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‘When he’s up there he’s just happy and content’: Parents’ perceptions of therapeutic horseback riding

Boyd, Lauren
le ROUX, Marieanna
2017

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Background: There is limited global and South African research on parents’ perceptions of therapeutic horseback riding (THR), as well as their perceptions of the effect of the activity on their children with disabilities.


Objective: To explore and describe parents’ perceptions and experiences of THR as an activity for their children with disabilities.


Method: Twelve parents whose children attend THR lessons at the South African Riding for the Disabled Association in Cape Town were asked to participate in a semi-structured interview. The qualitative data obtained from the interviews were first transcribed and then analysed using thematic analysis to establish parents’ perceptions of the THR activity.


Results: The main themes that emerged included parental perceived effects of THR on children, parents’ personal experiences of the services, and parents’ perceived reasons for improvements in the children. The participating parents indicated that THR had had a positive psychological, social and physical effect both on the children participating in the riding, as well as on the parents themselves.


Conclusion: According to parents, THR plays an important role in the lives of children with various disabilities and in the lives of their parents. The results of the study address the gap in the literature regarding parents’ perceptions of THR.

Towards a new directional turn? Directors with cognitive disabilities

SCHMIDT, Yvonne
2017

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Drawing from my first-hand observations and embodied experiences of having collaborated with HORA over the course of several years, this paper discusses an under-investigated area within the field of disability and performance: pioneering work by directors and with learning or cognitive disabilities, an area which has not yet been addressed in the expanding field of disability and performance studies.

How nursing home residents with dementia respond to the interactive art installation ‘VENSTER’: a pilot study

LUYTEN, Tom
BRAUN, Susy
JAMIN, Gaston
VAN HOOREN, Susan
DE WITTE, Luc
2017

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The goal of this study was (1) to determine whether and how nursing home residents with dementia respond to the interactive art installation in general and (2) to identify whether responses change when the content type and, therefore, the nature of the interaction with the artwork changes. The interactive art installation ‘VENSTER’ evokes responses in nursing home residents with dementia, illustrating the potential of interactive artworks in the nursing home environment. Frequently observed responses were naming, recognizing or asking questions about depicted content and how the installation worked, physically gesturing towards or tapping on the screen and tapping or singing along to the music. It seemed content matters a lot. When VENSTER is to be used in routine care, the choice of a type of content is critical to the intended experience/usage in practice. In this study, recognition seemed to trigger memory and (in most cases) a verbal reaction, while indistinctness led to asking for more information. When (initially) coached by a care provider, residents actively engaged physically with the screen. Responses differed between content types, which makes it important to further explore different types of content and content as an interface to provide meaningful experiences for nursing home residents.

Quality of Life among Persons with Paraplegic Spinal Cord Injury

JAHAN, Humayra
ISLAM, Md. Shofiqul
HOSSAIN, Mohammad Sohrab
PATWARY, Md. Fazlul Karim
2016

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Purpose: This article aimed to examine quality of life (QoL) among persons with paraplegic spinal cord injury (SCI), to determine their socio-demographic details, and to measure the different levels of performance in correlation with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF).

 

Method: A descriptive cross–sectional study was conducted with a structured questionnaire to collect information from 45 persons with paraplegic SCI. Data was collected by purposive sampling technique and face-to-face interviews.

 

Results: Most of the participants (47%, n=21) were in the age group of 20-30 years, with a mean age of 33.53 (± 11.14) years. There were more men (89%, n=40) than  women (11%, n=5) and the ratio was 8:1. The most common occupation was farming (27%, n=12), followed by daily labour (22%, n=10). Fall from a height (58%, n=26) was the most common cause of injury. A high percentage of participants (36%, n=16) rated their quality of life (QoL) as poor. Depression was felt very often (44%, n=20), where as happiness lasted for only a little while (38%, n=17).Older participants faced problems at work more often than younger persons. Males and those who worked in public places faced problems in dressing or bathing independently. Married participants were more dissatisfied regarding income and the amount of work they were able to do. Those who had met with road accidents had more emotional problems than others. Association analysis showed that by increasing happiness and decreasing depression participants’ quality of life could improve.

 

Conclusion: The study demonstrated that spinal cord injury greatly affects quality of life (QoL) and gives rise to more problems, especially in the areas of physical and mental health. It is necessary to take steps to improve the physical and emotional status of paraplegic spinal cord injury clients, as this will eventually lead to improvement in their quality of life

The Paralympic Games and the Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

UN CHRONICLE
September 2016

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This article explores the effect of the paraolympic games on driving social inclusion and an understanding of disability and disability rights around the world. Highlighting the poor conditions before the Bejing games in 2008, the article explains how perceptions and awareness within society have changed. The article also highlighted the United Kingdom as a leader in the field of disability rights and equality thought protection of those rights. 

We're The Superhumans - Rio Paralympics 2016 Trailer

Channel 4 (UK Paralympic broadcaster)
August 2016

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Channel 4 is proud to present the 3-minute trailer for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Signed & Subtitled and Audio Described versions are available in the playlist.
The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games will be held from 7-18 September 2016. Download the track at http://wearethesuperhumans.com from Sat 16th July, with all profits going to the British Paralympic Association.

Accessible tourism research

DARCY, Simon
2016

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The blog seeks to present a brief history of accessible tourism through reviewing key documents and presenting new research as it is published. Central to the examination of the history of the field and contemporary innovation, is an understanding that accessible tourism is complex, multilayered and involves stakeholders from the commercial, government and the third sectors. Solutions need to be developed through collaboration and understanding stakeholder perspectives.

Una Vida Sin Palabras?: Disability, Subalternity and the Sandinista Revolution

BURKE, Lucy
RUDMAN, Thomas
2016

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This paper offers an analysis of the documentary film, Una Vida Sin Palabras [A life without words] (2011). The film follows a short period in the lives of a campesino family living in a rural area of Nicaragua as a teacher of Nicaraguan sign language, working for a local NGO, endeavours to teach three deaf siblings how to sign. Bringing together the critical practices of Disability and Subaltern studies in the specific context of contemporary Nicaragua, the paper argues: (1) that the film ultimately re-inscribes and reinforces the subalternity of the disabled subjects it sets out to portray; and (2) that the hierarchy it produces between its object – the deaf family – and its implied educated, metropolitan audience replays some influential (but, we would argue, politically limited) critiques of the failure of the first Sandinista Government (1979-1990) and other broad based radical political movements to represent the national popular. In so doing, the paper also makes a case for the political and intellectual importance of bringing a Critical Disability Studies perspective to the field of Subaltern Studies, and argues that an engagement with the problems that are presented by this film at the level of both form and content raise some important questions for both fields of enquiry.

 

Disability & the Global South (DGS), 2016, Vol. 3 No. 1

Enabling education review, issue 4

ENABLING EDUCATION NETWORK
December 2015

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This newsletter contains a variety of articles about inclusive education in several countries around the world. The topics focus mostly on funding, managing and sustaining inclusive education; engaging and empowering beneficiaries in finding solutions; facilitating parental and child involvement and early childhood education

Enabling Education Review, issue 4

The revised UNESCO charter of physical education, physical activity and sport

UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION (UNESCO)
November 2015

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"The International Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport  is a rights-based reference that orients and supports policy- and decision-making in sport. Based on the universal spirit of the original Charter, and integrating the significant evolutions in the field of sport since 1978, the revised Charter introduces universal principles such as gender equality, non-discrimination and social inclusion in and through sport. It also highlights the benefits of physical activity, the sustainability of sport, the inclusion of persons with disabilities and the protection of children"

The enchanting music of sign language

KIM, Christine Sun
August 2015

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Artist Christine Sun Kim was born deaf but through her art, she discovered similarities between American Sign Language and music. In this TED talk, she invites us to open our eyes and ears and participate in the rich treasure of visual language

Fatigue and Functional Capacity in Persons with Post-Polio Syndrome: Short-term Effects of Exercise and Lifestyle Modification Compared to Lifestyle Modification Alone

SHARMA, S S
SHETH, M S
VYAS, N J
2014

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Purpose: Post-polio Syndrome (PPS) affects polio survivors many years after the initial attack, and causes new musculoskeletal symptoms and decline in physical function. This study aims to compare the effect of exercise and lifestyle modification versus lifestyle modification alone, on fatigue and functional capacity in persons with PPS.

 

Method: An experimental study was conducted at the physiotherapy department of VS Hospital in Ahmedabad. As per the criteria of Halstead (1985), 21 PPS subjects who were between 18 and 65 years of age, and able to walk indoors and outdoors, with or without assistive aids, were included. They were randomly allocated into 3 groups using the envelope method. Those with physician- diagnosed respiratory or cardiac insufficiency, disabling co-morbidity which interfered with the intervention programme or influenced the outcome, and those unable to cooperate due to cognitive impairment or use of any psychotropic drugs, were excluded. Fatigue and functional capacity were measured using Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) and 2-minute walk distance, respectively. Physical and psychological functions were assessed using Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) questionnaire and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) respectively. Intervention was given for 5 days a week, over 4 weeks. Group A received exercise and lifestyle modification, group B received lifestyle modification alone and group C continued their usual routine for 1 month.

 

Results: There was a significant difference in fatigue and functional capacity within groups A and B, with group A showing better reduction in fatigue than groups B or C. Physical function improved only within group A, and a significant difference was seen compared to groups B and C. Psychological function showed no difference within or between the groups.

 

Conclusion: There was improvement in fatigue, functional capacity and physical function in PPS subjects after 4 weeks of exercise and lifestyle modification. Lifestyle modifications alone for 4 weeks improved fatigue and functional capacity in PPS subjects. There is significant reduction in fatigue and improvement in functional capacity when lifestyle modification advice is given along with exercise.

Disability Sport in Sub-Saharan Africa: From Economic Underdevelopment to Uneven Empowerment

NOVAK, Andrew
2014

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Although athletes with disabilities have integrated into mainstream sport at a rapid rate across the world, Sub-Saharan Africa remains on the periphery of disability sport participation. Disability sport, like most modern regulated sports, has diffused from the Global North to the Global South, and continues to reproduce that process of diffusion though increasingly expensive sport prostheses, adapted equipment, and coaching techniques. The colonial underdevelopment of disability services and coexisting racial inequalities has led to the uneven diffusion of disability sport across the continent, which is reflected by South Africa’s domination of African participation in the Paralympic Games. The result is a ‘disability divide’ in international sport, where the increasing access to technology and sport assistance from the Global North largely benefits a few privileged elite disability athletes, most famously South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius. Presented from a historical perspective, the article traces the origins of the ‘disability divide,’ concluding that integration between disabled and non-disabled athletes around the world may reinforce the continent of Africa’s subordinate status in global capitalism through dependence on international sport aid and athletic migration.

 

Disability and the Global South (DGS), 2014, Vol. 1 No. 1

Disability and the Global South (DGS), 2014, Vol. 1, No. 1

2014

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Articles include:

  • EDITORIAL :  Introducing Disability and the Global South (DGS): we are critical, we are open access!
  • Youth with Disabilities in Law and Civil Society:  Exclusion and inclusion in public policy and NGO networks in Cambodia and Indonesia
  • Performing the Stare in Indra Sinha’s Animal’s People  
  • Disability Sport in Sub-Saharan Africa: From Economic Underdevelopment to Uneven Empowerment
  • Does Africa Dream of Androids?
  • Mendicidad y discapacidad en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires: un síntoma de nuevas formas de  vulnerabilidad social
  • Facilitating Disability Inclusion in Poverty Reduction Processes: Group Consensus Perspectives from Disability Stakeholders in Uganda, Malawi, Ethiopia, and Sierra Leone
  • Disability, poverty and Education: perceived barriers and (dis)connections in rural Guatemala 

Oscar Pistorius and the melancholy of intersectionality

SWARTZ, Leslie
2013

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The alleged shooting by Paralympian and Olympian athlete Oscar Pistorius of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp has led to strong reactions worldwide. Scholars in the field of disability studies have expressed shock and disappointment in response both to the death itself and to its implications for the representation of disability. In South Africa in the wake of the death of Ms Steenkamp, much has been made both by critics of Pistorius and by his defenders about his status as a white South African man, but little has been said about disability issues. This silence in South Africa about disability as a possible identity factor in this case draws attention to the extent to which disability questions remain profoundly raced and gendered, and influenced by the colonial and apartheid past. The tragic alleged shooting by Oscar Pistorius draws attention back to how important intersectionality is to understanding disability in South Africa and other unequal societies.

How musical engagement promotes well-being in education contexts: The case of a young man with profound and multiple disabilities

MCFERRAN, Katrina S
SHOEMARK, Helen
2013

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Students with profound intellectual disabilities disorders (IDDs) have the right to participate in educational opportunities that recognize their unique resources and needs, as do all children. Because of their specific communication challenges, positive relationships with attentive communication partners are critical for success. In fact, the power of positive relationships in schools is recognized to be connected to student well-being more broadly. This article examines the case of one young man with profound IDD and his relationship with his music therapist using a duo-ethnographic informed paradigmatic case study. Video analysis based on multi-voice perspectives is used to generate hermeneutic phenome- nological findings to closely examine the relationship between a young man with profound IDD and a music therapist. The voices of four allied health researchers were also gathered to inform the authors’ construction of an informed commentary on the phenomenon. The results suggest that the essence lay in a combination of attentive, responsive and creative being with the other person over time. Four principles of musical engagement were identified in the video footage as critical to the meaningful relationships through music: the music therapist listens; the music therapist takes responsibility for structure; spontaneous initiation is sought from the young person; and the relationship is built over time. These concepts are contextualized within a discussion of student well-being that is underpinned by positive relationships and leads to students achieving their full potential within diverse school contexts.

Effects of Multisensory Training on Balance and Gait in Persons with Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomised Controlled Trial

KUTTY, N A M
MAJIDA, N A
2013

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Purpose: Progressive deterioration of physical function occurs in persons with Type 2 diabetes and peripheral neuropathy. This study assessed the effects of multisensory training on balance and gait in persons with diabeticneuropathies.

 

Method: Thirty two persons with peripheral neuropathies were enrolled, randomised, and subdivided into 2 groups - an experimental group of 16 participants with diabetes (65 ± 2.12 years) and a control group of 16 participants with diabetes (68 ± 2.17 years). For 6 weeks, both groups were given health education on diabetes for 30 minutes a week. In addition, the experimental group practised a multisensory exercise programme for 30 minutes, 3 times a week over 6 weeks. Outcome measures used were ‘timed up and go’ test for assessing balance and ‘6-minute walk’ test for gait. Standard descriptive statistics were used to report means, standard deviation, and range for baseline characteristics. Paired and unpaired ‘t-tests’ were used wherever necessary, to determine significant differences in data among groups and between pre-test and post-test scores (p<0.05).

 

Results: By the end of the trial period, the intervention group showed a significant improvement in scores of the ‘timed up and go’ test (t= 14.7092), but there was no statistically significant difference in the ‘6-minute walk’ test scores (p=0.7206, t= 0.3644).There was no difference for both measures in the control group.

 

Conclusion: The study showed that multisensory exercises could improve balance in persons with Type 2 diabetes and peripheral neuropathy. The findings suggest that along with physiological sensory factors, cognitive-behavioural factors and strengthening of the lower limb muscles should be considered when treating diabetic persons with gait alterations.

Sri Lanka’s first inclusive sports project through Handicap International

HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL SRI LANKA
May 2013

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This video presents a compilation of many events conducted over the course of two years of Handicap International Sri Lanka's "Sport for All" project with short video clips of the different activities and some commentary from the project manager and staff members on sporting activities. It highlights the achievements of the project, level of participation of children/youth with and without disabilities, and the interest generated both at a local and national level

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