mainly in males, in which
the muscles weaken and deteriorate. The weakness usually appears around 3 to 4
years of age and worsens progressively. By age 11 most victims can to longer walk.

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 Death usually comes between the ages of 25 and 35 from respiratory failure or
cardiac arrest.
B. Arthritis:-is an inflammation of the joints. Symptoms include swollen and stiff
joints, fever, and pain in the joints during acute periods. Prolonged inflammation can
lead joint deformities that can eventually affect mobility.
C. Amputation:- a small number of children have missing limbs because of congenital
abnormalities or injuiry or disease (malignant bone tumors in the limbs). These
children can use customized prosthetic devices (artificial hands, arms, or legs) to
replace limp functions and increase independence in daily activities.
Polio:- is viral disease that invade the brain and cause severe paralysis of the total body
system. In its mild form results in partial paralysis. Post polio muscles that were previously
damaged weaken, and in some persons, other muscles that were not previously affected
weaken as well.
Club foot:- is a major orthopedic problem affecting about 9,000 infants each year. This term
is used to describe various ankle or foot deformities, i.e
 Twisting inward (equino varus), the most severe form
 Sharply angled at the heel (calcanel vaigus), most common
 The front part of the foot turned inward.
These conditions can be treated with physical therapy, and a cast on the foot can solve the
problem in most instances. In more severe cases, surgery is necessary. With early treatment,
most children can wear regular shoes and take part in all school activities.
Cleft lip and cleft palate:- are openings in the lip or roof of the mouth, respectively, that fail
to close before birth, the cause is unknown. Most cleft problems can be repaired through
surgery.
Health Impairments
What are the common health problems of students?
Any disease that interferes with learning can make students eligible for special services.
These disease caused problems are as follow.
1. Heart disease:- this is common among young people. It is caused by improper
circulation of blood by the heart some of the disorders are congenital )present at
birth);others are the product of inflammatory heart disease. Some students have
heart value disorders; others have disorders of the blood vessels. His time heart
implantation helps children to get cured.

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 2. Cystic fibrosis:- is a hereditary disease that affects the lungs and pancreas. It leads
to recurrent respiratory and digestive problems including abnormal amounts of thick
mucus, sweet and saliva. The disease is so progressive and few who have it survive
beyond age 20. Children with such disease often spend significant timeout of school.
3. Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS):- is a very severe disease caused
by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and transmitted primarily
through exchange of bodily fluids in transfusions or unprotected sex, and by
contaminated needles in addictive drug use.
4. Hemophilia:- is a hereditary disease in which the blood clots very slowly or not all.
The disorder is transmitted by sex-linked recessive gene and nearly always occurs in
males.
5. Asthma: is a chronic respiratory condition characterized by repeated explode of
breathing difficulties especially while exhaling.
6. Diabetes: Developmental or hereditary disorder characterized by inadequate
secretion or use of insulin

3. Vulnerability
Vulnerable means being at risk of being harmed. Everyone can be harmed, so being
vulnerable is part of being human. In principle, everyone is vulnerable to some adverse event
or circumstance, but some people are more vulnerable than others. For instance, people with
disabilities are more likely as a group to experience greater vulnerability. They are also often
more severely affected by the vulnerability they experience. Based on the existing literature,
vulnerability can be generally defined as a complex phenomenon that refers to the following
dimensions:
1. Economic difficulties/lack of financial resources: poverty, low living standards,
housing problems (e.g. too damp, too expensive, too cold or difficult to heat) etc.;
2. Social exclusion: limited access to facilities such as transporatation, schools, libraries
or medical services;
3. Lack of social support from social networks: no assistance from family members,
friends, neighbors or colleagues (referring to practical help as well as emotional
support) like highly gifted individuals;

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 4. Stigmatization: being a victim of stereotypes, being devalued, confronted with
disgraceful behavior because of belonging to a particular social or ethnic group;
5. Health difficulties: disadvantages resulting from poor mental health, physical health
or disabilities;
6. Being a victim of crime: in family context especially of violence.

Causes of Vulnerability
Vulnerability may be causes by rapid population growth, poverty and hunger, poor health,
low levels of education, gender inequality, fragile and hazardous location, and lack of access
to resources and services, including knowledge and technological means, disintegration of
social patterns (social vulnerability). Other causes includes; lack of access to information and
knowledge, lack of public awareness, limited access to political power and representation
(political vulnerability), (Aysan,1993). When people are socially disadvantaged or lack
political voice, their vulnerability is exacerbated further. The economic vulnerability is
related to a number of interacting elements, including its importance in the overall national
economy, trade and foreign-exchange earnings, aid and investments, international prices of
commodities and inputs, and production and consumption patterns. Environmental
vulnerability concerns land degradation, earthquake, flood, hurricane, drought, storms
(Monsoon rain, El Niño), water scarcity, deforestation, and the other threats to biodiversity.

Characteristics of Vulnerable People

The following are thought to be characteristics of vulnerable people (with examples of
groups of potentially vulnerable people):
1. Less physically or mentally capable (infants, older adults, people with disabilities)
2. Fewer material and/or financial resources (low-income households, homeless)
3. Less knowledge or experience (children, illiterate, foreigners, tourists)
4. Restricted by society to grow and develop according to their needs and potentials
People who are helped by others (who are then restricted by commitments) are still
vulnerable people, which includes the following extracted from various researches.
A. Women: particularly women in developing nations and those who are living in rural
areas are vulnerable for many backward traditional practices. These women are
oppressed by the culture and do not get access to education and employment
(Comfort et al., 1999; Morrow, 1999; McEntire et al. (2002; Thomalla et al. (2006;
Laukkonen et al. (2009; Rubin, 2010; GNCSODR, 2013; GP DRR, 2013).

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B. Children: Significant number of children are vulnerable and at risk for development
(Morrow, 1999; McEntire et al., 2002; Thomalla et al., 2006; Laukkonen et al., 2009
Dinh et al., 2012; Rubin, 2010; GP DRR, 2013; GNCSODR, 2013; Dinh et al. (2012).
Children are vulnerable for psychological and physical abuse This include illegally
working children, children who are pregnant or become mothers, children born out of
marriage, children from a single-parent, delinquent children, homeless children, HIV-
infected children, uneducated children, institutionalized children, married children,
mentally ill children, migrant children, orphans, sexually exploited children, street
children, war-affected children…etc.
C. Minorities: some people are vulnerable due to their minority background.
Particularly, ethnic (cultural and linguistic minority), religious minority. These people
are political and socially discriminated (Comfort et al., 1999; Cardona, 2003; Brooks,
2003; National Research Council, 2006; Cutter et al., 2010; ).
D. Poverty: People are vulnerable for many undesirable phenomena due to poverty. This
may be resulted in, poor households and large households, inequality, absences of
access to health services, important resources for life, lack of access to education,
information, financial and natural resources and lack of social networks (Morrow,
1999; McEntire et al., 2002; Brooks, 2003; Dwyer et al., 2004; Vincent, 2004;
Leichenko et al., 2004; National ResearchCouncil, 2006; Naudé et al., 2007; Kahn
and Salman, 2012; MacDonald, 2013).
E. Disabilities: People with disabilities very much vulnerable for many kind of risks.
This includes abuses, poverty, illiteracy, health problems, psychological and social
problems (Comfort et al., 1999; McEntire et al., 2002; Naudé et al., 2007; Cutter et
al., 2010; Dinh et al., 2012; . Balica et al., 2012; GNCSODR, 2013).
F. Age: Old people or very young children are vulnerable for all kinds evils (Comfort et
al., 1999; Morrow, 1999; McEntire et al. 2002; Cardona (2003; Vincent, 2004; Naudé
et al., 2007; Dinh et al., 2012; Adikari et al., 2013; GNCSODR,2013).
G. Illiteracy and less education: People with high rates of illiteracy and lack quality
educational opportunities are vulnerable for absence all kinds of developments
(Cardona, 2003; Adger et al., 2004; Leichenko et al., 2004; Naudé et al., 2007; Kahn
and Salman, 2012; Adikari et al., 2013).

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H. Sickness: Uncured health problems for example people living with HIV/AIDS are
much vulnerable for psychosocial problems, poverty and health (Vincent, 2004;
Adger et al., 2004; Naudé et al., 2007).
I. Gifted and Talentedness: Gifted and talented children are vulnerable for socio-
emotional developments. Due to lack of psychological support they may feel isolation
as they are pulled from their regular classrooms and given instruction in separate
settings and due to myths and expectations of themselves and the public (Shechtman
& Silektor, 2012, p. 63; Schuler, 2000).

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Chapter 2: Concept of Inclusion
Chapter Overview
This chapter tries to introduce students with the concept inclusion. The specific contents
addressed in the chapter Include: definition of inclusion, concept of inclusion, inclusion shift
from special education and integrated education, rationale for inclusion, factors that
influenced development of inclusion, benefits of inclusion to students, teachers’ parents and
society, inclusive school and classroom environment, strategies to implement inclusion in
teaching and learning processes and barriers to inclusion.
Learning Objectives

After the students have studied this chapter, they will be able to:

 Define inclusion,
 Discuss the concept of inclusion in education,
 Identify reason regarding shift from special education and integrated education
inclusion,
 Differentiate the major rationales for inclusion,
 List factors that influenced development of inclusion,
 Identify benefits of inclusion to students, teachers’ parents and society,
 Name major characteristics of inclusive school and inclusive classroom
environments,
 Point out strategies to implement inclusion in teaching and learning processes
 Differentiate the major barriers to inclusion.

2.1. Definition of Inclusion

Inclusion in education/service refers to “an ongoing process aimed at offering quality

education/services for all while respecting diversity and the different needs and abilities,
characteristics and learning expectations of the students and communities and eliminating all
forms of discrimination” (UNESCO, 2008, P.3, as cited in EADSNE, 2010, p.11). Inclusive
services at any level are quality provisions without discrimination or partiality and meeting
the diverse needs of people.
Inclusion is seen as a process of addressing and responding to the diversity of needs
of all persons through increasing participation in learning, employment, services, cultures

19
and communities, and reducing exclusion at all social contexts. It involves changes and
modifications in content, approaches, structures and strategies, with a common vision which
covers all people, a conviction that it is the responsibility of the social system to educate all
children (UNESCO 2005), employ and provide social services. Besides, inclusion is defined
as having a wide range of strategies, activities and processes that seek to make a reality of the
universal right to quality, relevant and appropriate education and services. It acknowledges
that learning begins at birth and continues throughout life, and includes learning in the home,
the community, and in formal, informal and non-formal situations. It seeks to enable
communities, systems and structures in all cultures and contexts to combat discrimination,
celebrate diversity, promote participation and overcome barriers to learning and participation
for all people. It is part of a wider strategy promoting inclusive development, with the goal of
creating a world where there is peace, tolerance, and sustainable use of resources, social
justice, and where the basic needs and rights of all are met.

2. Principles of Inclusion

The fundamental principle of inclusion is that all persons should learn, work and live
together wherever possible, regardless of any difficulties or differences they may have.
Inclusive education extends beyond special needs arising from disabilities, and includes
consideration of other sources of disadvantage and marginalization, such as gender, poverty,
language, ethnicity, and geographic isolation. The complex inter-relationships that exist
among these factors and their interactions with disability must also be a focus of attention.
Besides, inclusion begins with the premise that all persons have unique characteristics,
interests, abilities and particular learning needs and, further, that all persons have equal
access education, employment and services. Inclusion implies transition from separate,
segregated learning and working environments for persons with disabilities to community
based systems. Moreover, effective transitions from segregated services to inclusive system
requires careful planning and structural changes to ensure that persons with disabilities are
provided with appropriate accommodation and supports that ensure an inclusive learning and
working environment. Furthermore, UNESCO (2005) has provided four major inclusion
principles that support inclusive practice. These include:
1. Inclusion is a process. It has to be seen as a never-ending search to find better ways of
responding to diversity. It is about learning how to live with difference and learning

20
 how to learn from difference. Differences come to be seen more positively as a
stimulus for fostering learning amongst children and adults.
2. Inclusion is concerned with the identification and removal of barriers that hinders the
development of persons with disabilities. It involves collecting, collating and
evaluating information from a wide variety of sources in order to plan for
improvements in policy and practice. It is about using evidence of various kinds to
stimulate creativity and problem - solving.
3. Inclusion is about the presence, participation and achievement of all persons.
‘Presence’ is concerned with where persons are provided and how reliably and
punctually they attend; ‘participation’ relates to the quality of their experiences and
must incorporate the views of learners/and or workers and ‘achievement’ is about the
outcomes of learning across the curriculum, not just test and exam results.
4. Inclusion invokes a particular emphasis on those who may be at risk of
marginalization, exclusion or underachievement. This indicates the moral
responsibility to ensure that those ‘at risk’ are carefully monitored, and that steps are
taken to ensure their presence, participation and achievement.
2. Rationale for Inclusion

Rationales for Inclusion and Their Respective Descriptions

Educational Foundations
 Children do better academically, psychologically and socially in inclusive
settings.
 A more efficient use of education resources.
 Decreases dropouts and repetitions
 Teachers competency( knowledge, skills, collaboration, satisfaction
Social Foundation
 Segregation teaches individuals to be fearful, ignorant and breeds prejudice.
 All individuals need an education that will help them develop relationships
and prepare them for life in the wider community.
 Only inclusion has the potential to reduce fear and to build friendship, respect
and understanding.
Legal Foundations
 All individuals have the right to learn and live together.
 Human being shouldn’t be devalued or discriminated against by being
excluded or sent away because of their disability.
 There are no legitimate reasons to separate children for their education
Economic Foundation
 Inclusive education has economic benefit, both for individual and for society.
 Inclusive education is more cost-effective than the creation of special schools
across the country.
 Children with disabilities go to local schools

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  Reduce wastage of repetition and dropout
 Children with disabilities live with their family use community infrastructure
 Better employment and job creation opportunities for people with disabilities
Foundations for Building Inclusive Society
 Formation of mutual understanding and appreciation of diversity
 Building up empathy, tolerance and cooperation
 Promotion of sustainable development
2.3. Factors that Influenced Development of Inclusion

Inclusiveness originated from three major ideas. These include: inclusive education is
a basic human right; quality education results from inclusion of students with diverse needs
and ability differences, and there is no clear demarcation between the characteristics of
students with and without disabilities and vulnerabilities. Therefore, separate provisions for
such students cannot be justified. Moreover, inclusion has got the world’s attention because it
is supposed to solve the world’s major problems occurring in social, economic, religious,
educational and other areas of the world. For instance, it is supposed to : counteract-social,
political, economical and educational challenges that happen due to globalization impact;
enhance psychosocial, academic and other benefits to students with and without special
needs education; help all citizens exercise educational and human rights; enhance quality
education for all in regular class rooms through inclusion; create sustainable environmental
development that is suitable for all human beings; create democratic and productive society
that promote sustainable development; build an attitude of respecting and valuing of
differences in human beings; and ultimately build an inclusive society.

Inclusive education is facilitated by many influencing actors. Some of the major drivers
include:
1. Communities: pre-colonial and indigenous approaches to education and
community-based programs movement that favor inclusion of their community
members.
2. Activists and advocates: the combined voices of primary stakeholders –
representatives of groups of learners often excluded and marginalized from education
(e.g. disabled activists; parents advocating for their children; child rights advocates;
and those advocating for women/girls and minority ethnic groups).
3. The quality education and school improvement movement: in both North and
South, the issues of quality, access and inclusion are strongly linked, and contribute to
the understanding and practice of inclusive education as being the responsibility of
education systems and schools.
4. Special educational needs movement: the ‘new thinking’ of the special needs
education movement – as demonstrated in the Salamanca Statement – has been a
positive influence on inclusive education, enabling schools and systems to really
respond to a wide range of diversity.

22
 5. Involvement of International agencies: the UN is a major influence on the
development of inclusive education policy and practice. Major donors have formed a
partnership – the Fast Track Initiative – to speed progress towards the EFA goals.
E.g. UNESCO, etc.
6. Involvement of NGOs movements, networks and campaigns: a wide range of
civil society initiatives, such as the Global Campaign for Education, seek to bring
policy and practice together and involve all stakeholders based on different situations
7. Other factors: the current world situation and practical experiences in education.
The current world situation presents challenges such as the spread of HIV/AIDS,
political instability, trends in resource distribution, diversity of population, and social
inclusion. This necessitates implementation of inclusion to solve the problems. On the
other hand, practical experiences in education offers lessons learned from failure and
success in mainstream, special and inclusive education. Moreover, practical
demonstrations of successful inclusive education in different cultures and contexts are
a strong influence on its development
Benefits of Inclusion
It is now understood that inclusion benefits communities, families, teachers, and students by
ensuring that children with disabilities attend school with their peers and providing them with
adequate support to succeed both academically and socially.
1. Benefits for Students with Special Needs Education
In inclusive settings people will develop:
 Appropriate models of behavior. They can observe and imitate socially acceptable
behaviors of the students without special needs
 Improved friendships with the social environment
 Increased social initiations, interactions, relationships and networks
 Gain peer role models for academic, social and behavior skills
 Increased achievement of individualized educational program (IEP) goals
 Greater access to general curriculum
 Enhanced skill acquisition and generalization in their learning
 improved academic achievement which leads to quality education service s
 Attending inclusive schools increases the probability that students with SEN will
continue to participate in a variety of integrated settings throughout their lives
(increased inclusion in future environments that contribute building of inclusive
society).
 Improved school staff collaboration to meet these students’ needs and ability
differences
 Increased parental participation to meet these students’ needs and ability
differences

23
  Enhanced families integration into the community
2. Benefits for persons without Special Needs Education
Students without special educational needs (SEN) will:
 Have a variety of opportunities for interacting with their age peers who experience SEN
in inclusive school settings.
 serve as peer tutors during instructional activities
 Play the role of a special ‘buddy’ during lunch, in the bus or playground.
 Gain knowledge of a good deal about tolerance, individual difference, and human
exceptionality.
 Learn that students with SEN have many positive characteristics and abilities.
 Have chance to learn about many of the human service profession such as special
education, speech therapy, physical therapy, recreation therapy, and vocational
rehabilitation. For some, exposure to these areas may lead to career choices.
 Have increased appreciation, acceptance and respect of individual differences among
human beings that leads to increased understanding and acceptance of diversity
 Get greater opportunities to master activities by practicing and teaching others
 Have increased academic outcomes
 have opportunity to learn to communicate, and deal effectively with a wide range of
individuals; this prepares them to fully participate in society when they are adults that
make them build an inclusive society
3. Benefits for Teachers and Parents/Family

Inclusive education has benefit to teachers. The benefit includes: developing their
knowledge and skills that meet diverse students’ needs and ability differences to enhancing
their skills to work with their stakeholders; and gaining satisfaction in their profession and
other aspects.
Similarly, parents/family benefit from inclusive education. For example, parents benefit
from implementation of inclusive education in developing their positive attitude towards
their children’s education, positive feeling toward their participation, and appreciation to
differences among humankinds and so on. For detailed information, see the table below.
when they participate in inclusive education of their children
Table 2.3. Benefits of inclusion for Teachers and Parents/Family

Benefits for Teachers Benefits for Parents/Family

24
 They have more opportunities to learn new ways They:
to teach different kinds of students.
 Learn more about how their children
 They gain new knowledge, such as the different
are being educated in schools with their
ways children learn and can be taught.
peers in an inclusive environment
 They develop more positive attitudes and
 Become personally involved and feel a
approaches towards different people with diverse
greater sense of accomplishment in
needs.
helping their children to learn.
 They have greater opportunities to explore new
 Feel valued and consider themselves as
ideas by communicating more often with others
equal partners in providing quality
from within and outside their school, such as in
learning opportunities for children.
school clusters or teacher networks, or with
 Learn how to deal better with their
parents and community members.
children at home by using techniques
 They can encourage their students to be more
that the teachers use in school.
interested, more creative and more attentive
 Find out ways to interact with others in
 They can experience greater job satisfaction and a
the community, as well as to
higher sense of accomplishment when ALL
understand and help solve each other’s
children are succeeding in school to the best of
problems.
their abilities.
 Know that their children—and ALL
 They get opportunities to exchange information
children—are receiving a quality
about instructional activities and teaching
education.
strategies, thus expanding the skills of both
 Experience positive attitude about
general and special educators
themselves and their children by seeing
 They benefit from develop Developing teamwork
their children accepted by others,
and collaborative problem-solving skills to
successful in the inclusive setting, and
creatively address challenges regarding student
belonging to the community where they
learning
live
 Develop positive attitude that help them promoting
the recognition and appreciation that all students
have strengths and are contributing members of
the school community as well as the society

2.5. Benefits for Society

Inclusion goes beyond education and should involve consideration of employment,
recreation, health and living conditions. It should therefore involve transformations across all
government and other agencies at all levels of society.

When students with special needs and without special needs are educated through quality
inclusive education, it not only benefits students, teachers and parents it also benefits the
society. Some of the major benefits may include:

Introduction of students with disabilities and vulnerabilities into mainstream schools bring in
the students into local communities and neighborhoods and helps break down barriers and
prejudice that prevail in the society towards persons with disability.

25
 Communities become more accepting of difference, and everyone benefits from a friendlier,
open environment that values and appreciates differences in human beings.

Meaningful participation in the economic, social, political and cultural life of communities
own cost effective non-segregated schooling system that services both students with and
without special needs education.

5. Features of Inclusive Environment

An inclusive environment is one in which members feel respected by and connected to one
another. An inclusive environment is an environment that welcomes all people, regardless of
their disability and other vulnerabilities. It recognizes and uses their skills and strengthens
their abilities. An inclusive service environment is respectful, supportive, and equalizing. An
inclusive environment reaches out to and includes individuals with disabilities and
vulnerabilities at all levels — from first time participants to board members.
It has the following major characteristics:
 it ensures the respect and dignity of individuals with disabilities
 it meets current accessibility standards to the greatest extent possible to all people with
special needs
 provides accommodations willingly and proactively
Persons with disabilities are welcomed and are valued for their contributions as individuals.
2.6. Inclusive Environments
An inclusive environment is a place that is adjusted to individuals’ needs and not vice versa –
that individuals are adjusted to the environmental needs. It acknowledges that individual
differences among individuals are a source of richness and diversity, and not a problem, and
that various needs and the individual pace of learning and development can be met
successfully with a wide range of flexible approaches. Besides, the environment should
involve continuous process of changes directed towards strengthening and encouraging
different ways of participation of all members of the community.
An inclusive environment is also directed towards developing culture, policy and practice
which meet pupils’ diversities, towards identifying and removing obstacles in learning and
participating, towards developing a suitable provisions and supporting individuals.
Therefore, successful environment has the following characteristics:
 It develops whole-school/environment processes that promote inclusiveness
and quality provisions and practice that are responsive to the individual needs
and diversities

26
  It recognizes and responds to the diverse needs of their individuals and ensuring
quality provisions for all through appropriate accommodations, organizational
arrangements, resource use and partnerships with their community.

 It is committed to serve all individuals together regardless of differences. It is

also deeply committed to the belief that all persons can learn, work and be
productive.

 It involves restructuring environment, culture, policy, and practice.

 It promoting pro-social activities

 It makes provides services and facilities equally accessible to all people

 It involves mobilizing resources within the community

 It is alert to and uses a range of multi-skilled personnel to assist people in their

learning and working environment.

 It strives to create strong links with, clinicians, caregivers, and staff in local
schools, work place, disability services providers and relevant support agencies
within the wider community.

 It develops social relationships as an equal member of the class. It is also the

classroom responsive to the diversity of individuals’ academic, social and
personal learning needs.

Barriers to Inclusion
 Though many countries seem committed to inclusion their rhetoric, and even in their
legislation and policies, practices often fall short. Reasons for the policy-practice gap
in inclusion are diverse. The major barriers include:
 Problems related with societal values and beliefs- particularly the community and
policy makers negative attitude towards students with disability and vulnerabilities.
Inclusion cannot flourish in a society that has prejudice and negative attitude towards
persons with disability.
 Economic factors- this is mainly related with poverty of family, community and
society at large
 Lack of taking measures to ensure conformity of implementation of inclusion
practice with policies
 Lack of stakeholders taking responsibility in their cooperation as well as
collaboration for inclusion
 Conservative traditions among the community members about inclusion

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  Lack of knowledge and skills among teachers regarding inclusive education
 Rigid curricula, teaching method and examination systems that do not consider
students with dives needs and ability differences.

 Fragile democratic institutions that could not promote inclusion

 Inadequate resources and inaccessibility of social and physical environments

 Large class sizes that make teachers and stakeholders meet students’ diverse needs
 Globalization and free market policy that make students engage in fierce completion,
individualism and individuals’ excellence rather than teaching through cooperation,
collaboration and group excellence.
 Using inclusive models that may be imported from other countries.

Chapter 3: Identification and Differentiated services

Chapter Overview
The onset of disability is accompanied by a complex series of shocks to the individual and to
everyone around him. The impact of disability and vulnerability take many form. The
immediate effects are often physical pain, limitation of mobility, disorientation, confusion,
uncertainty and a disruption of roles and patterns of social interaction. Peoples with
disabilities and vulnerabilities have survival (physiological), safety, social, esteem, and self-
actualization (fulfillment) needs like persons without disabilities.
This chapter begins with the overview of the impacts of disability on daily life of peoples
with disabilities and vulnerabilities and their needs for inclusive service provisions. It
describes diverse needs of persons with disabilities and vulnerabilities followed by
differentiated intervention and rehabilitation approaches. The chapter further discusses
inclusiveness from different perspectives such as; health services provision, accessibility of
technologies, employment and economic independence, disability and rural life and access to
education for peoples with disabilities and vulnerabilities in brief.
Factors related to the person
People respond to disabilities in different ways. Some react negatively and thus their quality
of life is negatively affected. Others choose to focus on their abilities as opposed to their
disabilities and continue to live a productive life. There are several factors that affect the
impact a disability has on an individual. The following are often considered the most
significant factors in determining a disability's impact on an individual.

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 1. The Nature of the Disability: Disability can be acquired (a result of an accident, or
acquired disease) or congenital (present at birth). If the disability is acquired, it is
more likely to cause a negative reaction than a congenital disability. Congenital
disabilities are disabilities that have always been present, thus requiring less of an
adjustment than an acquired disability.
2. The Individual’s Personality - the individual personality can be typically positive or
negative, dependent or independent, goal-oriented or laissez-faire. Someone with a positive
outlook is more likely to embrace a disability then someone with a negative outlook.
Someone who is independent will continue to be independent and someone who is goal-
oriented will continue to set and pursue goals.
3. The Meaning of the Disability to the Individual - Does the individual define
himself/herself by his/her looks or physical characteristics? If so, he/she is more likely to feel
defined by his/her disability and thus it will have a negative impact.
4. The Individual’s Current Life Circumstances - The individual’s independence or
dependence on others (parents). The economic status of the individual or the individual's
caregivers, the individual's education level. If the individual is happy with their current life
circumstance, they are more likely to embrace their disability, whereas if they are not happy
with their circumstances, they often blame their disability.
5. The Individual's Support System - The individual’s support from family, a significant
other, friends, or social groups. If so, he/she will have an easier time coping with a disability
and thus will not be affected negatively by their disability.

Common effects of a disability may include but not limited to health conditions of the
person; mental health issues including anxiety and depression; loss of freedom and
independence; frustration and anger at having to rely on other people; practical problems
including transport, choice of activities, accessing buildings; unemployment; problems with
learning and academic study; loss of self-esteem and confidence, especially in social
situations. But all these negative effects are due to restricted environments, not due to
impairments.

The disability experience resulting from the interaction of health conditions, personal
factors, and environmental factors varies greatly. Persons with disabilities are diverse and
heterogeneous, while stereotypical views of disability emphasize wheelchair users and a few
other “classic” groups such as blind people and deaf people. Disability encompasses the child

29
born with a congenital condition such as cerebral palsy or the young soldier who loses his leg
to a land-mine, or the middle-aged woman with severe arthritis, or the older person with
dementia, among many others. Health conditions can be visible or invisible; temporary or
long term; static, episodic, or degenerating; painful or inconsequential. Note that many
people with disabilities do not consider themselves to be unhealthy. Generalizations about
“disability” or “people with disabilities” can mislead. Persons with disabilities have diverse
personal factors with differences in gender, age, language, socioeconomic status, sexuality,
ethnicity, or cultural heritage. Each has his or her personal preferences and responses to
disability. Also while disability correlates with disadvantage, not all people with disabilities
are equally disadvantaged. Women with disabilities experience the combined disadvantages
associated with gender as well as disability, and may be less likely to marry than non-
disabled women. People who experience mental health conditions or intellectual impairments
appear to be more disadvantaged in many settings than those who experience physical or
sensory impairments. People with more severe impairments often experience greater
disadvantage. Conversely, wealth and status can help overcome activity limitations and
participation restrictions.
Reflection

People with disabilities and vulnerabilities live with challenges that impact their
abilities to conduct Activities of Daily Living (ADL). Disability and vulnerabilities can limit
or restrict one or more ADLs, including moving from one place to another (e.g., navigation,
locomotion, transfer), maintaining a position (e.g., standing, sitting, sleeping), interacting
with the environment (e.g., controlling systems, gripping objects), communicating (e.g.,
speaking, writing, hand gestures), feeding (chewing, swallowing, etc.), and perceiving the
external world (by movement of the eyes, the head, etc.), due to inaccessible environment.
Many older persons face one or more impairments. Their situation is often similar to that of
people with disabilities. Their needs are similar to those people with multiple disabilities with
a decrease in the muscular, vision, hearing and cognitive capacities.
Economic Factors and Disability

There is clear evidence that people with few economic assets are more likely to acquire
pathologies that may be disabling. This is true even in advanced economies and in economies
with greater levels of income equality. The impact of absolute or relative economic

30
deprivation on the onset of pathology crosscuts conditions with radically different etiologies,
encompassing infectious diseases and most common chronic conditions. Similarly, economic
status affects whether pathology will proceed to impairment. Examples include such
phenomena as a complete lack of access to or a delay in presentation for medical care for
treatable conditions (e.g., untreated breast cancer is more likely to require radical
mastectomy) or inadequate access to state-of-the-art care (e.g., persons with rheumatoid
arthritis may experience a worsened range of motion and joint function because disease-
modifying drugs are not used by most primary care physicians). In turn, a lack of resources
can adversely affect the ability of an individual to function with a disabling condition. For
example, someone with an amputated leg who has little money or poor health insurance may
not be able to obtain a proper prosthesis, in which case the absence of the limb may then
force the individual to withdraw from jobs that require these capacities.

Similarly, economic resources can limit the options and abilities of someone who requires
personal assistance services or certain physical accommodations. The individual also may not
be able to access the appropriate rehabilitation services to reduce the degree of potential
disability either because they cannot afford the services themselves or cannot afford the cost
of specialized transportation services.

The economic status of the community may have a more profound impact than the
status of the individual on the probability that disability will result from impairment or other
disabling conditions. Research on employment among persons with disabilities indicates, for
example, that such persons in communities undergoing rapid economic expansion will be
much more likely to secure jobs than those in communities with depressed or contracting
labor markets. Similarly, wealthy communities are more able to provide environmental
supports such as accessible public transportation and public buildings or support payments
for personal assistance benefits.

Community can be defined in terms of the microsystem (the local area of the person
with the disabling conditions), the mesosystem (the area beyond the immediate
neighborhood, perhaps encompassing the town), and the macrosystem (a region or nation).
Clearly, the economic status of the region or nation as a whole may play a more important
role than the immediate microenvironment for certain kinds of disabling conditions. For
example, access to employment among people with disabling conditions is determined by a

31
combination of the national and regional labor markets, but the impact of differences across
small neighborhoods is unlikely to be very great. In contrast, the economic status of a
neighborhood will play a larger role in determining whether there are physical
accommodations in the built environment that would facilitate mobility for people with
impairments or functional limitations, or both.

Finally, economic factors also can affect disability by creating incentives to define
oneself as disabled. For example, disability compensation programs often pay nearly as much
as many of the jobs available to people with disabling conditions, especially given that such
programs also provide health insurance and many lower-paying jobs do not. Moreover,
disability compensation programs often make an attempt to return to work risky, since health
insurance is withdrawn soon after earnings begin and procuring a job with good health
insurance benefits is often difficult in the presence of disabling conditions. Thus, disability
compensation programs are said to significantly reduce the number of people with
impairments who work by creating incentives to leave the labor force and also creating
disincentives to return to work.

Political Factors and Disability

The political system, through its role in designing public policy, can and does have a
profound impact on the extent to which impairments and other potentially disabling
conditions will result in disability. If the political system is well enforced it will profoundly
improve the prospects of people with disabling conditions for achieving a much fuller
participation in society, in effect reducing the font of disability in work and every other
domain of human activity. The extent to which the built environment impedes people with
disabling conditions is a function of public funds spent to make buildings and transportation
systems accessible and public laws requiring the private sector to make these
accommodations in nonpublic buildings. The extent to which people with impairments and
functional limitations will participate in the labor force is a function of the funds spent in
training programs, in the way that health care is financed, and in the ways that job
accommodations are mandated and paid for. Similarly, for those with severe disabling
conditions, access to personal assistance services may be required for participation in almost
all activities, and such access is dependent on the availability of funding for such services
through either direct payment or tax credits. Thus, the potential mechanisms of public policy

32
are diverse, ranging from the direct effects of funds from the public purse, to creating tax
incentives so that private parties may finance efforts themselves, to the passage of civil rights
legislation and providing adequate enforcement. The sum of the mechanisms used can and
does have a profound impact on the functioning of people with disabling conditions.

Factors Psychological of Disability

This section focuses on the impact of psychological factors on how disability and disabling
conditions are perceived and experienced. The argument in support of the influence of the
psychological environment is congruent with the key assumption in this chapter that the
physical and social environments are fundamentally important to the expression of disability.

Several constructs can be used to describe one's psychological environment, including

personal resources, personality traits, and cognition. These constructs affect both the
expression of disability and an individual's ability to adapt to and react to it. An exhaustive
review of the literature on the impact of psychological factors on disability is beyond the
scope of this chapter. However, for illustrative purposes four psychological constructs will be
briefly discussed: three cognitive processes (self-efficacy beliefs, psychological control, and
coping patterns) and one personality disposition (optimism). Each section provides examples
illustrating the influence of these constructs on the experience of disability.

a) Social Cognitive Processes

Cognition consists of thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and ways of viewing the world, others, and
ourselves. Three interrelated cognitive processes have been selected to illustrate the direct
and interactive effects of cognition on disability. These are self-efficacy beliefs,
psychological control, and coping patterns which all these are socially constructed.

b) Self-Efficacy Beliefs

Self-efficacy beliefs are concerned with whether or not a person believes that he or she can
accomplish a desired outcome (Bandura, 1977, 1986). Beliefs about one's abilities affect
what a person chooses to do, how much effort is put into a task, and how long an individual
will endure when there are difficulties. Self-efficacy beliefs also affect the person's affective
and emotional responses. Under conditions of high self-efficacy, a person's outlook and

33
mental health status will remain positive even under stressful and aversive situations. Under
conditions of low self-efficacy, mental health may suffer even when environmental
conditions are favorable. The findings from several studies provide evidence of improved
behavioral and functional outcomes under efficacious conditions for individuals with and
without disabling conditions (Maddux, 1996). How do self-efficacy beliefs affect disability?
Following a stroke, for example, an individual with high self-efficacy beliefs will be more
likely to feel and subsequently exert effort toward reducing the disability that could
accompany any stroke-related impairment or functional limitation. The highly self-
efficacious individual would work harder at tasks (i.e., in physical or speech therapy), be less
likely to give up when there is a relapse (i.e., continue therapy sessions even when there is no
immediate improvement), and in general, feel more confident and optimistic about recovery
and rehabilitation. These self-efficacy beliefs will thus mediate the relationship between
impairment and disability such that the individual would experience better functional
outcomes and less disability. The development of self-efficacy of the individual is much
affected by the environmental factors.

c) Psychological Control

Psychological control, or control beliefs, is akin to self-efficacy beliefs in that they are
thoughts, feelings, and beliefs regarding one's ability to exert control or change a situation.
Self-generated feelings of control improve outcomes for diverse groups of individuals with
physical disabilities and chronic illnesses. The onset of a disabling condition is often
followed by a loss or a potential loss of control. What is most critical for adaptive
functioning is how a person responds to this and what efforts the person puts forth to regain
control. Perceptions of control will influence whether disabling environmental conditions are
seen as stressful and consequently whether it becomes disabling. The individuals control over
themselves depends on the provision of the environments: accessibility or inaccessibility.

d) Coping Patterns

Coping patterns refer to behavioral and cognitive efforts to manage specific internal or
external demands that tax or exceed a person's resources to adjust. Generally, coping has
been studied within the context of stress. Having a disabling condition may create stress and
demand additional efforts because of interpersonal or environmental conditions that are not

34
supportive. Several coping strategies may be used when a person confronts a stressful
situation. These strategies may include the following: seeking information, cognitive
restructuring, emotional expression, catastrophizing, wish-fulfilling fantasizing, threat
minimization, relaxation, distraction, and self-blame. The effects of certain coping efforts on
adaptive and functional outcomes benefits individuals with disabling conditions. In general,
among people with disabling conditions, there is evidence that passive, avoidant, emotion-
focused cognitive strategies (e.g., catastrophizing and wishful thinking) are associated with
poorer outcomes, whereas active, problem-focused attempts to redefine thoughts to become
more positive are associated with favorable outcomes. An adaptive coping pattern would
involve the use of primary and secondary control strategies. What seems useful is the
flexibility to change strategies and to have several strategies available.

Active coping is a significant predictor of mental health and employment-related

outcomes. Under conditions in which individuals with disabling conditions use active and
problem-solving coping strategies to manage their life circumstances, there will be better
functional outcomes across several dimensions (e.g., activities of daily living, and
employment) than when passive coping strategies are used. An important component in the
coping process is appraisal. Appraisals involve beliefs about one's ability to deal with a
situation. Take, for example, two people with identical levels of impairment. The appraisal
that the impairment is disabling will result in more disability than the appraisal that the
impairment is not disabling, regardless of the objective type and level of impairment.

Appraisal is related to self-efficacy in the sense that one's thoughts and cognition
control how one reacts to a potentially negative situation. When a person feels that he or she
can execute a desired outcome (e.g., learn how to use crutches for mobility), the person is
more likely to do just that. Similarly, under conditions in which an individual appraises his or
her disabling conditions and other life circumstances as manageable, the person will use
coping strategies that will lead to a manageable life (i.e., better functional outcomes).

e) Personality Disposition

Optimism is a personality disposition that is included in this chapter as an example of a

personality disposition or trait that can mediate how disabling conditions are experienced.
Several other interrelated personality factors could be discussed (e.g., self-esteem, hostility,

35
and Type A personality). Optimism (in contrast to pessimism) is used for illustrative
purposes because it relates to many other personality traits. Optimism is the general tendency
to view the world, others, and oneself favorably. People with an optimistic orientation rather
than a pessimistic orientation are far better across several dimensions. Optimists tend to have
better self-esteem and less hostility toward others and tend to use more adaptive coping
strategies than pessimists.

Optimism is a significant predictor of coping efforts and of recovery from surgery.

Individuals with optimistic orientations have a faster rate of recovery during hospitalization
and a faster rate of return to normal life activities after discharge. There was also a strong
relationship between optimism and postsurgical quality of life, with optimists doing better
than pessimists. Optimism may reduce symptoms and improve adjustment to illness, because
it is associated with the use of effective coping strategies. This same analogy can be extended
to impairment. Optimistic individuals are more likely to cope with impairment by using the
active adaptive coping strategies discussed earlier. These in turn will lead to reduced
disability.

The four constructs of the psychological environment (i.e., self-efficacy beliefs,

psychological control, coping patterns, and optimism) were highlighted to illustrate the
influence of these factors on disability and the enabling-disabling process. These
psychological constructs are interrelated and are influenced to a large extent by the external
social and physical environments. The reason for the inclusion of the psychological
environment in this topic is to assert that just as the physical and social environments can be
changed to support people with disabling conditions, so can the psychological environment.
Psychological interventions directed at altering cognition lead to improved outcomes (i.e.,
achievement, interpersonal relationships, work productivity, and health) across diverse
populations and dimensions.

The Family and Disability

The family can be either an enabling or a disabling factor for a person with a disabling
condition. Although most people have a wide network of friends, the networks of people with
disabilities are more likely to be dominated by family members. Even among people with
disabilities who maintain a large network of friends, family relationships often are most

36
central and families often provide the main sources of support. This support may be
instrumental (errand-running), informational (providing advice or referrals), or emotional
(giving love and support).

Families can be enabling to people with functional limitations by providing such

tangible services as housekeeping and transportation and by providing personal assistance in
activities of daily living. Families can also provide economic support to help with the
purchase of assistive technologies and to pay for personal assistance. Perhaps most
importantly, they can provide emotional support. Emotional support is positively related to
well-being across a number of conditions. In all of these areas, friends and neighbors can
supplement the support provided by the family.

It is important to note, however, that families may also be disabling. Some families
promote dependency. Others fatalistically accept functional limitations and conditions that
are amenable to change with a supportive environment. In both of these situations, the person
with the potentially disabling condition is not allowed to develop to his or her fullest
potential. Families may also not provide needed environmental services and resources. For
example, families of deaf children frequently do not learn to sign, in the process impeding
their children's ability to communicate as effectively as possible. Similarly, some well-
meaning families prematurely take over the household chores of people with angina, thereby
limiting the opportunity for healthy exercise that can lead to recovery.

Needs of Persons with Disabilities and Vulnerabilities.

Needs of persons with disabilities and vulnerabilities depends on different factors.

People with disabilities do not all share a single experience, even of the same impairment;
likewise, professionals in the same discipline (sector)do not follow a single approach or hold
the same values. Exciting new directions will arise from individual professionals (sectors)
working with persons with disabilities and vulnerabilities on particular briefs. This will
produce different responses each time, complementary and even contradictory directions, but
this richness is needed.
Analyzing the human beings, Maslow has identified five categories of needs, with
different priority levels (Fig. 3.1), in the following order: survival (physiological), safety,
social needs, esteem, and self-actualization (fulfillment). Maslow’s model is also valid for

37
persons with disabilities and vulnerabilities, whose needs are similar to those of ordinary
persons. Nevertheless, many of these needs are not fulfilled, so disabilities and vulnerabilities
seek to fulfill these needs and reach a state of wellbeing. Initially, disabilities and
vulnerabilities attempt to fulfill the first level of needs (survival). The survival needs are
formed by the physiological needs and include the biological requirements for feeding,
performing hygiene, sleeping, ADL, and so on. When disabilities and vulnerabilities fulfill
their survival needs, they will look for situations that keep them safe, before moving up the
chain and fulfill their needs to be part of society and to achieve. As an example of needs in
terms of safety, consider a person with visual impairment who wishes to cross the street
safely. In contrast, for the elderly, at risk and street children safety might represent the ability
to obtain emergency help after falling and not being able to stand again. Social need is a key
element that disabilities and vulnerabilities would like to develop continuously. For example,
a person with a hearing impairment suffers from a diminution of social contact, while
someone with a motor disability feels excluded from social activities.
The third level of the pyramid relates to esteem, both self-esteem and being favorably
recognized by others. Esteem is often related to the capability of achieving things,
contributing to a work activity and being autonomous. In particular, disabilities and
vulnerabilities in a dependent situation feel the need for increased autonomy, as well as the
opportunity to prove their worth to themselves and others through work or other activities.

38
 Fig.3.1 Abraham’s Maslow Hierarchy

Persons with disabilities and vulnerabilities have socio-emotional, psychological,

physical and social environmental and economic needs in general. The following list but not
last are basic needs of persons with disabilities and vulnerabilities to ensure equality for all
within our society.

Dear student,
List the needs of a person with disability living in your neighbor as much as you can.

a) Full access to the Environment (towns, countryside & buildings)

b) An accessible Transport system
c) Technical aids and equipment
d) Accessible/adapted housing
e) Personal Assistance and support
f) Inclusive Education and Training
g) An adequate Income
h) Equal opportunities for Employment

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 i) Appropriate and accessible Information
j) Advocacy (towards self-advocacy)
k) Counseling
l) Appropriate and Accessible Health Care

Social Needs of Persons with Disabilities and Vulnerabilities

Social protection plays a key role in realizing the rights of persons with disabilities and
vulnerabilities of all ages: providing them with an adequate standard of living, a basic level
of income security; thus reducing levels of poverty and vulnerability. Moreover, mainstream
and/or specific social protection schemes concerning persons with disabilities can have a
major role in promoting their independence and inclusion by meeting their specific needs and
supporting their social participation in a non-discriminatory manner. These social protection
measures may include poverty reduction schemes; cash transfer programs, social and health
insurance, public work programs, housing programs, disability pensions and mobility grants.
Social protection from a rights-based approach must accommodate the needs of persons with
disabilities and vulnerabilities. Traditional disability-related social welfare schemes have
mainly focused on poverty rather than taking into account specific challenges faced by
persons with disabilities and vulnerabilities; particularly active participation in education,
access to health and employment. Previous methods of addressing benefits for persons with
disabilities have shown limited progress in overcoming the deeply-rooted social structures
and practices that hinder opportunities for persons with disabilities. Consequently, social
protection needs to move beyond traditional welfare approaches to intervention systems that
promote active citizenship, social inclusion and community participation while avoiding
paternalism and dependence.
The right of persons with disabilities to social protection is recognized by the 1948
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the 1966 International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and, more specifically, the 2006 UN
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Article 28 of the CRPD in
particular recognizes the right of persons with disabilities to an adequate standard of living
and to social protection, ensuring the enjoyment of both rights without discrimination on the
basis of ability. Therefore, States parties should take appropriate measures to ensure that they
receive equal access to mainstream social protection programs and services —including basic

40
services, social security systems, poverty reduction programs and housing programs— but
also specific programs and services for disability-related needs and expenses.
Furthermore, the Social Protection Floors Recommendation (No. 202) recognizes the
importance of national social protection floors to provide basic social security guarantees to
all persons, including persons with disabilities and vulnerabilities, across the life cycle (with
priority given to poverty, vulnerability, and social exclusion).

Gender and disability

The importance of work and the daily activities required of living in the country are
paramount in considering gender. For the male and female with disabilities and vulnerable
groups, work is universally seen as important, whether paid work or voluntary. When the
work interests of men with disabilities are similar to those of others around them, their
identity as a ‘man’ becomes more valuable to the community. However, there are issues
around how masculinity in rural areas is constituted. Finding ways to express this through
involvement in common activities can be difficult. Many of male and females with
disabilities have creativity and skill in finding ways to do things and consequently being able
to build friendships with other men in their communities.
Work, particularly paid work, is also important for many of the female contributors.
Sustaining this in the face of community views about disability is at times difficult,
particularly when it is balanced with expectations of traditional women’s roles of home
making and childcare. Being excluded from these latter tasks because of others’ protective or
controlling views is particularly difficult for some women in asserting their identities as
women and exploring these types of gendered practices.

Identity and disability

The relational nature of identity seems to be of central importance to people with disabilities
and a rural environment in some instances provides a different way for people to be
perceived by others and by themselves. People with disabilities are not primarily clients or
service users but rather are known members of their communities with a shared and, at times,
intergenerational history. The formality of the service system is counterpointed by the
relationships people formed with those who share a rural life.

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Identity marked by disability is complex and multilayered; relationships, outside of paid,
formalized service settings. Services are facilitators of a rural life, rather than the focus of
rural life itself. New technologies, determination and interests shape differing identities for
people who are active agents in their own lives.
This is not to argue that rural living is an idyll for people with disabilities. For some,
their interests and aspirations are elsewhere and they may be constrained by the necessity of
living rurally either because of the needed support from families or a personal need for the
refuge of rural living in times of difficulty. Such difficulties are often generated by broader
structural relations of being socially identified as ‘disabled’, such as with the onset of new
austerity measures.
Disability as part of an individual’s identity is seen by some as a struggle. This is
often twofold: internally to individuals and their sense of self and, too often, in the way they
are perceived and constructed by those around them. An acquired disability is experienced as
challenging the nature of one’s internal pre-established identity and as a struggle to change
the perceptions and attitudes of others and the physical environment in which a person lives.
Relations with family, friends and communities often provided a contradictory landscape,
where a person has to negotiate his or her new disabled identity yet, at the same time, is able
to draw upon previous shared experiences to become re-embedded in friendships and
communities. Finding ways to gain ‘value’ in the local community with a disability is an
ongoing and, too often, difficult journey. It is these very journeys that create one’s identity
and the relational nature of this identity to the rural landscape.
Belongingness and disability
Belonging is a complex concept involving an attachment to place, relationships with others, a
sense of safety, common values and a shared and/or developing history. Belonging is also an
internal sense of being at home in one’s own body and mind. Persons with disabilities and
vulnerable groups have struggled to come to terms with a body and mind which seem
unfamiliar to them, in which they have to make adjustments or accommodations both for
themselves and in terms of their relationships with others. This internal negotiation and
navigation shape their engagement with their social worlds, particularly in rural
communities.
Persons with disabilities in rural areas should have a strong attachment to place,
somewhere familiar and known where they can feel safe, find their ways alone, exercise
autonomy and express their embodied selves. The possibility of making change happen in an

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environment, where one’s voice is heard, is also seen as a part of belonging in a community.
While this is sometimes a struggle, there is a sense that people can use their personal contacts
and friends to get change to happen when it is needed.
Family relationships as a means of connecting to community and being known by
others, and knowing others outside the family are important. Different kinds of relationship
contributed to this sense of belonging, ranging from the more superficial nodding
acquaintances to specific informal support from known others, to the intimacy of close
friends and kin.
Historically for people with disabilities, rurality was once the site of exclusion, rather
than belonging, where identity and gender were disregarded in favor of ensuring protection
of people with disabilities and of the society in which they lived. The idea of belonging in a
rural landscape was promoted by people with a vested interest in segregation.
People with disabilities and marginalized groups feel isolated. Some persons with disabilities
have actively sought to migrate to urban environments, to escape from the confines and
constraints of small rural environments and to build broader social networks away from the
farm.
The Health Care Needs of Persons with Disabilities and Vulnerabilities

People with disabilities report seeking more health care than people without disabilities and
have greater unmet needs. For example, a recent survey of people with serious mental
disorders, showed that between 35% and 50% of people in developed countries, and between
76% and 85% in developing countries, received no treatment in the year prior to the study.

Health promotion and prevention activities seldom target people with disabilities. For
example women with disabilities receive less screening for breast and cervical cancer than
women without disabilities. People with intellectual impairments and diabetes are less likely
to have their weight checked. Adolescents and adults with disabilities are more likely to be
excluded from sex education programs.

Addressing for Inclusive Barriers to Health Care

Governments and professionals can improve health outcomes for people with disabilities by
improving access to quality, affordable health care services, which make the best use of

43
available resources. As several factors interact to inhibit access to health care, reforms in all
the interacting components of the health care system are required.

a) Policy and legislation: Assess existing policies and services, identify priorities to
reduce health inequalities and plan improvements for access and inclusion. Make
changes to comply with the CRPD. Establish health care standards related to care of
persons with disabilities with enforcement mechanisms.
b) Financing: Where private health insurance dominates health care financing, ensure
that people with disabilities are covered and consider measures to make the premiums
affordable. Ensure that people with disabilities benefit equally from public health care
programs. Use financial incentives to encourage health-care providers to make
services accessible and provide comprehensive assessments, treatment, and follow-
ups. Consider options for reducing or removing out-of-pocket payments for people
with disabilities who do not have other means of financing health care services.

c) Service delivery: Provide a broad range of modifications and adjustments

(reasonable accommodation) to facilitate access to health care services. For example
changing the physical layout of clinics to provide access for people with mobility
difficulties or communicating health information in accessible formats such as
Braille. Empower people with disabilities to maximize their health by providing
information, training, and peer support. Promote community-based rehabilitation
(CBR) to facilitate access for disabled people to existing services. Identify groups that
require alternative service delivery models, for example, targeted services or care
coordination to improve access to health care.

d) Human resources: Integrate disability inclusion education into undergraduate and

continuing education for all health-care professionals. Train community workers so
that they can play a role in preventive health care services. Provide evidence-based
guidelines for assessment and treatment.

Disability, vulnerability and the Environment

The prevailing understanding about the cause of disability has undergone profound change
worldwide. Previous models of absolute determinism that viewed pathology and disability

44
interchangeably and that excluded consideration of the environment have been replaced by
models in which disability is seen to result from the interaction between the characteristics of
individuals with disabilities and the characteristics of their environment. Cultural norms
affect the way that the physical and social environments of the individual are constituted and
then focus on a few—but not all—of the elements of the environment to provide examples of
how the environment affects the degree of disability. The amount of disability is not
determined by levels of pathologies, impairments, or functional limitations, but instead is a
function of the kind of services provided to people with disabling conditions and the extent to
which the physical, built environment is accommodating or not accommodating to the
particular disabling condition. Because societies differ in their willingness to provide the
available technology and, indeed, their willingness to provide the resources to improve that
technology, disability ultimately must been seen as a function of society, not of a physical or
medical process.

Disability is not inherent in an individual but is, rather, a relational concept—a

function of the interaction of the person with the social and physical environments. The
amount of disability that a person experiences, depends on both the existence of a potentially
disabling condition (or limitation) and the environment in which the person lives. For any
given limitation (i.e., potential disability), the amount of actual disability experienced by a
person will depend on the nature of the environment, that is, whether the environment is
positive and enabling (and serves to compensate for the condition, ameliorate the limitation,
or facilitate one's functional activities) or negative and disabling (and serves to worsen the
condition, enhance the limitation, or restrict one's functional activities). Human competencies
interact with the environment in a dynamic reciprocal relationship that shapes performance.
When functional limitations exist, social participation is possible only when environmental
support is present. If there is no environmental support, the distance between what the people
can do and what the environment affords creates a barrier that limits social participation.

The physical and social environments comprise factors external to the individual,
including family, institutions, community, geography, and the political climate. Added to this
conceptualization of environment is one's intrapersonal or psychological environment, which
includes internal states, beliefs, cognition, expectancies and other mental states. Thus,
environmental factors must be seen to include the natural environment, the human made
environment, culture, the economic system, the political system, and psychological factors.
45
The environmental mat may be conceived of as having two major parts: the physical
environment and the social and psychological environments. The physical environment may
be further subdivided conceptually into the natural environment and the built environment.
Both affect the extent to which a disabling condition will be experienced by the person as a
disability.

Dear students, this topic focus on rural environment and life of persons with disabilities,
vulnerabilities and marginalized groups, how rural landscapes, infrastructure and
communities shaped social understandings of disability, and how these understandings might
uniquely shape opportunities a better life of this group of people. People with disabilities,
vulnerabilities and marginalized groups have no voices about their lives and what rural living
means to them. Physical landscapes are infused with social meaning and that the feelings we
have for particular places are built up through an accumulation of experiences that invoke
strong emotional responses. Rurality must be considered as more than an issue of context or
setting. Instead, rurality professionals in rural should prioritize the voices and experiences of
those who live rurally, and that the specific characteristics or aspects of the particular rural
communities to which they belong.
Since larger population of Ethiopia (more than 85%) are agricultural community, life
and aspirations of disabilities and vulnerable groups highlight both the pull and the push of
rural living without appropriate services and supports.
Persons with disabilities, vulnerable and marginalized groups living in rural areas have
double disadvantaged due to their impairments and vulnerabilities and unfavorable physical
and social environment. Professional who are working in rural areas should work in
collaboration accordingly. More specifically, these group of people have been excluded from
agricultural works (productivity) due its nature high demand to labour and lack of
technologies and well organized support from professional.

Creating Welcoming (Inclusive) Environment

External environmental modifications can take many forms. These can include assistive
devices, alterations of a physical structure, object modification, and task modification. The
role of environmental modification as a prevention strategy has not been systematically
evaluated, and its role in preventing secondary conditions and disability that accompany a
poor fit between human abilities and the environment should be studied. Environmental

46
strategies may ease the burden of care experienced by a family member who has the
responsibility of providing the day-to-day support for an individual who does not have the
capacity for social participation and independent living in the community. These
environmental modifications may well be an effort at primary prevention because the
equipment may provide a safety net and prevent disabling conditions that can occur through
lifting and transfer of individuals who may not be able to do it by themselves.

Rehabilitation must place emphasis on addressing the environmental needs of people

with disabling conditions. Environmental strategies can be effective in helping people
function independently and not be limited in their social participation, in work, leisure or
social interactions as a spouse, parent, friend, or coworker.

Examples of Environmental Modification

1. Mobility aids
 Hand Orthosis
 Mouth stick
 Prosthetic limb
 Wheelchair (manual and/or motorized)
 Canes
 Crutches
 Braces
2. Communication aids
 Telephone amplifier or TDD
 Voice-activated computer
 Closed or real-time captioning
 Computer-assisted note taker
 Print enlarger
 Reading machines
 Books on tape
 Sign language or oral interpreters
 Braille writer
 Cochlear implant
 Communication boards FM, audio-induction loop, or infrared systems
3. Accessible structural elements
 Ramps Elevators
 Wide doors
 Safety bars
 Nonskid floors

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  Sound-reflective building materials
 Enhanced lighting
 Electrical sockets that meet appropriate reach ranges
 Hardwired flashing alerting systems Increased textural contrast
4. Accessible features
 Built up handles
 Voice-activated computer
 Automobile hand controls
5. Job accommodations
 Simplification of task
 Flexible work hours
 Rest breaks
 Splitting job into parts
 Relegate nonessential functions to others
6. Differential use of personnel
 Personal care assistants
 Note takers
 Secretaries Editors
 Sign language interpreters

3.3.1.1.1Impact of the Social and Psychological Environments on the Enabling-

Disabling Process

The social environment is conceptualized to include cultural, political, and economic factors.
The psychological environment is the intrapersonal environment. This section examines how
both affect the disabling process.

Culture and the Disabling Process

Culture affects the enabling-disabling process at each stage; it also affects the transition from
one stage to another. This section defines culture and then considers the ways in which it
affects each stage of the process.

Definition of Culture

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Definition of culture includes both material culture (things and the rules for producing them)
and nonmaterial culture (norms or rules, values, symbols, language, ideational systems such
as science or religion, and arts such as dance, crafts, and humor). Nonmaterial culture is so
comprehensive that it includes everything from conceptions of how many days a week has or
how one should react to pain to when one should seek medical care or whether a
hermaphroditic person is an abomination, a saint, or a mistake. Cultures also specify
punishments for rule-breaking, exceptions to rules, and occasions when exceptions are
permitted. The role of nonmaterial culture for humans has been compared to the role of
instincts for animals or to the role of a road map for a traveler. It provides the knowledge that
permits people to be able to function in both old and new situations.

Both the material and nonmaterial aspects of cultures and subcultures are relevant to the
enabling-disabling process. However, for our purpose we will focus primarily on the role of
nonmaterial culture in that process. Cultures have an impact on the types of pathologies that
will occur as well as on their recognition as pathologies.

However, if a pathology is not recognized by the culture (in medical terms, diagnosed), the
person does not begin to progress toward disability (or cure).

Culture can affect the likelihood of the transition from pathology to impairment. A
subculture, such as that of well-educated society, in which health advice is valued, in which
breast cancer screening timetables are followed, and in which early detection is likely, is one
in which breast tumors are less likely to move from pathology to impairments. In a
subculture in which this is not true, one would likely see more impairments arising from the
pathologies.

Cultures can also speed up or slow down the movement from pathology to
impairment, either for the whole culture or for subgroups for whom the pathway is more or
less likely to be used. For example, some religions, women are less likely to seek health care
because it means a man must be available to escort them in public, which is unlikely if the
males are breadwinners and must give up income to escort them, and women are also less
likely to seek health care if the provider is male. Thus, their culture lessens the likelihood that
their pathology will be cured and therefore increases the likelihood that the pathology will
become impairment.

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 Culture clearly has an impact on whether a particular impairment will become a
functional limitation. Impairments do not become limiting automatically. Rather, cultures
affect the perception that the impairment is in fact the cause of the limitation, and they affect
the perception that the impairment is in fact limiting.

If a society believes that witchcraft is the reason that a woman cannot have children,
medical facts about her body become irrelevant. She may in fact have fibroids, but if that
culture sees limitation as coming from the actions of a person, there is no recognition of a
linkage between the impairment and the functional limitation. Rather, any enabling-disabling
process must go through culturally prescribed processes relating to witches; medically or
technologically based enabling-disabling processes will not be acceptable.

If the culture does not recognize that impairment is limiting, then it is not. For
example, hearing losses were not equivalent to functional limitations in Martha's Vineyard,
because "everyone there knew sign language". Or, if everyone has a backache, it is not
defined by the culture as limiting. There are many cross-cultural examples. In a culture in
which nose piercing is considered necessary for beauty, possible breathing problems
resulting from that pathology and impairment would be unlikely to be recognized as being
limiting. Or, in a perhaps more extreme case, female circumcision is an impairment that
could lead to functional limitation (inability to experience orgasm), but if the whole point is
to prevent female sexual arousal and orgasm, then the functional limitation will not be
recognized within that culture but will only be recognized by those who come from other
cultures. In all these examples, if the culture does not recognize the impairment, the
rehabilitation process is irrelevant—there is no need to rehabilitate a physical impairment if
there is no recognized functional limitation associated with it.

Pathway from Functional Limitation to Disability

Here, the most important consideration is the ways in which the transition from functional
limitation to disability is affected by culture. A condition that is limiting must be defined as
problematic—by the person and by the culture—for it to become a disability. Whether a
functional limitation is seen as being disabling will depend on the culture. The culture
defines the roles to be played and the actions and capacities necessary to satisfy that role. If
certain actions are not necessary for a role, then the person who is limited in ability to

50
perform those actions does not have a disability. For example, a professor who has arthritis in
her hands but who primarily lectures in the classroom, dictates material for a secretary to
type, and manages research assistants may not be disabled in her work role by the arthritis. In
this case, the functional limitation would not become a disability. For a secretary who would
be unable to type, on the other hand, the functional limitation would become a disability in
the work sphere.

A disability can exist without functional limitation, as in the case of a person with a
facial disfigurement living in cultures such as that in the United States, whose standards of
beauty cannot encompass such physical anomalies. Culture is thus relevant to the existence
of disabilities: it defines what is considered disabling. Additionally, culture determines in
which roles a person might be disabled by a particular functional limitation. For example, a
farmer in a small village may have no disability in work roles caused by a hearing loss;
however, that person may experience disabilities in family or other personal relationships. On
the other hand, a profoundly deaf, signing person married to another profoundly deaf, signing
person may have no disability in family-related areas, although there may be a disability in
work-related areas. Thus, culture affects not just whether there is a disability caused by the
functional limitation but also where in the person's life the disability will occur. Culture is
therefore part of the mat; as such, it can protect a person from the disabling process and can
slow it down or speed it up. Culture, however, has a second function in the disabling process.

Although there is a direct path from culture to disability, there is an also indirect path.
The indirect function acts by influencing other aspects of personal and social organization in
a society. That is, the culture of a society or a subculture influences the types of personality
or intrapsychic processes that are acceptable and influences the institutions that make up the
social organization of a society. These institutions include the economic system, the family
system, the educational system, the health care system, and the political system. In all these
areas, culture sets the boundaries for what is debatable or negotiable and what is not. Each of
these societal institutions also affects the degree to which functional limitations will be
experienced by individuals as disabling.

All of the ways in which intrapsychic processes or societal institutions affect the
enabling-disabling process cannot be considered here. However, the remainder of this section

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presents some examples of how the enabling-disabling process can be affected by three
factors: economic, political, and psychological.

Disability Inclusive Intervention and Rehabilitation Services

A ‘One-size-fits-all’ approach to provide services for persons with disabilities and

vulnerability groups is no longer enough.

Including people with disabilities in everyday activities and encouraging them to have roles
similar to peoples who do not have a disability is disability inclusion. This involves more
than simply encouraging people; it requires making sure that adequate policies and practices
are in effect in a community or organization. Inclusion should lead to increased participation
in socially expected life roles and activities—such as being a student, worker, friend,
community member, patient, spouse, partner, or parent. Disability inclusion means provision
of differentiated services for persons with disabilities and vulnerabilities. Differentiated
service means a multiple service delivery model that can satisfy the most needs of persons
with disabilities and vulnerabilities. Socially expected activities may also include engaging in
social activities, using public resources such as transportation and libraries, moving about
within communities, receiving adequate health care, having relationships, and enjoying other
day-to-day activities. To reach ambitious targets for the general population, as well as
targeted care for persons with disabilities and vulnerable groups, we need differentiated
service delivery.

Persons with disabilities and vulnerabilities are often excluded (either directly or
indirectly) from development processes and humanitarian action because of physical,
attitudinal and institutional barriers. The effects of this exclusion are increased inequality,
discrimination and marginalization. To change this, a disability inclusion approach must be
implemented. The twin-track approach involves: (1) ensuring all mainstream programs and
services are inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities, while at the same time (2)
providing targeted disability-specific support to persons with disabilities.
The two tracks reinforce each other. When mainstream programs and services, such as health
and education services, are disability-inclusive and aware, this can help facilitate both
prevention of impairments, as well as early identification of children and persons with
disabilities who can then be referred to disability-specific services. And the provision of

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disability-specific supports, such as assistive devices, can help facilitate more effective
inclusion of persons with disabilities in mainstream services.
Strategies to Disability inclusive intervention and rehabilitation
Prevention
Prevention of conditions associated with disability and vulnerability is a development issue.
Attention to environmental factors – including nutrition, preventable diseases, safe water and
sanitation, safety on roads and in workplaces – can greatly reduce the incidence of health
conditions leading to disability. A public health approach distinguishes:
i) Primary prevention – actions to avoid or remove the cause of a health problem in an
individual or a population before it arises. It includes health promotion and specific
protection (for example, HIV education).
ii) Secondary prevention (early intervention) – actions to detect a health and disabling
conditions at an early stage in an individual or a population, facilitating cure, or
reducing or preventing spread, or reducing or preventing its long-term effects (for
example, supporting women with intellectual disability to access breast cancer
screening).
iii) Tertiary prevention (rehabilitation) – actions to reduce the impact of an already
established disease by restoring function and reducing diseaserelated complications
(for example, rehabilitation for children with musculoskeletal impairment).
Primary prevention issues are consider as crucial to improved overall health of countries’
populations. Viewing disability as a human rights issue is not incompatible with prevention
of health conditions as long as prevention respects the rights and dignity of people with
disabilities, for example, in the use of language and imagery. Preventing disability and
vulnerability should be regarded as a multidimensional strategy that includes prevention of
disabling barriers as well as prevention and treatment of underlying health conditions.
Implementing the Twin-track Approach
Implementing the twin-track approach involves: Track 1: Mainstreaming disability as a
cross-cutting issue within all key programs and services (education, health, relief and social
services, microfinance, infrastructure and camp improvement, protection, and emergency
response) to ensure these programs and services are inclusive, equitable, non-discriminatory,
and do not create or reinforce barriers.
This is done by: gathering information on the diverse needs of persons with
disabilities during the assessment stage; considering disability inclusion during the planning

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stage; making adaptations in the implementation stage; and gathering the perspectives of
persons with disabilities in the reporting and evaluation stage.
Track 2: Supporting the specific needs of vulnerable groups with disabilities to ensure
they have equal opportunities to participate in society. This is done by strengthening referral
to both internal and external pathways and ensuring that sector programs to provide
rehabilitation, assistive devices and other disability-specific services are accessible to persons
with disabilities and vulnerable groups and adhere to protection standards and inclusion
principles. A Sector’s organizational structures and human resources on disability inclusion
should aim to reflect this twin-track approach. In particular, each sector should have
disability program officers in all fields working to implement disability-specific support
activities.
Implement Disability Inclusive Project/ Program
As a direct service provider, consultant and materials and equipment producers concerned
with realizing equity, quality services and protecting human rights, all sectorial strategies,
program, projects and services must be disability-inclusive. The sectors operations should be
largely framed within broad programs, making it very important to ensure that disability
inclusion is reflected in program strategies and design documents. This in turn will help to
subsequently ensure disability is also incorporated into the projects that are designed to
contribute to the overall program objectives. However, persons with disabilities are often not
considered in crucial stages of most sectorial and developmental program and projects
because of lack of awareness about the characteristics of people with disabilities,
vulnerability groups and disability inclusion in practice.
The following tips will help to overcome the challenges as a key considerations for including
persons with disabilities in all program and project cycle management stages of Assessment,
Planning, Implementation and Monitoring, and Reporting/Evaluation.
A) Education and vocational training –Inclusive Educationrealize the universal right to
education for all, meaning all mainstream education services need to be supporting
children and persons with disabilities.
B) Health – vulnerable groups and persons with disabilities have the same health-care
needs as all other peoples and health sector services can also play an important
prevention and early identification role to ensure children and persons with impairments
have timely access to health services and referral rehabilitation support.

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 C) Relief and social services – the two-way link between poverty and disability means that
vulnerable group and peoples with disabilities and their families need to be able to
access relief support.
D) Infrastructure and camp improvement, shelter, water and sanitation and
environmental health – universal design concepts must be considered in all
infrastructure and construction programs and projects.
E) Livelihoods, employment and microfinance – vulnerable groups and people with
disabilities face numerous barriers to achieving an independent livelihood, it is crucial
that specific sectors responsible for livelihood programs and projects to make accessible
to all vulnerable and people with disabilities.
F) Protection – marginalized groups and people with disabilities may face risks and
vulnerabilities to experiencing violence, exploitation, abuse, neglect and violation of
rights and therefore need to be specifically considered and included in protection
programs and projects.
G) Humanitarian and emergency response – the disproportionate effect of emergency
and humanitarian situations on vulnerable groups and people with disabilities should be
reflected in the design and implementation of the humanitarian projects.
Implement effective Intervention and Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation interventions promote a comprehensive process to facilitate attainment

of the optimal physical, psychological, cognitive, behavioral, social, vocational, avocational,
and educational status within the capacity allowed by the anatomic or physiologic
impairment, personal desires and life plans, and environmental (dis)advantages for a person
with a disability.
Consumers/patients, families, and professionals work together as a team to identify
realistic goals and develop strategies to achieve the highest possible functional outcome, in
some cases in the face of a permanent disability, impairment, or pathologic process.
Although rehabilitation interventions are developed within medical and health care models,
treatments are not typically curative. Professionals have the knowledge and background to
anticipate outcomes from the interventions, with a certain degree of both optimism and
cynicism, drawn from past experiences.
Rehabilitation requires goal-based activities and, more recently, measurement of
outcomes. The professionals, usually with the patient/ consumer and/or family, develop goals

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of the interventions to help mark progress or identify the need to reassess the treatment plan.
Broad goals and anticipated outcomes should include increased independence, prevention of
further functional losses or additional medical conditions when possible, improved quality of
life, and effective and efficient use of health care systems. Consideration of accessibility of
environments and social participation can, and increasingly should, be included within the
scope of outcomes and goals for independence. A broad range of measurement tools have
been developed for use within rehabilitation, and these standardized tools, along with
objective measures of performance (e.g., distance walked, ability to perform a task
independently), are typically documented throughout the course of the intervention. There
are general underlying concepts and theories of rehabilitation interventions. Examples of
these theories and concepts include movement and motor control, human occupation models,
education and learning, health promotion and prevention of additional and secondary health
conditions, neural control and central nervous system plasticity, pain modulation,
development and maturation, coping and adjustment, biomechanics, linguistics and
pragmatics, resiliency and self-reliance, auditory processing, and behavior modification.
These concepts, alone or in combination, form the basis for interventions and treatment
plans.
Advances in medical research now support or explain some of the theories or
concepts. It has been demonstrated, for example, that retraining reorganizes neural networks
and circuits, that skill retraining must be task specific and maintaining a skill is use-
dependent, that central nervous system cells and chemical messengers may be replaced, that
neural circuits and connections can be regrown, and that all muscles can be strengthened.
Medical rehabilitation is often considered separately, and is focused on recognition,
diagnosis, and treatment of health conditions (e.g., medication for treatment of fatigue in
multiple sclerosis, botulinum injections for spasticity management in brain injury); on
reducing further impairment (e.g., treatment of ongoing shoulder adhesive capsulitis in
stroke, management of osteoarthritis of the remaining knee in above-knee amputation); and
on preventing or treating associated, secondary, or complicating conditions (e.g., neurogenic
bladder management with intermittent catheterization in spinal cord injury, diagnosis of
cervical spinal stenosis in an adult with cerebral palsy). Although medical rehabilitation does
use rehabilitation interventions and espouses the principles of rehabilitation, medical aspects
are additive to rehabilitation interventions and principles, with common goals of improved
function and outcomes.

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 There is convincing evidence that the rehabilitation process and interventions
improve the functional outcomes of people with a variety of injuries, medical conditions, and
disabilities. Assistive technology is often used in conjunction with rehabilitation
interventions; this topic is covered in the Assistive Technology and Science volume in this
series. Rehabilitation interventions are associated with social participation (e.g., access to
education using rehabilitation interventions) and career planning and employment (e.g., long-
term goal of rehabilitation interventions). These topics are covered in the Education and
Employment and Work volumes. There are additional efforts not covered in this volume that
may also be a part of rehabilitation interventions and processes, which include the discrete
areas of mental health and addiction rehabilitation. These are important areas that have
crossover with rehabilitation interventions, have defined sets of standards and regulation, and
have robust histories of development.
Rehabilitation was conceived within the more traditional model of medical care, but it
is increasingly obvious that disability issues are more than medically driven. The social
justice and civil rights model of disability is important to understand, and elements must be
incorporated into rehabilitation interventions, especially as they relate to accessibility of
environments and services. Of all the medical specialties and programs, rehabilitation is the
one most based on quality of life and functioning within the community. Inequalities and
differences must be addressed within the structures of funding and spheres of influence.
Increasingly, insurance plans determine the availability of rehabilitation services, equipment
and assistive devices, and community-based resources; government funding is more limited
for education, especially for those with special needs; and businesses and workers’
compensation programs are more restrictive with flexibility and coverage policies.
Components of Rehabilitation Interventions
Rehabilitation is a process designed to optimize function and improve the quality of life of
those with disabilities. Consequently, it is not a simple process. It involves multiple
participants, and it can take on many forms. The following is a description of the individual
components that, when combined, comprise the process and activity of rehabilitation.
Multiple Disciplines
Rehabilitation interventions usually involve multiple disciplines. Although some focused
interventions may be identified by a single service—such as cognitive retraining by a
psychologist or speech pathologist, and audiologic rehabilitation through hearing-aid
evaluation and dispensing—sole service does not engender the rehabilitation concept of a

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team approach, and it is often differentiated as therapy or medical service rather than
rehabilitation. There are a variety of professionals who participate in and contribute to the
rehabilitation process within a team approach. The list is long, and it includes (although is
not limited to) such professionals as the following:
Physicians
The physician’s role is to manage the medical and health conditions of the patient/consumer
within the rehabilitation process, providing diagnosis, treatment, or management of
disability-specific issues. Often, the physician leads the rehabilitation team, although other
team members can assume the leadership role depending on the targeted goal or predominant
intervention. Because of the depth and breadth of their knowledge and training, certified
rehabilitation physicians or physiatrists usually are the best qualified to anticipate outcomes
from rehabilitation interventions and the process of rehabilitation. They also can provide the
diagnosis and treatment of additional medical conditions related to the specific disability or
underlying pathology, which will have an influence on performance and outcome.

Occupational Therapists
Occupational therapists (OTs) typically work with patients/consumers through functional
activities in order to increase their ability to participate in activities of daily living (ADLs)
and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), in school and work environments, using a
variety of techniques. Typical techniques include functional training, exercise, splinting,
cognitive strategies, vision activities, computer programs and activities, recommendation of
specially designed or commercially available adaptive equipment, and home/education/work
site assessments and recommendations.
Physical Therapists
Physical therapists (PTs) assess movement dysfunction and use treatment interventions such
as exercise, functional training, manual therapy techniques, gait and balance training,
assistive and adaptive devices and equipment, and physical agents, including electrotherapy,
massage, and manual traction. The outcome focus of interventions is improved mobility,
decreased pain, and reduced physical disability.
Speech and Language Therapist
Speech and language therapist assess, treat, and help to prevent disorders related to speech,
language, cognition, voice, communication, swallowing, and fluency. Rehabilitation
interventions involve more than the spoken word, including the cognitive aspects of

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communication and oral-motor function with swallowing. Assistive technology using
augmentative or alternative communication (AAC) devices (e.g., BIGmack switch-activation
devices, DynaVox dynamic display and digitized voice devices) is another focus area of
speech pathologists.
Audiologists
Audiologists identify, assess, manage, and interpret test results related to disorders of
hearing, balance, and other systems related to hearing. Hearing screens and more
technologically advanced testing systems fall under the areas of practice. Audiologic
rehabilitation interventions include developing auditory and central processing skills,
evaluating and fitting for a variety of hearing aids and supports, training for use of hearing
prosthetics, including cochlear implants, and counseling for adjustment to hearing loss or
newly acquired hearing.
Although sign language is a technique used to assist with communication for those with
hearing impairments, competency is not required foraudiologists.

Rehabilitation Nurses
The rehabilitation nurse usually takes the role of educator and taskmaster throughout
rehabilitation, but these professionals have most prominence within inpatient rehabilitation
programs. They are expert at bladder management, bowel management, and skin care, and
they provide education to patients and families about these important areas and also
medications to be used at home after discharge. Activities developed within the active
therapeutic rehabilitation programs are routinely used and practiced, such as dressing,
bathing, feeding, toileting, transfers to and from wheelchairs, and mobility.
Social Workers
Social workers in health settings may provide case management or coordination for persons
with complex medical conditions and needs; help patients navigate the paths between
different levels of care; refer patients to legal, financial, housing, or employment services;
assist patients with access to entitlement benefits, transportation assistance, or community-
based services; identify, assess, refer, or offer treatment for such problems as depression,
anxiety, or substance abuse; or provide education or support programming for health or
related social problems. Social workers work not only with the individual receiving
rehabilitation services, but with family members, to assist both the individual and family in
reaching decisions and making emotional or other adjustments.

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Case Managers
Case management is a relatively new concept that has come about with the survival of
patients/consumers with complex medical problems and disabilities, and with the
development of a more complex health care system. Case managers possess skills and
credentials within other health professions, such as nursing, counseling, or therapies,
although they usually have a nursing background. These professionals collaborate with all
service providers and link the needs and values of the patient/consumer with appropriate
services and providers within the continuum of health care. This process requires
communication with the patient/consumer and his or her family, the service providers, and
the insurance companies.
Within the rehabilitation environment, case managers ensure that ongoing care is at
an optimal level and covered by insurance or other payer programs, during and following
inpatient rehabilitation or throughout an outpatient rehabilitation process. Coordination of
services following the inpatient admission can be the most difficult task. A hospital,
rehabilitation program, or insurance company may employ case managers.
Rehabilitation Psychologists
Rehabilitation psychology is a specialized area of psychology that assists the individual (and
family) with any injury, illness, or disability that may be chronic, traumatic, and/or
congenital in achieving optimal physical, psychological, and interpersonal functioning
(Scherer et al.,2004). This profession is an integral part of rehabilitation, and it involves
assessment and intervention that is tailored to the person’s level of impairment and is set
within an interdisciplinary framework.
Neuropsychologists
Neuropsychology is another specialized area within psychology, and it is of particular
importance in the care of individuals who have sustained brain injuries. These professionals
possess specialized skills in testing procedures and methods that assess various aspects of
cognition (e.g., memory, attention, language), emotions, behaviors, personality, effort,
motivation, and symptom validity. With this testing, the neuropsychologist can determine
whether the level and pattern of performance is consistent with the clinical history,
behavioral observations, and known or suspected neuropathology, and the degree to which
the test performance deviates from expected norms. Additional contexts encountered in brain
injury survivors can complicate the clinical presentation and impact neuropsychological test
performance. The neuropsychologist can identify emotional states arising from changing life

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circumstances (e.g., depression, anxiety), medical co-morbidities (e.g., substance abuse, heart
disease), and social-contextual factors (e.g., litigation, financial distress), and can then
explain their potential influence to the injured person, family members, and other health care
providers.
Therapeutic Recreation Specialists
Recreational therapists, also referred to as therapeutic recreation specialists, provide
treatment services and recreation activities for individuals with disabilities or illnesses. They
use a variety of techniques to improve and maintain the physical, mental, and emotional well-
being of their clients, with the typical broad goals of greater independence and integration
into the community. Therapists promote community-based leisure activities as a complement
to other therapeutic interventions, and as a means to practice those clinic- or hospital-based
activities within a real-world context.
Rehabilitation Counselors
Rehabilitation counselors (previously known as vocational counselors) assist persons with
both physical and mental disabilities, and cover the vocational, psychological, social, and
medical aspects of disability, through a partnership with the individuals served.
Rehabilitation counselors can evaluate and coordinate the services needed, provide
counseling to assist people in coping with limitations caused by the disability, assist with
exploration of future life activities and return-to-work plans, and provide advocacy for needs.
Orthotists and Prosthetists
These professionals practice within a unique area of rehabilitation, combining technical and
some clinical skills. The orthotist fabricates and designs custom braces or orthotics to
improve the function of those with neuromuscular or musculoskeletal impairments, or to
stabilize an injury or impairment through the healing process. The prosthetist works with
individuals with partial or total limb absence or amputation to enhance their function by use
of a prosthesis (i.e., artificial limb, prosthetic device). The orthotist/prosthetist usually works
with a physician, therapist, or other member of the rehabilitation team to ensure an effective
design to meet the needs of the individual, especially regarding the ability to maneuver
within the built environment and be socially active.
Additional Rehabilitation Professionals

Other rehabilitation professionals who might be considered members of the team include
nutritionist, spiritual care, rehabilitation engineer, music therapist, dance therapist, child-life

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specialist, hospital-based school teacher, massage therapist, kinesiologist, and trainer, among
others.
Person with the Disability and His or Her Family
The person with the disability and his or her family members are partners in this team
process. In fact, they are key members of the team. Personal and family/support system
goals, family/friend support, and community resources are driving forces regarding goals and
discharge planning within the rehabilitation process. The process involves the best strategies
of interventions based on standards of care, the evidence base regarding outcomes related to
interventions, the experience of the practitioners, and the personal and family needs and
contexts of the person with the disability. Professionals should be skillful in their
communication to consumers about anticipated outcomes and effectiveness of interventions.
Community-Based Rehabilitation

CBR was originally designed for developing countries where disability estimates were very
high and the countries were under severe economic constraints. It promotes collaboration
among community leaders, peoples with disabilities and their families and other concerned
citizens to provide equal opportunities for all peoples with disabilities in the community and
to strengthen the role of their organization.

According to the view of World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations
Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), CBR is a strategy that can
address the need of peoples with disabilities within their community which can be
implemented through the combined efforts of peoples with disabilities themselves, their
families, organizations and communities, governmental and non-governmental organizations,
health, education, vocational, social and other services. Community based rehabilitation is a
combination of two important words; community and rehabilitation. Thus in order to get
clear concept about the definition of CBR, let us first define the two terms separately.

Community-consists of people living together in some form of social organization sharing

political, economic, social and cultural characteristics in varying degrees.

Rehabilitation-includes all measures aimed at reducing the impact of disability for an

individual enabling him or her to achieve independence, social integration, a better quality of
life and self actualization or refers to measures which aim to enable persons with disabilities

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to attain and maintain maximum independence, full physical, mental, social and vocational
ability, and full inclusion and participation in all aspects of life.

If you give a person a fish,

He/she will eat for a day;
If you teach him/her to fish,
He/she eat for a lifetime.”

Based on the above definition of key words, CBR is therefore, a systematized approach
within general community development whereby Persons with Disabilities are enabled to live
a fulfilling life within their own community, making maximum use of local resources and
helping the community become aware of its responsibility in ensuring the inclusion and equal
participation of “Persons with Disabilities” (PWDs). In the process, PWDs are also made
aware of their own role and responsibility, as they are part of the community.

The idea of CBR is that people with disabilities should have the right to a good life.
The help they need should be available to them, at a low cost. It should be offered to them
and their family in a way that suits their usual way of living, whether in a village, a town or a
city. They should have education like everybody else. They should be able to take up jobs
and earn their living. They should be able to take a full part in all the activities of their
village, or town or city.
The idea of CBR is that, even if people learn very slowly, or has problems seeing or
hearing, or finds it hard to move about, they should still be respected for being men and
women, girls and boys. Nobody should be looked down on or treated badly just because they
have a disability. Houses, shops and schools should be built in such a way that everyone can
easily go in and out and make use of them. Information should be given to people in a way
they understand, not only in writing, which is hard for people who cannot read or see it.
Information should be given in spoken forms as well, so that everyone has a fair chance to
use it. To do all this would mean a lot of changes. But they would be good changes, because
everyone could live a better life, helping each other and respecting one another. In addition,
for the purpose of our discussion two important definitions will be given:

1. Community based rehabilitation is a strategy that can address the needs of peoples with
disabilities with in their communities (WHO, UNESCO, 2004).

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2.Community based rehabilitation is a common sense strategy for enhancing the quality of
life of peoples with disabilities by improving services delivery in order to reach all in need
by providing more equitable opportunities and by promoting and protecting their rights .

3. The joint position paper by WHO, ILO, UNICEF and UNESCO of the 2004 define CBR
in a rather flexible and broad manner in the following way: Community based rehabilitation
is a strategy within general community development for rehabilitation, equalization of
opportunities and social inclusion of all children and adults with disabilities. It is
implemented through the combined efforts of people with disabilities themselves, their
families and communities, and the appropriate health, education, vocational and social
services.

This definition particularly advocates a broad approach for developing programs that
involves the following elements:

A. The participation of people with disabilities and their representatives at all stages of the
development of the program

B. The formulation and implementation of national policies to support the equal participation
of people with disabilities

C. The establishment of a system for program management

D. The multi-sectoral collaboration of governmental and nongovernmental sectors to support

communities as they assume responsibility for the inclusion of their members who
experience disabilities.

E. CBR focuses on strengthening the capacity of peoples with disabilities, and their families.

F. CBR focuses on challenging negative views and barriers in society to enable equal rights
and opportunities.
Major Objectives of Community Based Rehabilitation
The major objective of community based rehabilitation is to ensure that people with
disabilities are empowered to maximize their physical and mental abilities, have access
to regular services and opportunities and become active, contributing members of their
communities and then societies. Thus, community based rehabilitation promotes the
human rights of people with disabilities through attitude changes within the community.
Community based rehabilitation aims to include people who have disabilities from all
types of impairments, including difficulty hearing, speaking, moving, learning or
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behaving. Community based rehabilitation also includes all age groups: children, youth,
adults and older people.
Implement Technologies for Disability Inclusion
Inclusiveness and Information Technology (ICT)
Inclusiveness and Information Technology examines the extent to which regulatory
frameworks for information and communication technologies (ICTs) safeguard the rights of
persons with disabilities and vulnerabilities as citizenship rights. Effective access to
information is crucial in facilitating the participation of citizens in civil society. Accessibility
concerns in the information and communications technologies (ICTs) sector have become
particularly important, given the increased role played by ICTs in everyday life. For persons
with disabilities and vulnerabilities, technological developments such as the proliferation of
the Internet and the provision of services for accessing digital television such as audio
description (video description), closed signing, and the availability of subtitles (captions) in
live broadcasts enabled by speech-to text technologies can make an important contribution to
facilitating independent living. Unfortunately, persons with disabilities and vulnerabilities
still face significant barriers in accessing ICTs. These barriers include, inter alia, poorly
designed Web sites (e.g., with graphics not readable by computerized screen readers, with
information that can be accessed only by the use of the mouse rather than the keyboard),
limited availability of subtitles on webcasts, the use of multiple remote controls for digital
television, and difficult to navigate on-screen displays.
These access barriers have the potential to affect persons with disabilities, including
persons with sensory disabilities (visual and/ or hearing), mobility disabilities, or cognitive
disabilities. The objective to ensure equal access to information should play a central role in
any regulatory framework for the ICT sector. Nevertheless, despite the potential of
technology to empower the public as citizens, the regulatory framework for the ICT sector
has been criticized for its overall perception of the public as economic actors and for the
insufficient level of protection conferred to citizenship values such as equality and dignity.
Inclusiveness and Assistive Technology

Worldwide the number of persons with disabilities, vulnerabilities and marginalized groups
is increasing alarmingly because of population aging, accident, global warming and climate
change, medical advancement, humanitarian crises, natural disaster, conflict and increases in
chronic health conditions, among other causes. Over a billion people, about 15% of the

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world's population, have some form of disability. Between 110 million and 190 million
adults have significant difficulties in functioning. Technologies promote independence for
people with disabilities and vulnerability. The use of devices, computers, robots, and other
established assistive technology (AT) can potentially increase the autonomy of people with
disabilities and vulnerability, by compensating for physical limitations and circumventing
difficulties with normal activities of daily living (ADL).
Vulnerability and disability have adverse impact on quality life of these groups.
Vulnerable people and those living with disabilities are losing their independence and overall
wellbeing. The growing number of persons with disabilities and vulnerabilities is too large to
be cared for through traditional government programs. The cost associated with such
programs and the lack of a skilled caregiver workforce makes it very difficult to meet the
needs of this segment of the population. It is therefore inevitable that we resort to technology
in our search for solutions to the costly and challenging problems facing persons with
disabilities and vulnerabilities.
Wellbeing or quality of life is an important concern for persons with disabilities,
vulnerabilities and marginalized groups, who, like every person, is seeking to be well, happy,
healthy, and prosperous. Persons with disabilities, vulnerabilities and marginalized groups
have several important components of wellbeing. A key activity is independent living with
convenient access to goods and services, as well as being socially active and enjoying self-
esteem and dignity. In modern societies, persons with disabilities, vulnerabilities and
marginalized groups can attain some components of wellbeing such as access to services
using assistive technology (AT). Other components, such as freedom of navigation and
travel, are much more difficult because of environmental obstacles encountered by the
disabled.
Assistive Technologies (AT)

Surgery, generic therapy, rehabilitation, human assistance, and the use of assistive
technology (AT) help disabled people cope with their disabilities. Surgery (medical
intervention) helps decrease deficiency and, in some cases, restores capability. Genetic
therapy attempts to remediate genes responsible for a given disease or disorder. Although
promising in concept, genetic therapy is in its infancy and, as yet, has no broad application.
Rehabilitation develops and adapts residual capabilities, while human assistance aids
Persons with disabilities and vulnerabilities in their daily living activities. Unfortunately,

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such assistance is not always available and not necessarily cost-effective. AT can increase the
autonomy, independence, and quality of life for Persons with disabilities and vulnerabilities
and can also enable the integration of social, professional, and environmental aspects of life
for Persons with disabilities and vulnerabilities populations.
AT and Daily Living of Persons with disabilities and Vulnerabilities
Assistive technology affords Persons with disabilities and vulnerabilities greater equality of
opportunity, by enhancing and expanding their communication, learning, participation, and
achievement with higher levels of independence, wellbeing, and quality of life. Such
assistive technologies are essential for helping Persons with disabilities and vulnerabilities
with severe physical, sensorial, or mental limitations to become more independent, and to
improve their quality of life. Typically, AT works by compensating for absent or
nonfunctional skills, by maintaining or enhancing existing abilities. Persons with disabilities
and vulnerabilities utilize AT to enhance the performance of their daily living tasks,
including communication, vision, hearing, recreation, movement, seating and mobility,
reading, learning, writing, and studying, as well as controlling and accessing their
environment.
Assistive Technology varies from low-tech devices such as a cane or adapted loop, to
high-tech systems such as assistive robotics or smart spaces. Currently, most popular
technologies for Persons with disabilities and Vulnerabilities are simple; or examples of
mobility-enhancing equipment include wheelchairs, communication via mobile telephones
and computers, and voice-activated smart devices to enhance environmental control.
Advances in communication and information technologies further support the
development of new, more complex technologies such as utilization of smart wheelchairs,
assistive robots, and smart spaces.
AT Definitions
Assistive technology encompasses all systems that are designed for Persons with disabilities
and Vulnerabilities, and that attempt to compensate the handicapped. This includes robotic
tele manipulators, wheelchairs, or navigation systems for the blind. AT also includes systems
that restore personal functionality, such as external prostheses and ortheses. There are various
organizational definitions for assistive technology: The international standard ISO 9999
defines AT (refering to AT as “technical aid”) as “any product, instrument, equipment or
technical system used by a disabled person, especially produced or generally available,
preventing, compensating, monitoring, relieving or neutralizing the impairment, disability or

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handicap” . In the United States, the Technology Act and Assistive Technology Act define an
AT device as “any item, piece of equipment or product system, whether acquired
commercially, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve
functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.” These Acts also define an assistive
technology service as “any service that directly assists an individual with a disability in the
selection, acquisition, or use, of an assistive technology device.”
The Older Americans Act defines AT as “technology, engineering methodologies, or
scientific principles appropriate to meet the needs of, and address the barriers confronted by,
older individuals with functional limitations.”
In Europe, the European Commission (EC) defines AT as “products, devices or
equipment that is used to maintain, increase or improve the functional capabilities of people
with disabilities”. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines an Assistive Device as
“Equipment that enables an individual who requires assistance to perform the daily activities
essential to maintain health and autonomy and to live as full a life as possible. Such
equipment may include, for example, motorized scooters, walkers, walking sticks, grab rails
and tilt-and-lift chairs” WHO also defines assistive technology as “An umbrella term for any
device or system that allows individuals to perform tasks they would otherwise be unable to
do or increases the ease and safety with which tasks can be performed”.
AT and User Needs: A Classification Scheme
Examples of AT user needs and classification
A. People with Communication Disabilities refers to be multiple difficulties including: Speech
mechanism problem, Language processing, Hearing, Vision, Motor skills

Needs & Barriers: Safety Technologies, Self-care and medication management, social needs
socialization, access to information technology, communication and interaction with environment,
access to public administration and facilities (authorities, banks, public services), shopping recreation
and leisure problems with speech, writing, esteem independence and employment.
Assistive technologies: Mobile systems [phones, wearable electronics, computers, augmentative and
alliterative communication (including I/O interfaces) (adaptable/configurable interfaces, tactile
interfaces), vibrotactile displays reading screen, speech technologies, augmentative–alliterative
communication. Socialization and entertainment tools (special games, virtual companion’s
videoconferences). Medication organizers (medication reminder/management). Speech technology
(audio technology for I/O interfaces and control, writing translators, text–speech translators,
transportation (public transportation facilities, smart environments home control, pervasive
computing, context awareness, middleware) Shopping tools (Internet access) and education tools

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B. People with Cognitive Disabilities: The impairments may include: Cognition, memory loss and
forgetfulness
Needs & Barriers are survival, hygiene (toileting, bathing, laundry); feeding (food
preparation,
eating, drinking), remembering, housekeeping—home cleaning, safety, safety technologies,
safety of environment, self-care and medication management, social needs, socialization,
navigation, access to information technology, education, communication and interaction with
environment, shopping, esteem, independence, employment, recreation and leisure

Assistive technologies may include Mobile systems (phones, wearable electronics, and
computers), socialization and entertainment tools (special games, virtual companions,
videoconferences), augmentative and alliterative communication (including I/O interfaces),
adaptable/configurable interfaces, organizer and reminder assistants for timekeeping),
medications, (appointments, hygiene, etc., electronic organizers, medication
reminder/management, procedure assistants, transportation public transportation facilities)
Communication aids (communicators, multimedia procedure, assistants, large-screen
programmable phones, electronic information organizers, electronic mail)

C. People with Motor Disabilities impairment include Upper-limbs difficulties/ dexterity, lower-
limb deficiencies
Needs & Barriers are the need for mobility, working in the inaccessible environment
Assistive technologies may include orthotics (cognitive orthotics), smart environments, home
control, shopping tools (internet access) and education tools

AT and Design Methods

Given the requirements of functionality, safety, and comfort, the design of AT for Persons
with disabilities and Vulnerabilities requires both excellent engineering capacities and
relevant knowledge about Persons with disabilities and Vulnerabilities characteristics.
Product developers must be fully aware of needs, wants, and capabilities of Persons with
disabilities and Vulnerabilities populations, as well as limitations associated with each
handicap. Numerous design methods have been suggested to assist in the process of AT
development. Most widely known are user centered design and universal design, which are
discussed as follows:
Implement Inclusive Job Opportunities and Employment
The right to work is fundamental to being a full and equal member of society, and it applies
to all persons, regardless of whether or not they have a disability. A decent job in the open
labor market is a key bulwark against poverty. It also enables people to build self-esteem,

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form social relationships, and to gain skills and knowledge. Moreover, a productive
workforce is essential for overall economic growth. Barriers to employment thus not only
affect individuals’ lives, but the entire economy. Despite the fact that the majority of jobs can
be performed by individuals with disabilities, the pathways to their employment are often
strewn with barriers. An OECD study of its members showed that persons without
disabilities were nearly three times more likely than persons with disabilities to participate in
the labor market.2 Evidence suggests the same is true for countries in the Asia and Pacific
region, although data to illustrate the full extent of this trend is scarce.
The employment gaps suggested above are likely to understate the divergent work
experiences of persons with and without disabilities, since they do not factor in differences in
type of employment. Persons with disabilities and vulnerabilities are more likely to be own-
account workers and occupy jobs in the informal sector, often without the security offered by
work contracts, salaries, pension schemes, health insurance and other benefits. Even when
persons with disabilities are formally employed, they are more likely to be in low-paid, low-
level positions with poor prospects for career development. Simple comparisons of the
employment rates for persons with and without disabilities can therefore be misleading.
The recently adopted 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls on
governments around the world to promote full employment and decent work for all,
including persons with disabilities and vulnerabilities. Besides directly targeting
employment, the 2030 Agenda and the accompanying SDGs also emphasize the need to
guarantee the rights of persons with disabilities and vulnerabilities to equal and accessible
education; social, economic and political inclusion, and access to cities, transport systems
and public space.
Barriers of employment

Barriers to the employment of persons with disabilities take many forms and operate
at many levels, both within and beyond the workplace itself. Persons with disabilities may be
prevented from working due to inaccessible transportation services; the lack of accessible
information and communications services; the preference of employers for candidates
without disabilities; legal stipulations that prevent individuals with particular impairments
from working in certain fields; or the discouragement of family and community members.
Whilst these obstacles are often interconnected, and act collectively to limit employment
opportunities for persons with disabilities, it is essential to distinguish between different

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barriers in order to develop effective policy responses. The major types of barriers are
described below.

A) Attitudes and Discrimination

Employers may be reluctant to hire persons with disabilities based on the perception that they
are less productive or less capable of carrying out their jobs than others. Colleagues of
persons with disabilities may also hold prejudicial attitudes. At a wider level, social attitudes
that cast persons with disabilities as objects of pity and need perpetuate the assumption that
they should not work. In some cultures, people view disabilities as being indicative of
wrongdoing in a past life, or are simply uncomfortable around people who seem different.
Persons with disabilities may also be discouraged from working by their families, often out
of a sense of shame or a well-intentioned but stifling desire not to impose additional burden
on their family members.
Though there are laws and regulations in some sectors, majority of social and
economic sectors in Ethiopian do not yet have anti-discrimination legislation that specifically
targets the employment of persons with disabilities. Discrimination is a major barrier faced
by persons with disabilities in their efforts to find employment in the labour market. Clearly,
there needs to be greater awareness about the need to break down barriers faced by persons
with disabilities — be it lack of accessibility features in public services or of laws that protect
persons with disabilities from discrimination by employers.
B) Accessibility
The accessibility of the following areas are crucial to the employment of persons with
disabilities: the physical environment; transportation; information and communications; and
other facilities open to the public. In the workplace itself, a lack of physical features such as
ramps and elevators can prevent persons with mobility disabilities from being able to work.
Similarly, the lack of accessible information and communication infrastructure in workplaces
such as clear signage, computers equipped with software such as screen-readers, and devices
such as Braille displays can prevent persons with print and intellectual disabilities from being
able to gain employment. Lack of access to sign language interpretation or captioning
services can inhibit the employment of deaf people. In addition to the informational and
physical design of the workplace itself, the broader inaccessibility of public environments
and crucially, transport, can prevent persons with disabilities from being able to travel to
work, receive information about job opportunities, and communicate with employers.

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C) Education and Training
Persons with disabilities have disproportionately restricted access to education and training.
This severely limits their job opportunities due to a lack of skills and knowledge that are
relevant to find or retain a job. Children with disabilities are less likely to attend school, and
when they do they are less likely to stay in school.18 In Indonesia, children with disabilities
are one third less likely to complete their primary education as those without a disability. In
India in 2007, close to 40 per cent of children with disabilities were not enrolled in school,
compared to only between 8 and 10 per cent of children in scheduled tribes or castes —
groups that also face high levels of discrimination and poorer socio-economic outcomes.
Notwithstanding the numerous other barriers they face, persons with disabilities are thus
often prevented from being able to acquire the human capital necessary to effectively
compete for jobs. In addition, young persons with disabilities who have attended school may
not get the support they need when transitioning from school to work.
D) Social Networks
Another barrier to employment for persons with disabilities can be their more limited social
networks. Social networks greatly aid the process of searching for work, the lack of which is
likely to limit options for persons with disabilities. As part of their broader exclusion from
many important social activities, persons with disabilities often therefore lack the opportunity
to build social relationships with those who may be in a position to offer suggestions for
potential work opportunities. These limited networks are part of the broader cultural and
attitudinal barriers that inhibit participation in social, leisure, civic, and religious activities. A
key benefit brought by employment itself is the building of social relationships with
colleagues, clients and business partners. As a result of the barriers they face in entering and
retaining work, many persons with disabilities are also denied the possibility of expanding
their networks at the workplace itself.
E) Women Disabilities
In many developing countries including Ethiopia, as a result of continued prejudices both
towards women and surrounding disability, women with disabilities are doubly discriminated
against in the labor market. Study found that in many developing countries, women with
disabilities are only half as likely as men with disabilities to have a job. Moreover, when they
are employed, women with disabilities encounter worse working conditions and lower pay as
compared with other women, as well as men with disabilities. Women with disabilities are
also less likely to receive education and vocational training, and those women who do access

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education and attain a degree of financial stability are more likely to have done so before
acquiring their disability. However, it remains difficult to quantify these trends as a result of
the limited availability of reliable data that is disaggregated by both sex and disability. Not
only the particular difficulties faced by women with disabilities as they search for work, but
also the significance of social networks in sharing potential employment opportunities. The
governments and NGOs must ultimately step up to improve the precarious economic
situation many women with disabilities find themselves in.
F) Legal Barriers
As a result of discriminatory attitudes about the perceived capabilities of persons with
disabilities, some countries impose legal restrictions on their participation in certain types of
employment or processes. In some countries, people must be considered ‘physically and
mentally healthy’ or ‘sound’ to represent oneself in a court of law, to occupy official
positions, or to use certain public services.25 Such laws effectively rule out large numbers of
persons with disabilities from accessing employment, based on the blanket assumption that
they are incapable of doing particular jobs effectively. Japan is one country that previously
had such laws, but has taken action to rectify them.
G) Inflexible Work Arrangements
Another common obstacle to the employment of persons with disabilities is the inflexibility
of work arrangements. In some cases, persons with disabilities might prove to be competent
and productive employees, but are nonetheless unable to perform certain tasks. The same is
true for scheduling the work day. Persons with disabilities may have particular transportation
issues or other needs that require a slightly different work day. An employer’s willingness to
rearrange the responsibilities and schedules associated with a particular job can mean the
difference between employment and unemployment for many persons with disabilities.
Indeed, a greater degree of flexibility of working arrangements can boost the morale and
productivity of any employee, regardless of whether or not they have a disability.
H) Dismissal on the Basis of Disability
Workers who are injured and acquire a disability on the job may face unaccommodating
policies and a lack of rehabilitative services, which limit their ability to return to work. The
absence of anti-discrimination legislation in the majority of countries in the region thus
allows employers to dismiss staff on the basis of disability with impunity. Several countries,
such as Iran, offer rehabilitation programs and services to help dismissed workers to find new
employment. Ultimately though, legislation which protects the rights of workers from

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dismissal on the basis of disability is also needed to more comprehensively tackle the
problem
I) The Benefit Trap
Another obstacle to the employment of persons with disabilities can ironically be imposed by
social protection schemes ultimately designed to support them. These schemes can encourage
individuals to stay out of the labor force if they are structured in such a way as to make the
receipt of benefits contingent on the inability to work. Therefore, even if persons with
disabilities believe that they can work, they may choose not to in order to continue receiving
disability benefits. Even if working could offer them a higher level of income, persons with
disabilities may still choose to receive benefits because of the risk of attempting to hold
down a job that does not provide adequate support, or is not flexible towards their needs. It is
important to stress that this ‘benefit trap’ is mainly relevant to more developed countries with
more generous benefit schemes. The situation in most of the region’s middle-to-low income
countries is entirely different. However, it is vital for governments to avoid creating strong
work disincentives.
Strategies to Improve Employment for Persons with Disabilities and Vulnerabilities

There a number of strategies that is available to governments in respective sector as they

work to improve the employment prospects of persons with disabilities, vulnerable and
marginalized groups. In addition, private sector initiatives that have been demonstrated to
improve the employment experiences of persons with in these groups are also discussed
below.
A) Anti-Discrimination Legislation
These laws make it illegal to discriminate against an individual on the basis of disability in a
range of areas including: employment; education; access to public buildings; the provision of
goods and services, and political processes. With regard to employment, anti-discrimination
laws protect persons with disabilities from discriminatory actions in hiring and termination of
contracts and affirm the right of persons with disabilities to access employment on an equal
basis with others. Anti-discrimination laws challenge collectively held discriminatory
attitudes against persons with disabilities by influencing ‘the nexus between law, norms and
social mores’.26 Anti-discrimination laws can be made stronger when they include mandates
for reasonable accommodations that remove additional barriers to employment for persons
with disabilities. Crucially, however, these laws must outline clear enforcement mechanisms.

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When penalties are neither stipulated nor enforced, employers are left free to discriminate
with impunity.
B) Vocational Education And Training
Technical vocational education and training (TVET) programs can help to ensure that the
workforce has the skills and knowledge necessary to obtain and retain a job, while also
driving productivity and economic growth.27 As discussed in Chapter 2, persons with
disabilities often have limited opportunities to build skills and knowledge that are relevant to
the labor market. A vital first step in improving access to employment for persons with
disabilities is therefore to ensure that employment support and vocational programs are as
inclusive as possible. Such programs should also be held in accessible locations, and
reasonable accommodations should be made to improve the access of persons with
disabilities. Some persons with disabilities may not be able to attend mainstream training
programs. In such situations, to allow them to participate, programs targeted at persons with
disabilities may be required. It is crucial; however, that the content of such training programs
is geared to labor market demands, and not determined by prior beliefs about what persons
with disabilities should do or are capable of doing.
C) Wage Subsidies
Wage subsidies cover a portion of employees’ wages, usually for a limited period of time, as
a way to lessen the risk perceived by employers of hiring persons with disabilities. Since
wage subsidies directly target the recruitment process of private firms, they enable employers
to overcome their reservations about hiring employees with disabilities. It is vital that care is
taken in determining the eligibility, amount and duration of subsidies, to avoid the subsidies
exceeding the actual gap in productivity between persons with and without disabilities.
Studies on the impact of subsides show mixed results on employment rates. Most studies
suggest, however, that both workers and employers are satisfied with wage subsidy schemes.
D) Supported Employment
These programs integrate persons with disabilities into the open labor market by providing
direct, on-the-job support to employees with disabilities. Supports are usually offered for a
limited period of time. One common type of support is a job coach. Job coaches provide on-
site, individually tailored assistance to help persons with disabilities perform their jobs.
Coaches also help persons with disabilities adjust to their working environment, and assist in
determining which accessibility accommodations are necessary. Supported employment has
been shown to be particularly cost-effective for people with intellectual and psychosocial

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disabilities, in terms of productivity and health related costs. Supported employment requires
employers to be open to having such services on site, and to be willing to work cooperatively
with job coaches and other service providers. Employment support services and job coaches
require special training.
E) Workplace Accommodation Schemes
These schemes reduce the costs to employers of making workplaces more accessible to
persons with disabilities. In so doing, workplace accommodation schemes seek to minimize
employer reluctance to hire persons with disabilities. There are two ways Government
programs can decrease or even eliminate those costs. The first is by offering tax breaks or
tax credits for expenditures undertaken to make such adjustments. This strategy may,
however, be less effective for small businesses with cash flow issues or limited tax liability.
Another strategy is to provide full or partial funds for reasonable accommodations for
employees with disabilities. Such funding can be provided in various ways, either through
employment agencies, using fines from quota systems, or by offering grants to employers
from separate Government agencies. Investment in assistive equipment for employees
returned costs by about eight times through increased productivity and reduced absenteeism.
F) Workers’ Compensation
These programs are designed to address the issue of occupational injuries and illnesses. They
provide cash and medical benefits to employees whose disability is acquired in the
workplace. Generally, workers’ compensation operates through insurance programs - either
through public insurance programs, or private or even self-insurance at large firms. Because
employer premiums are experience rated, they are higher for firms with more accidents.
Thus, the approach incentivizes workplace safety and encourages employers to support
employees who acquire disabilities at work to be able to return to their jobs. In many
countries, employers are legally mandated to establish workers’ compensation programs.
G) Quota Systems
Quota systems mandate that firms hire at minimum a certain percentage of persons with
disabilities. Typically, quotas apply only to large employers. Empirical data points to only
small net employment gains of persons with disabilities. In addition, quotas can prove
difficult to both monitor and enforce. Moreover, by obliging employers to hire a specific
number of persons with disabilities, quota systems perpetuate the prejudice that persons with
disabilities are not really equivalent to others in their capacity to be productive.
H) Sheltered Workshops

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These programs only hire persons with disabilities, and structure jobs around the perceived
abilities of each employee. Sometimes the stated goal of sheltered workshops is to serve as a
training ground for the eventual transition of employees to the open labor market. In reality,
however, employees with disabilities are rarely supported to make this transition. Employees
are generally paid poorly, and the workshops in which they work are seen as charitable
enterprises and are funded as such, with revenues being a function not of sales but of the
number of employees. Rather than promoting sheltered workshops, governments can serve
their citizens with disabilities better by removing barriers towards their employment in the
open labor market. Persons with severe disabilities may find it difficult to enter the open
labor market, even if other barriers to their employment are removed. In certain cases
therefore, programs that create non-competitive job opportunities may be necessary.
Government and public agencies should be mandated by law to preferentially procure certain
products from such workshops in order to guarantee a stable income for their employees with
severe disabilities.
I) Private Sector Initiatives
In addition to government-driven strategies, a number of private-sector initiatives also serve
to illustrate the need for action to be taken not only by governments, but by employers
themselves.
J) Employer Networks
A number of networks of private companies around the world have initiated their own
programs to promote the employment of persons with disabilities. Sometimes these
organizations are established in response to the creation of a quota policy, sometimes out of a
sense of corporate social responsibility, and sometimes because of a compelling business
case for being more inclusive.
The main activities of employer organizations include:
 Raising awareness and building capacity on disability inclusion;
 Providing information and tools on disability and employment;
 Influencing policy on the employment and training of persons with disabilities;
 Providing career development opportunities and organizing vocational
training;
 Linking jobseekers with disabilities and employers;
K) Support Disability-Inclusive Business

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Private employers can play an important role in developing policies and programs to boost
employment for persons with disabilities, as well as their own bottom line. It is
recommended that governments:
a) Introduce programs to raise awareness among private employers of the business
case for hiring persons with disabilities.
b) Support employers’ organizations and networks to share inclusion practices and
build their capacities to harness the potential of employees with disabilities.
Disability-Inclusive Business—a number of large employers should be proactive in
promoting disability inclusion within their businesses. Many of these businesses draw on
their positive experiences of hiring persons with disabilities to demonstrate the business case
for inclusive employment, citing that persons with disabilities:
 Have higher retention and lower accident rates than employees without
disabilities, and comparable productivity;
 Represent an untapped source of skills and talent and transferable problem-
solving skills developed in daily life;
 Often have valuable skills and experiences learned on the job prior to having a
disability;
 Can provide unique insights to help firms to develop their products or services
to customers and clients with disabilities;
 Can improve the company’s image, increasing morale, creating links to the
community, and appealing to potential customers who have a disability or
whose family members have a disability.
L) Social Enterprises
Social enterprises are businesses that seek to advance a social cause whilst being financially
self-sustainable. Rather than being driven solely by the desire to make profits, these
businesses also aim to maximize social impact. Social enterprises that consciously seek to
hire persons with disabilities, or address issues and barriers affecting the lives of persons
with disabilities can therefore help to boost the employment of persons with disabilities, and
also influence wider social change. Box 10 shows an example of a disability-inclusive social
enterprise.
M) Support Persons with Disabilities in the Workplace
Governments can enhance the working experiences of persons with disabilities firstly by
leading by example in terms of public sector employment practices, and secondly by

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establishing programs and services that support persons with disabilities to do their jobs
effectively. It is therefore recommended that governments:
a) Promote flexible working arrangements to ensure that qualified, productive individuals are
not unnecessarily prevented from doing certain jobs.
b) Provide funding support and tax incentives to start ups and social enterprise
initiatives that aim to hire persons with disabilities or address specific needs of
persons with disabilities.
c) Provide subsidies or tax incentives that support the inclusion of persons with
disabilities in the workplace.
d) Develop job coach accreditation and training standards and provide job coaching
services to enable persons with disabilities to do their jobs effectively and
productively.
N) Building a More Inclusive Society
By creating more accessible physical environments, public transport and knowledge,
information and communication services, governments can facilitate opportunities for
persons with disabilities to work, as well as society at large. It is recommended that
governments:
a) Develop and implement accessibility standards for the physical environment in line with
universal design, including public buildings and transport services, to ensure that individuals
with mobility disabilities are not denied employment opportunities.
b) Promote and provide knowledge, information and communication services in accessible
formats, in line with universal design, to meet the needs of persons with sensory, intellectual
and psychosocial disabilities to apply for and retain a job.
c) Foster greater social inclusion by establishing links with disabled persons’ organizations,
including groups of women with disabilities, and working to promote employment
opportunities.
O) Boost Education and Training Opportunities
Education and training is vital for all individuals to develop their human capital, and to
acquire skills and knowledge relevant to the labor market. Governments must therefore
ensure that persons with disabilities are able to access education and training on an equal
basis with others. It is recommended that governments:
a) Make education systems more inclusive, both to make schools more accessible to children
with disabilities, and to modify instruction to meet the needs of all children.

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b) Mainstream disability inclusion into technical vocational education and training (TVET)
programs, to support persons with disabilities to acquire knowledge and skills necessary to
find and retain decent work.
P) Break Down Attitudinal Barriers and Challenge Discrimination
Dear students, what are the attitudinal barriers and how can we overcome the
challenges?

Discriminatory attitudes towards persons with disabilities inform and produce other barriers
to the full and equal participation of persons with disabilities in society, including in
employment. For governments to better understand and challenge attitudinal barriers, it is
essential to:
a) Undertake research to examine the causes and manifestations of discriminatory
attitudes towards persons with disabilities across society.
b) Launch public awareness campaigns and programs to promote the rights of persons
with disabilities and to challenge discriminatory attitudes surrounding disability.
c) Conduct disability awareness training such as Disability Equality Training for public
employees at the national and local levels.
Q) Improve Data Collection on Disability and Employment
Designing, monitoring and evaluating policies to promote decent work for persons with
disabilities requires timely and high quality information. It is recommended that
governments:
a) Include the six core Washington Group questions on disability in labor force
surveys so that reliable, internationally comparable indicators on employment and
disability can be generated on a regular basis.
b) Conduct disability-dedicated surveys to improve the quality of data and
understanding on barriers to employment and in turn develop more responsive
policies.
c) Take a consistent approach to disability identification so that multiple data sources
can be used in conjunction to get a more complete picture of the experiences of
persons with disabilities.

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Chapter 4: Promoting Inclusive Culture

Time allotted: 5 hours

Inclusion is a sense of belonging, connection and community at work. And inclusive
organizations help people feel welcomed, known, valued and encouraged to bring their
whole, unique selves to work.
Culture is “the ideas, customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society.” An
organization’s culture is the culmination of the priorities, values and behaviors, which
support their employees in how they work singularly, in teams and with clients. Culture plays
a huge role in shifting the diversity needle and forming truly inclusive environments. Hence,
An inclusive culture involves the full and successful integration of diverse people into a
workplace or industry. Additionally, inclusive cultures extend beyond basic or token
presence of workers who have disabilities. They encompass both formal and informal
policies and practices, and involve several core values:
- Representation: The presence of people with disabilities across a range of employee
roles and leadership positions
- Receptivity: Respect for differences in working styles and flexibility in tailoring
positions to the strengths and abilities of employees and
- Fairness: Equitable access to all resources, opportunities, networks and decision making
processes.

Dimensions of Inclusive culture

There are three dimensions/ elements of an inclusive culture:

1. Universal Design

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 2. Recruitment, Training and Advancement Opportunities
3. Workplace Accommodations and Accessibility: Policy & Practice

1. Universal Design
One of the most heralded concepts in disability advocacy and cultures in the last decade is
the concept of “universal design”.
Universal design refers to the construction of structures, spaces, services, communications
and resources that are organically accessible to a range of people with and without
disabilities, without further need for modification or accommodation.
While accommodations procedures remain a needed function of most contemporary
institutions and industries, forward-thinking approaches to disability inclusion will frequently
involve developing sites and resources that require no accommodation to be fully usable and
receptive to people with disabilities.
A few examples of ways universal design practices may apply in the workplace include:
- Routinely providing manuals, materials and forms to all employees in a variety of digital
formats that are as readily accessible to people who use adaptive computer technologies
as to other employees.
- Building workspaces accessible to people who use wheelchairs or other assistive
devices, as well as to all other employees.
- Providing employees with a variety of flexible schedule and work options. This allows
employees who have energy or functionality limitations to organize their time and
strengths, and all employees are better able to manage time and life/work balance.
2. Recruitment, Training, & Advancement Opportunities
A. Recruitment:
Effective recruitment of people with disabilities involves two components:
1. Accessible outreach and hiring practices and
2. Targeted recruitment of workers with disabilities.
Accessible outreach and hiring practices essentially entail making sure that outreach
materials, networking and recruitment sites, communications, and application processes all
include a range of accessible options, or are free of barriers that might inhibit people with
disabilities from participating. Wherever possible, outreach and hiring resources generally
should be equally accessible to workers with and without disabilities.

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For example, making recruitment literature and job applications readily available in digital
and large-print formats, or holding outreach events in spaces without stairs or other barriers
and with accessible communications technology, helps to ensure that people with disabilities
will be included in recruitment practices.
Targeted recruitment involves specific outreach to people with disabilities. Although
making general recruitment practices more accessible goes a long way towards building an
inclusive hiring structure, individual employers are not always able to overcome existing
barriers for instance, when recruiting via externally sponsored job fairs that are not
accessible. Therefore, targeted recruitment enables employers to reach and interview
qualified people with disabilities.
In turn, having accessible recruitment practices relative to hiring, materials and
communications helps to ensure that targeted recruitment will be successful not just in
identifying qualified candidates, but by making sure there are no barriers to effective
outreach and eventual employment.
B. Training: Training plays a dual role in the creation of inclusive workplace culture. The
first consideration involves the degree to which people with disabilities have equitable access
to training sites, events, and materials.
The second concern relates to the training of managers, particularly middle management, and
human resources staff, to work effectively with all people, including those with disabilities.
The consequences of inadequate training are substantial, in reducing job satisfaction, with
corresponding negative consequences for productivity and retention. In turn, companies
favored by employees with disabilities make a concerted effort to create equitable and
accessible training resources.
C. Advancement: Research demonstrates that in order to have equitable opportunities for
promotion and professional development, like most employees, workers with disabilities
typically require access to mentoring.
As with recruitment, mentoring and coaching involves a dual dynamic in which:
- Existing mentoring programs are advertised, implemented and maintained with attention
to inclusion of workers with disabilities, and
- Targeted mentoring and coaching programs specifically assist employees with
disabilities. These may include the creation of explicit disability affirmative action
policies related to promotion, targeted professional networking opportunities, and the

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 establishment of disability affinity networks and related supports to encourage full
integration into the workplace culture.
3. Workplace Accommodations and Accessibility: Policy & Practice
Policy plays a critical role in generating meaningful inclusion of people with disabilities. In
addition to recruitment, training and advancement, workplace policies need to carefully plan
for the provision of reasonable accommodations.
When assessing the effectiveness of existing accommodations policies, employee
experiences can be described based on two measures of equity.
The first indicator of an inclusive workplace culture involves the perception of “procedural
justice”, meaning that employees with disabilities perceive the accommodations policy as
fair, accessible and functional.
The practice of negotiating and providing accommodations constitutes an additional
opportunity for generating an experience of “interactional justice”. Interactional justice
refers to the experience of feeling that the managers or colleagues with whom one is
interacting are behaving fairly, reasonably and respectfully.
Experiential and Bottom Line Outcomes: The Benefits of Inclusive cultures are specifically
beneficial for employees with disabilities, but also have positive results for all employees, as
they include a number of elements of a healthy work environment.
Specific positive outcomes include:
- Reduced expenses corresponding to reduced employee turn-over
- Increased worker commitment to and identification with organizational success
- Improved employee health and well-being
- Improved productivity
- Increased employee investment in work performance
- Reduced perception of discrimination and inequity
- Improved cooperation and collaboration between co-workers, and between employees
and management.
Creating an inclusive organizational culture is challenging but extremely advantageous.
Here's why and how, however, the business benefits and the outcomes of an inclusive
organization fairness and respect, value and belonging, safe and open, and empowerment and
growth should be compelling enough to push forward.
These are some of the benefits of an Inclusive organization that needs to be considered:
- Higher Job Satisfaction

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- Lower Turnover.
- Higher Productivity
- Higher Employee Morale
- Improved Creativity and Innovation
- Improved Problem-Solving
- Increased Organizational Flexibility.
Inclusive education, when practiced well, is very important because all children are able to
be part of their community and develop a sense of belonging and become better prepared
for life in the community as children and adults. It provides all children with opportunities
to develop friendships with one another.

4.3 Building inclusive community

What is an inclusive community?

An inclusive community:
- Does everything that it can to respect all its citizens, gives them full access to resources,
and promotes equal treatment and opportunity.
- Works to eliminate all forms of discrimination.
- Engages all its citizens in decision-making processes that affect their lives.
- Values diversity and
- Responds quickly to racist and other discriminating incidents.
An inclusive society aims at empowering and promoting the social, economic, and political
inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, economic,
or other status. It is a society that leaves no one behind. We work to ensure that societies are
open and inclusive to all.
Here are things an organization can do to create a more inclusive workplace and, therefore, a
more appealing place to work:
- Appropriately Connect with Employees
- Interact with Different People
- Create Employee Resource Groups
- Place Importance on Inclusion
- Hold Better Meetings
- Invest in Diversity Training

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- People have opportunities to experience a variety of social roles that include friendships,
contributing to the community and gaining new skills. Some of the benefits of inclusion
to the person are: Improved feelings of well-being and self-esteem.
Why is building an inclusive community important?
- Acts of exclusion and injustice based on group identity and other factors should not be
allowed to occur and/or continue.
- All people have the right to be part of decisions that affect their lives and the groups they
belong to and
- Diversity enriches our lives, so it is worth our while to value our community's diversity.
An inclusive community can be built at any time. The need to have an inclusive community,
however, is most obvious when there has been a decision or an incident that caused harm to a
particular group of people.
It is important to consider the motivation behind an individual, a group, or a community's
desire to build an inclusive community because the motivation affects the following:
Types and sequence of strategies selected: if there were a crisis, you might have to start with
a strategy that transforms the conflict. If there were no crisis, but rather the vision of a
community leader that sparked the effort, you might consider starting with a public education
campaign.
Resources available: more resources could be mobilized if the motivation came from a large
institution or a local foundation.
Amount of support and obstruction: if the dominant group in the community is just as
motivated as any other group, there is likely to be more support. If, however, the dominant
group has no interest in changing the status quo, there are likely to be more barriers.
Rate of progress: if the major leaders and groups support the effort, progress is likely to be
faster.
Expected outcomes: if the goal is to raise awareness, everyone involved is likely to be
satisfied if they learned new things about other groups. If the goal is to promote fair
treatment of every group, everyone involved is more likely to be satisfied by policy change.
 Characteristics of an Inclusive Community
Inclusive communities do have the following set of characteristics:
Integrative and cooperative: inclusive communities bring people together and are places
where people and organizations work together.

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Interactive: inclusive communities have accessible community spaces and open public
places as well as groups and organizations that support social interaction and community
activity, including celebrating community life.
Invested: inclusive communities are places where both the public and private sectors
commit resources for the social and economic health and well-being of the whole
community.
Diverse: inclusive communities welcome and incorporate diverse people and cultures into
the structures, processes and functions of daily community life.
Equitable: inclusive communities make sure that everyone has the means to live in decent
conditions (i.e. income supports, employment, good housing) and the opportunity to develop
one’s capacities and to participate actively in community life.
Accessible and Sensitive: inclusive communities have an array of readily available and
accessible supports and services for the social, health, and developmental needs of their
populations and provide such supports in culturally sensitive and appropriate ways /essential
services identified include good schools, recreation, childcare, libraries, public transit,
affordable housing and supportive housing, home care, crisis and emergency supports, well
coordinated and comprehensive settlement supports/.
Participatory: inclusive communities encourage and support the involvement of all their
members in the planning and decision-making that affects community conditions and
development, including having an effective voice with senior levels of government and
Safe: inclusive communities ensure both individual and broad community safety and
security so that no one feels at risk in their homes or moving around the neighborhood and
city

Means of establish inclusive culture

An organization is inclusive when everyone has a sense of belonging; feels respected, valued
and seen for who they are as individuals; and feels a level of supportive energy and
commitment from leaders, colleagues and others so that all people, individually and
collectively can do their best work.
To create an inclusive culture in which everyone feels they belong and is comfortable
expressing their uniqueness,
There are four key inclusive leadership behaviors:

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Empowerment: Enable team members to grow and excel by encouraging them to solve
problems, come up with new ideas and develop new skills.
Accountability: Show confidence in team members by holding them responsible for aspects
of their performance that are within their control.
Courage: Stand up for what you believe is right, even when it means taking a risk.
Humility: Admit mistakes, learn from criticism and different points of view, and overcome
your limitations by seeking contributions from team members.
How inclusive culture establish?
There are five stages in establishing inclusive culture:
1. Consider what you want to achieve and what the benefits will be.
This first stage of the process involves looking at your organization: its size, the type of work
it does, where it is located, who it employs, who uses its services, and what its goals are; and
thinking about how it could become more inclusive.
2. Undertake an inclusion review of your workplace
When reviewing inclusion and equality in your organization, you should consider the
following areas:
- The demographics of your organization and customer base.
All organizations are different, so the first thing you will need to do is examine what the
demographic make-up of your workplace is. Compiling and analyzing data on your staff by
age, gender, ethnic group, religion or belief, sexual orientation and disability, and noting
where in the organization’s structure employees belonging to different groups work, will help
you to identify any under- represented groups and areas of occupational segregation. You
should check employees’ salaries according to membership of different groups, and check
rates of progression within and through the grades. It is also useful to look at retention and
exit rates by these groups.
If possible, you should also collect information on the make-up of your customers. Finding
out who uses your services and what their needs are is important if you are to ensure you
have the right people, skills and approaches to meet these needs.
- Your formal policies and procedures.
The formal policies and practices of your organization can tell you a lot about how much you
have previously thought about inclusion, human rights and equality. When reviewing these
policies, you will find it helpful to look at:
- Policies to deal with discrimination, bullying and harassment

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- Procedures to deal with tensions and difference between groups
- Informal or unwritten working practices and
- Arrangements for staff consultation and participation
3. Decide where work is needed and create an action plan.
Having reviewed your workplace in terms of equality and inclusion, the next stage is to
decide upon the action you will take. Set out the key changes you would like to make as a
result of your review. Prioritize these changes to help you decide where to start. Some
measures you may wish to consider as part of your action plan are:
Actively involve all employees
- Consultation and participation
- Encourage employees to take part in monitoring, and promote the reasons for doing so.
- Extra measures and adjustments
Build a culture of inclusion and respect
- Ensure the organization’s core values include a commitment to equality, human rights
and inclusive working.
- Create, extend or improve policies on equality and human rights and make sure other
policies are equality proofed.
- Take immediate action to address and tackle discrimination, harassment and bullying.
- Ensure the organization’s core values include a commitment to equality, human rights
and inclusive working.
- Create, extend or improve policies on equality and human rights and make sure other
policies are equality proofed.
- Take immediate action to address and tackle discrimination, harassment and bullying.
- Training for all staff on inclusive working, human rights and equality.
- Make inclusion a key management approach.
- Encourage and appoint equality and human rights champions.
- Encourage employee networks and forums.
- Promote culture-changing initiatives.
Take an inclusive approach to recruitment, promotion and development
- Make equality, diversity, human rights and inclusive working part of job descriptions.
- Monitor applicants and staff at different levels within the organization.
- Equality and human rights training for all staff involved in recruitment and a fair and
transparent selection process.

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- Attract candidates from the widest pool available.
- Reward talent and achievement rather than stereotypical indicators of success.
- Value skills achieved outside the workplace.
- Encourage and enable development for all.
- Offer mentoring opportunities to junior and new staff.
- Offer work placements
- Conduct exit interviews
Encourage engagement with the local community
- Employer assisted volunteering.4.
4. Communicate the plan with staff and put the plan into action.
- Actively involve all groups of employees
In order to create a working culture of inclusion, respect and opportunity for all, it is essential
that everyone in the organization, from senior management to the most junior staff, is
engaged with and involved in the process of creating this culture, and feels that their opinions
and experiences are valued. Measures to promote inclusive working need to be thought of
positively among employees, not as something that is ‘done’ to them. There are several
things to think about in this respect.
Participation and consultation
Before drawing up a plan of action it is essential to involve and consult employees to find out
about their experiences, what they feel are the key issues affecting them and what action they
would like to see taken to address these issues. Staff and any unions or other employee
representatives should also be consulted at different stages in the plan’s implementation, in
order to get their feedback on the progress being made. The action plan should be a living
document, capable of being adapted and developed over time.
There are many different ways that you can consult and involve employees and their
representatives. Some examples are:
Staff surveys can be used to gather information on a range of subjects, including the make-up
of the workforce, responses and attitudes towards equality and human rights issues, and
levels of job satisfaction among employees. Surveys can be designed so that responses can be
analyzed according to membership of equality group or other relevant factors. Confidential
surveys will attract a higher response rate.

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Focus groups provide more opportunity for in-depth consultation and debate with a smaller
number of employees. They could be a useful forum in which to collect feedback on draft
policies and action plans, and can be an indicator of wider staff attitudes.
Engagement with employee networks and forums can utilize an important representative
voice of staff from minority groups and can provide useful input into policies and action
plans.
5. Review, monitor and evaluate the plan’s impact and use what you find to plan future
action
Ten Characteristics of an Inclusive Organization
1. It accepts diversity and inclusion as a way of life.
In an inclusive organization, one sees diversity at every level within the institution. Many
cultures, traditions, beliefs, languages, and lifestyles are prevalent in both the workforce as
well as the customer populations, and are respected without judgment. People are viewed as
individuals who have come together to coordinate action towards the achievement of
common goals.
2. It evaluates individual and group performance on the basis of observable and
measurable behaviors and competencies.
Employees have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities. They are evaluated
based upon their actions, not the opinions of others. Goals and expectations are achievable.
3. It operates under transparent policies and procedures.
There are no hidden rules of behavior that may be apparent to some groups and unknown to
others.
4. It is consistent in its interactions with everyone.
There is no double standard. Rules are applied appropriately and regularly throughout the
institution. No one group is favored over another.
5. It creates and maintains a learning culture.
Career development is encouraged and supported for all employees by management.
Mentoring programs are robust, and include both formal and informal systems that meet the
individual learning needs of all employees. Mistakes are recognized, and their consequences
addressed, but they are viewed as learning opportunities rather than character flaws.
6. It has a comprehensive and easily accessible system of conflict resolution at all levels.

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It recognizes that conflict is inevitable in a complex multicultural organization, and it has
systems in place to address conflict in a non-confrontational manner that respects the dignity
and confidentiality of all parties.
7. It recognizes that it is part of the community that it serves.
Employees, managers, and customers all come from the community. An inclusive
organization is an active participant in community activities, and plays a vital role in
addressing its needs.
8. It lives its mission and core values.
People work for an organization because they believe in its purpose and goals.
An organization that promises one thing and delivers other risks losing the trust and
confidence of its workforce as well as its customers.
9. It values earned privilege over unearned privilege.
Employees are recognized for their actions and accomplishments, not simply because of their
titles or degrees. Customers are treated with respect regardless of their socioeconomic status
or class.
10. It accepts and embraces change.
Change is inevitable. An inclusive organization recognizes that current and past practices
must constantly be reviewed and updated to meet the changing demands and needs of the
industry, workforce, and customers.

Inclusive values

Inclusion is most importantly seen as putting inclusive values into action. It is a commitment
to particular values which accounts for a wish to overcome exclusion and promote
participation.
The seven Pillars of Inclusion:
Access: Access explores the importance of a welcoming environment and the habits that
create it.
Attitude: Attitude looks at how willing people are to embrace inclusion and diversity and to
take meaningful action.
Choice, partnership, communication, policy and opportunity

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Values are fundamental guides and prompts to action. They spur us forward, give us a sense
of direction and define a destination. We know that we are doing, or have done, the right
thing through understanding the relationship between our actions and our values. For all
actions affecting others are underpinned by values. Every such action becomes a moral
argument whether or not we are aware of it. It is a way of saying ‘this is the right thing to
do’.
Hence, inclusive values are appreciating diversity, equality and equity, cooperativeness,
participation, community, and sustainability are examples of inclusive values that are
fundamental for successful inclusive education.
Appreciating diversity, equality and equity, cooperativeness, participation, community, and
sustainability are examples of inclusive values that are fundamental for successful inclusive
education.
A careful piecing together of a framework of values has resulted in a list of headings
concerned with equality, rights, participation, community, respect for diversity,
sustainability, non-violence, trust, compassion, honesty, courage, joy, love,
hope/optimism, and beauty.
A values framework can be considered as a universe of interconnected meanings.

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 4.7. Indigenous inclusive values and practices

The term “Indigenous” refers to a better understanding of, and respect for, indigenous
cultures develops an enriched appreciation of the existing cultural heritage.
Indigenous ways of knowing were often discounted and discredited as non-scientific because
they were rooted in the story of the people, their language, culture, art, mythology and
spirituality. It was important to recognize the right of indigenous peoples to land, resources
and sacred sites.
Incorporating Indigenous ways of learning into educational practices has potential to benefit
both Indigenous and non-Indigenous learners. The 21st century skills needed in modern
curriculum include: collaboration, creativity, innovation, problem-solving, inquiry,
multicultural literacy, etc.
What is indigenous inclusion?
Indigenous inclusion defined as an organizational state that is embraced as a cultural norm,
with enterprise-wide workplace strategies as well as a culture which invites the full
participation of indigenous people into all aspects of business operations.
It is where leadership and employees are welcoming of indigenous people, their experience
and outlooks, where diversity is valued, the spirit of reconciliation has been embraced and
calls to action have been acted on in meaningful ways.
Features of an indigenous inclusion:
1. Inclusion has been embraced as a core competency and embedded into the
organizational culture;
2. Companies share their organization’s experience and achievements with inclusion and
explain how it has helped their performance;
3. Human rights and responsibilities are promoted and respected. Employees are free of
concerns related to basic equity issues;
4. Comprehensive Indigenous procurement, recruitment and corporate social
responsibility strategies have been developed as part of an enterprise-wide
coordinated approach;
5. Indigenous people are employed and retained in all areas of the organization including
the senior leadership and executive positions;

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6. There are significant revenues and jobs gained by Indigenous people and businesses
through the organization’s supply chain;
7. Indigenes community sustainable gains have been realized as a result of the
relationships built between the company and the community;
8. High levels of Indigenous employee engagement are seen and experienced in the
organization;
9. Leadership has put into place the resources needed to sustain its Indigenous inclusion
strategy and it may have introduced an inclusion policy framework or statement;
10. Indigenous inclusion is integral to the mission and vision of the organization.
A seven stage model to indigenous inclusion:
Indigenous Works has developed a 7-stage workplace model of Indigenous inclusion which
is called the Inclusion Continuum.
The model depicts the roadmap that organizations follow to become more inclusive,
kgradually enabling more effective workplace and employment strategies to be developed.
The Continuum describes the organizational features and competencies needed at each stage
to achieve elevated levels of performance in Indigenous employment, business development,
community relations, etc. Movement along the continuum depends on companies developing
their cultural competencies, improving their understanding of Indigenous people, their
history and culture. Companies’ position on the Inclusion Continuum can be measured from
year to year to track and assess progress.
Types of indigenous inclusion policies
There are quite a range of Indigenous inclusion policies in use by companies and
organizations throughout Ontario and Canada. The diagram below illustrates how some of
those policies align with workplace needs. Some inclusion policies have a targeted
application to specific areas of the workplace such as employment, Indigenous community
relations, Indigenous business development or procurement. Other inclusion policies strike
across the organization, providing an ‘enterprise-wide’ approach to inclusion.
What are inclusive practices?
Inclusive practice is an approach to teaching that recognizes the diversity of students,
enabling all students to access course content, fully participate in learning activities and
demonstrate their knowledge and strengths at assessment.

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The aim of inclusion is to embrace all people irrespective of race, gender, disability, medical
or other need. It is about giving equal access and opportunities and getting rid of
discrimination and intolerance (removal of barriers). It affects all aspects of public life.
Inclusive practice is about the attitudes, approaches strategies talent to ensure that people are
not excluded or isolated. It means supporting diversity by accepting welcoming people’s
differences, promoting equality by equal opportunities for all. In addition inclusive practice
involves having an understanding of the impact that discrimination, inequality, social
exclusion can have on an individual. Having an understanding of this ensures appropriate
personalized care, support can be given. This enables the individual to develop self-respect,
self-worth, also to maintain a valued role in society, the environment surrounding them.
When we compare inclusive practice with practice which excludes an individual, inclusive
practice gives an individual more confidence in the care that they were receiving, it gives
them the option to have an input with the care they are having as they are being given the
opportunity to do so. In the long run, this could improve the service user’s health as they still
have confidence in the careers. Practice that excludes the service user could have
consequences on their own health, for example if they spoke English and were provided with
a care worker that spoke and understood poor English could result in them not being able to
communicate, from that they would like for dinner to whether they are feeling ill and may
need to see a doctor meaning that their health could deteriorate
Inclusive practices in education are based on seven principles:
- Diversity enriches and strengthens all communities
- All learners’ different learning styles and achievements are equally valued, respected and
celebrated by society
- All learners are enabled to fulfill their potential by taking into account individual
requirements and needs
- Support is guaranteed and fully resourced across the whole learning experience
- All learners need friendship and support from people of their own age
- All children and young people are educated together as equals in their local communities
Inclusive teaching strategies refer to any number of teaching approaches that address the
needs of students with a variety of backgrounds, learning modalities, and abilities. These
strategies contribute to an overall inclusive learning environment in which students feel
equally valued.
Benefits of Inclusive practices

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The benefits of inclusive practices are numerous for both students with and without
disabilities.
Benefits of Inclusion for Students with Disabilities
- Friendships
- Increased social initiations, relationships and networks
- Peer role models for academic, social and behavior skills
- Increased achievement of Individual Educational Plan goals
- Greater access to general curriculum
- Enhanced skill acquisition and generalization
- Increased inclusion in future environments
- Greater opportunities for interactions
- Higher expectations
- Increased school staff collaboration
- Increased parent participation
- Families are more integrated into community

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Chapter 5: Group Assignment

Chapter 6: Group Assignment

Chapter 7: Resources Management for Inclusion

Overview of the Chapter
Inclusion demands resources to meet the need of all members of communities and to
facilitate equal participants in all sphere of life. Our environment, now more so than before,
need to be ready to include people from different backgrounds, with differing needs and
abilities. For such a situation we need to adapt and modify our environment to all people be
accessible. Inclusion refers to the process of providing all necessary services according to the
needs of divers’ population in the community and bringing support services instead of
mobilizing resources in a separate setting. Inclusion assumes that the best provision for all
according to their need and potential regular schools, in the work place and in the
community. Population with a wide range of diversities such as disabilities, cultural and
linguistic minorities and vulnerabilities, academic abilities and behavioral needs are
represented in inclusive environment.

Activity
1. Dear student, Please list resources important for people with diversities in Education.

2. What are the resources important for persons with disabilities to be successful in the
world of work and social life?
Provisions of Resources
The resource should be considered for people with disabilities in workplaces, social
gatherings, recreational and in schools that help them to feel comfortable, secure and work at
their independent and team activities. Available resources those meet their needs can help
persons with disabilities move towards success.
Resources for school children
All concerned bodies should be inclusive in their planning, budgeting and taking action for
the education of persons with disabilities. In the school settings resource rooms are very
important at.
School based resource room
The resource room is a classroom where a special education program can be delivered to a
student with a disability and learning difficulty. It is for those students who belong to a

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regular class but need some special instructions in an individualized or small group setting
for a portion of the day. It is typically a large room in the main school building with lots of
facilities for children with special needs. This program includes remedial, compensatory and
developmental instruction, which is provided in small groups for usually three to five hours
per week. Students may be provided direct services in the classroom. Indirect services can
also be provided to the student through consultation with the general education teachers to
support in adjusting the learning environment or modify the instructional methods. When
additional support is appropriate to meet the student’s needs, the student can receive the pull-
out program. This form of a “pull out” system, where a child attends a session in the
resource room during a light period of the day such as singing or physical training, receives
individual help in a weak area of learning such as reading or writing. Methods and materials
are adapted to students' learning styles and characteristics using multisensory and other
specialized approaches

Activity
1. What human resources are required in this resource room?

2. What material resources are important for equally present in the classroom,
participate, receive support and achievement?
Human resources in schools
 Sign language interpreter
 Braille specialist
 Mobility and orientation expert
 Special needs educators
 Speech and language therapist
 Physiotherapist
 Behavioral therapists…etc
School based material resources

 LCD and/or Smart Board

 E - Chart

 Various magnifying lenses

 Slate and styles

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 Perkins Braille writer

 White Cane

 Blind folder

 Tuning fork

 Audiometer

 Hearing aids (various type)

 Sign language books and videos

 Various instructional videos related this unit

 Braille atlases

 Molded plastic, dissected and un-dissected relief maps

 Relief globs

 Land form model

 Abacus

 Raised clock faces

 Geometric area and volume aids

 Write forms for matched planes and volumes

 Braille rulers

 Raised-line check books

 Signature guide

 Longhand-writing kit

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  Script letter – sheets and boards

 Talking calculator

 Closed-circuit television

 Computer software for various students with special needs; for example Jawse
for blind and sign language software for deaf

 Orthosis

 Prosthosis

 Environmental accessibilities

- Ramps

- Elevators

- Wheel chairs

 And others additional resources

Accommodations
Accommodations are adjustments that teachers and school personnel make to maximize
learning and social well-being for individual students.
Instructional accommodation checklist
 Use a multisensory approach.
 Use a highly structured format for presentations.
 Use graphic organizers.
 Present material in small, sequential steps.
 Teach specific strategies (e.g. taking notes, reading comprehension).
 Review key points frequently.
 Assign a buddy reader or note taker.
 Provide students with outline of notes.
 Use color coding to match materials and concepts.

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  Reduce visual distractions.
 Seat student close to board, teacher, or student helper: away from door or window.
 Provide a quiet work area.
 Allow students to move if needed. Use visual reminders as memory aids.
 Use teacher-initiated signals for redirecting attention.
 Highlight sections of text.
 Provide tape recording of lecture or required texts.
 Give oral and written directions.
 Speak slowly and clearly.
 Allow for longer response time.

Organization and Task Completion

 Keep work area clear.
 Post assignments and work completed in a consistent spot.
 Assist student with notebook organization.
 Use assignment notebook.
 Extend time to complete assignments.
 Shorten or chunk assignments.
 Give timeline for longer projects.
 Give specific feedback.
 Provide peer tutoring.
 Use cooperative learning groups.
 Provide structured daily activities.
 Explain changes in routine.

Evaluation
 Explain grading and give rubric.
 Give specific feedback.
 Preview before test; give frequent quizzes; give sample questions.
 Orient student to test format.
 Use a clear, uncluttered copy; enlarge print.
 Make test directions simple and clear.
 Provide ample space for answers on test.
 Allow alternate test response (oral, computer).

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  Read test aloud to student. Give open-note or take-home tests.
 Use alternate forms of evaluation (oral report, group projects, and debate).
 Reduce required assignments.
 Provide proofreading checklist.
 Accept print or cursive writing
Resources for work/social environment

Activity
1. What human resources are required work places?

2. What material resources are important for persons with disability in work places and
social environment?

Human resources
 Special needs educator at every organization to create inclusive environment
 Sign language interpreter
 Sighted guide
Material resources

 Various magnifying lenses

 Slate and styles

 Perkins Braille writer

 White Cane

 Hearing aids

 Sign language books and videos

 Braille atlases

 Braille rulers

 Signature guide

 Talking calculator

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  Talking mobile

 Closed-circuit television

 Computer software for various students with special needs; for example Jawse
for blind and sign language software for deaf

 Orthosis

 Prosthosis

 Environmental accessibilities

- Ramps

- Elevators

- Wheel chairs

 And others additional resources

Chapter Summary

Resources are very important to create inclusiveness. Resources are for all human being;
though the attention if much given for persons with disabilities. All individuals can grow and
develop if they are accessed and provided. Primarily understanding the diverse needs of all
people is very important to plan for the resources. Incorporating the communication
styles/channel of diver’s population is vital. Creating equal opportunities and access to equal
growth and development is necessary and considering and encouraging different perspective
using the provided resources is important to celebrate diversity. If we neglect human and
material resources to create inclusiveness, we remain with our poverty ever.

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Chapter 8: Collaborative (Cooperative) Partnerships with
stakeholders
Time allotted: 5 hours
Introduction
An individual or an institute cannot do everything they want for the success of inclusiveness.
They require collaboration and partnership. Collaborative is becoming an effective team
player for the intended success. Collaboration referred to as collaborative consultation,
cooperative planning, implementation, assessment, co-teaching and any kind of team-based
services or community of practice. It has potential to create synergy – where the whole is
greater than the sum of the parts. It has the potential to provide opportunities for you to learn
new ways of addressing barriers to learning, working, living and for colleagues to learn from
each other. Collaboration should be with all human being for the success of inclusiveness.
Collaboration should be based on avoiding stereotype thinking that discriminate or
undermine the capacities of human being, demands equality, equity and creating mutual
respect. Besides collaboration, cooperation is also vital for human being to meet life goal.
Chapter objectives
Dear students at the end of this unit you will be able to:
 Define collaboration, partnership and stakeholder
 Identify key elements of successful collaboration

 Describe the benefits and challenges of collaboration for various stakeholders

for the success of inclusion

 Discus the strategies for effective co-planning and team working

 Identify characteristics of successful partnerships

 Design strategies for community involvement

Activities
1. What is collaboration from your own understanding?

2. Have you every create collaboration with people? For what purpose? What
have you achieved?

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 3. What was the successful of your collaborations?

4. What will be your future collaboration?

Definition of collaboration, partnership and stack holder

Collaboration is defined as “the act of working together to produce or create something

according to the capacities and abilities of individuals. Each individual’s collaboration is
based on his knowledge and skills. A person should not be discriminated due to mismatch
with other people’s abilities; because he has his own quality in other perspectives.
Collaboration means 'to work with another person or group in order to achieve accomplish
intended goals. Collaboration provides every team member with equal opportunities to
participate and communicate their ideas. Collaboration in the workplace is when two or
more people (often groups) work together through idea sharing and thinking to accomplish a
common goal. It is simply teamwork taken to a higher level. The phrase 'putting our heads
together' would be a good example of this important element of collaboration.

Collaboration enables individuals to work together to achieve a defined and common

business purpose. It exists in two forms:
 Synchronous, where everyone interacts in real time, as in through telephone, email,
online meetings, through instant texts messages, or via Viber, and
 The team sees value in working together as the common goal gives them a
meaningful reason to work together, along with receiving mutual benefits for the
institution as well as the team.
The advantages of collaboration can also be seen in terms of individual output. Creating a
sense of teamwork and building bonds encourages team members to work for the collective
rather than just themselves.

Activities
1. Mention some important experiences of collaboration in your community?
2. What are the important elements of collaboration in your community?
3. What is your intention to create collaboration with people in your life?

Key elements of successful collaboration

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The relationship includes a commitment to: mutual relationships and goals; a jointly
developed structure and shared responsibility; mutual authority and accountability for
success; and sharing of resources and rewards. A Collaboration Checklist What factors are
helping or hindering your collaboration efforts?

We've got the four most important elements of teamwork to help you build a team that will
lead your company to success.
 Respect. This one should be a no-brainer. ...
 Communication. While respect is probably the most important element of teamwork,
communication is the tool that will generate that respect. ...
 Delegation. ...
 Support.

To kick off our All about collaboration series, we consider the nature of successful
collaboration, its benefits and what is needed within an organization for it to
flourish. Collaboration in the workplace is when two or more people work together through
idea sharing and thinking to achieve a common goal.

Here are a few qualities that a successful team possesses.

1. They communicate well with each other. ...
2. They focus on goals and results. ...
3. Everyone contributes their fair share. ...
4. They offer each other support. ...
5. Team members are diverse. ...
6. Good leadership. ...
7. They're organized. ...
8. They have fun.

General principles of collaboration

 Establish clear common goals for the collaboration.

 Define your respective roles and who is accountable for what, but accept joint
responsibility for the decisions and their outcomes

 Take a problem-solving approach – with a sense that all those in the collaborative
arrangement share ownership of the problem and its solution.

 Establish an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect for each others’ expertise.

 Aim for consensus decision-making.

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  Ask for and give immediate and objective feedback to others in a nonthreatening and
non-judgmental manner.

 Give credit to others for their ideas and accomplishments

 Develop procedures for resolving conflicts and manage these processes skillfully.

 Better still, anticipate possible conflicts and take steps to avoid them as far as
possible. This is not to say that disagreements can, or even should, be avoided.

 Arrange periodic meetings to review progress in the collaborative arrangements.

What are the advantages of collaboration?

 Higher employee productivity
 The advantages of collaboration can also be seen in terms of individual output.
 Creating a sense of teamwork and building bonds encourages team members to work
for the collective rather than just themselves
Benefits of collaboration
 Greater efficiency and less duplicated effort.
 Access to additional resources or lower costs through sharing resources such as office
space, administration or other aspects of an organization’s operation.
 Improved service coordination across agencies, with better pathways or referral
systems for service users.
Challenges to Team Collaboration
 Indecisive decision-makers. Ironic, isn't it? ...
 "E-fail" This is a little term used for when email straight up fails. ...
 Mis (sing) communication. When collaborating, there is always room for
misinterpretation and miscommunication.
 Process sinking vs. process syncing.
 Too many cooks.
 Negative Nancy.

Cooperativeness

Cooperation is one of the components of collaboration. As an

adjective, cooperative describes working together agreeably for a common purpose or goal
as in cooperative play or cooperative employee. As a noun, a cooperative is a jointly-
owned business or enterprise where members pool their resources to purchase, do work,
and/or distribute things. Cooperativeness helps individuals to willing learn from each other.
Learners work together in small groups, helping each other to carry out individual and group

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tasks. Interdependence: all group members seek to achieve a group goal and help each
others’ achievement; Individual accountability: each member of the group is held responsible
for his or her own learning, which in turn contributes to the group goal; Cooperation: the
learners discuss, problem-solve and collaborate with each other; Face to face interaction and
establish consensus; and Evaluation: members of the group review and evaluate how they
worked together and make changes as needed. It requires interdependence, which can take
one or more forms that help to create inclusiveness:

1. Goal interdependence: the group has a single goal.

2. Reward interdependence: the whole group receives acknowledgement for achieving
the goal

3. Resource interdependence: each group member has different resources (knowledge

or materials) that must be combined to complete a task

4. Role interdependence: each group member is assigned a different role (e.g, leader,
reporter, time-keeper)

In cooperative learning and works, the strategies for effective co-planning and team working
are very important. The following steps will help you and your group to work effectively
together.

1. Have clear objectives

2. At each stage you should try to agree on goals

3. Set ground rules

4. Communicate efficiently

5. Build consensus

6. Define roles

7. Clarify your plans, process and achievements all the time

8. Keep good records

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 9. Stick to the plan

Reflection

Do you think collaboration and cooperation move us towards inclusive life? How?
Stakeholder
Definition of a Stakeholder

A stakeholder is any person, organization, social group, or society at large that has a stake in
the business. Thus, stakeholders can be internal or external to the business. A stake is a vital
interest in the business or its activities. Be both affected by a business and affect a business.
A business is any organization where people work together. In a business, people work to
make and sell products or services. A business can earn a profit for the products and services
it offers. The word business comes from the word busy, and means doing things. It works on
regular basis. All human being can participate in any kind of business equally without
discrimination based on their disability, culture, language, religion, gender, rural, urban and
the like.

Stakeholders can affect or be affected by the organization's actions, objectives and policies.
Some examples of key stakeholders are creditors, directors, employees, government (and its
agencies), owners (shareholders), suppliers, unions, and the community from which the
business draws its resources.

In business, a stakeholder is usually an investor in your company whose actions determine

the outcome of your business decisions. Stakeholders don't have to be equity
shareholders. They can also be your employees, who have a stake in your company's success
and incentive for your products to succeed.

Activities
1. Do people have stakeholders in their daily business? Please describe from your
communities perspective

2. Do these stakeholders meet their goals? How?

3. Do you have stakeholders in your university experiences? Who are they?

4. Explain the benefits and challenges of collaboration for various stakeholders for the

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 success of inclusive life

Roles of Stakeholders in a Project

Stakeholders are usually parties who have a stake in a project and have a great influence on
its success or failure. They may be equity or preference shareholders, employees, the
government agencies, contractors, financial institutions, competitors, suppliers and the
general public

What are the benefits of stakeholder participation?

 Provide all stakeholders with full opportunities to share their views, needs and
knowledge on flood management.
 Build consensus through bringing together a diverse range of stakeholders to share
needs, information, ideas and knowledge and harmonize the objectives of individual
groups to reach common societal goals.

Characteristics of successful stockholders partnerships

 Existence of an agreement: Partnership is the outcome of an agreement between two

or more persons to carry on business or offer services for the community
 Sharing of profits or stratification for the services offered to the community
 Establishing equal and equitable relationship
 Membership without discrimination
 Nature of liability
 Fusion of ownership and control
 Non-transferability of interest
 Trust. Without trust there can be no productive conflict, commitment, or
accountability
 Common values. I believe that having common values is the very foundation of the
successful partnership
 Defined expectations
 Mutual respect
 Synergy
 Great two-way communications
What makes a good strategic alliance partner?
 They have a similar audience
 They are not your competitors
 They can give you access to new customers and prospects
 They want to work with you
 They want something you can offer
What qualities make for a great business partner?
 Passion

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  Reliability
 Compatibility
 The Ability to Build Strong Relationships
 Fiscal Responsibility
 Creativity
 Open-Mindedness
 Comfort with Risk.
What are the main features of a partnership?

Participants described the right partnership behaviors principally as being effective co-
ordination and chairing, and a set of personal skills and qualities including good listening,
clear communication, honesty, patience, enthusiasm, acceptance and love.

A strategic alliance implies that: the success of the alliance impacts one or more major
business or service goals. The success of the alliance develops or reinforces a core
competency, especially one which provides a competitive advantage and / or blocks a
competitive threat

Strategies for community involvement inclusive development

 Commit to participation of all persons with diversities

 Establish non-discriminative effective communication with all people with divers
back ground

 Expect to do most of the work yourself following the inclusive principle

 Tap into local networks, culture and indigenous experiences of inclusiveness

 Use all possible communication channel including sign language for deaf people

Community development is about the inclusive involvement of all people, regardless of their
diversities, enhancing equality, respecting their full right in terms of educational
opportunities and employability. The creation of opportunities to enable all members of
a community to actively contribute to and influence the development process and to share
equitably in the fruits of any development endeavors. Participation has an intrinsic value
for participants and a catalyst for further development; encourages a sense of responsibility;
guarantees that a felt need is involved; ensures things are done the right way; uses valuable

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indigenous knowledge; frees people from dependence on others' skills; and makes people
more independent and productive

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