Resources search

For nearly a decade, the full-time employment rate of autistic adults has stagnated. A survey we carried out in 2007 indicated that just 15% of autistic people were in full-time paid work. Shockingly, in this year’s survey, the figure was just 16%.

A similar number are in part-time employment, giving an overall employment rate of 32%. And while full-time work won’t be right for everyone on the autism spectrum, four in 10 of those working part-time feel under-employed. Others feel they are in low-skilled work and employers don’t see their abilities. They see their autism. They see a problem.

Meanwhile, employers have told us that they are worried about getting things wrong for autistic employees and that they don’t know where to go for advice. Autistic people are overloaded by too much information at work, and employers don’t have enough.

The UK Government has made a very welcome pledge to halve the disability employment gap by the end of this Parliament, meaning that they have to shift the disability employment rate from 47% to 64%. But the autism employment gap is even wider. For the number of autistic people in work to reach 64%, the Government will need to commit to doubling the number of autistic people in employment by 2020.

Both Government and employers need to take specific action to make this happen – without it, recent history tells us that autistic people will continue to be left behind

Purpose: The study aimed to (1) measure the Work Ability of employees with disability; (2) assess the factor structure of different potential models of Work Ability Index (WAI) for employees with disability; and (3) identify the best factor structure of Work Ability Index for employees with disability in the Malaysian cultural context.

Methods: Data was collected using the Work Ability Index (WAI) translated into Malay language. The study sample consisted of 275 employees with physical disability, from both public and private sectors across Malaysia. Descriptive statistics were calculated using IBM SPSS 20 to evaluate the score of each subscale and the cumulative index of Work Ability among employees with disability. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted using IBM SPSS AMOS 21 to assess the factor structure of WAI and evaluate the validity of the proposed models for employees with disability.

Results: The WAI scores were 29.5% poor, 35.3% moderate, 28.7% good and 6.5% excellent. In the validation process, a non-orthogonal two dimensional structure was identified. In this model of WAI, the subscales were attributed to two factors: (1) subjective Work Ability factor that consisted of subscales 1, 2 and 7; and (2) health-related Work Ability factor, comprised of subscales 3, 5, 4 and 6. These two factors were positively correlated, which indicates that employees with disability who exhibit positive subjective Work Ability tend to also report positive health- related Work Ability.

Conclusion: This study has provided the first Malay version of WAI and has paved the way for future studies on work ability among employees with disability. The WAI translation has been validated among employees with disability and has shown adequate psychometric properties, thus making it suitable to investigate the associations between aspects of work and their impact on the health of employees with disability. 

Background: The capacity of service providers in the public sector to deliver inclusive services is essential to implement strategies that will allow the full participation of disabled youth in development opportunities in the rural context.

Objective: The article sets to describe the capacity of service providers in facilitating participation of disabled youth in economic development opportunities.

Method: An instrumental, embedded single case study informed the research design. The sample consisted of five disabled youth, four family members as well as six service providers. Data was gathered through in-depth individual interviews and focus group discussions. Data analysis was done inductively and thematically. In the discussion, the interpretation used organisational capacity elements as a framework.

Findings: The theme on service providers indicates their understanding of disability as still a multifaceted and a challenging issue with different orientations to service delivery based on understanding of impairment and disability. There is a dominant focus on impairment and negative attitudes.

Discussion: An asset building approach could facilitate awareness of capacities of disabled youth and thus shift negative attitudes to an enabling attitude. The vague strategies for youth and women that are described as inclusive are a misrepresentation of the reality of experiences of disabled youth.

Conclusion: An appreciative process of facilitating a holistic understanding of the needs of disabled people is needed to assist service providers to reconceptualise disability within an expansive framework.

The roads to inclusion tool has been developed by ENABLEMENT (the Netherlands) and LIGHT FOR THE WORLD on the basis of an action research programme carried out in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and North East India. Communities in two sites of each country were asked to define what inclusion meant to them and those definitions were used as a basis for developing this tool. LIGHT FOR THE WORLD and ENABLEMENT hope this tool will support CBR teams in assessing communities’ progress in becoming more inclusive of persons with disabilities and planning activities to further the inclusion process. It promotes reflection on changes related to inclusion rather than judging projects on the impact of their work, and is thus not a tool for impact evaluation or comparing inclusion between different countries and cultures. The tool can be used in a variety of contexts. We recommend adjusting it to fit your organisation’s needs and seeing it as an inspiration on how it could be done, not as a prescription on how it should be done

The identification and implementation of best practices by nurse educators in the USA to support the success of student nurses with disabilities are discussed. Requirements of The Americans With Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) of 2008 and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) revisions to regulations implementing the nondiscrimination and affirmative action regulations of section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, effective March 24, 2014 are described. Best practices for educating students with disabilities in nursing education are discussed. The Increased understanding of disability will promote greater diversity and inclusivity within the nursing profession, which will enhance patient care. Three case studies are provided: a student nurse with hearing difficulties having issues with "a code blue"; a student nurse wheelchair user; and student nurse with low vision requiring IT assistance 

Nurse Educator, Jan-Feb 2016, Vol. 41(1), pp.9-12. doi: 10.1097/NNE.0000000000000212

This position paper states that "only by utilising the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) as a guiding framework in implementing the SDGs, will it be ensured that exclusion and inequality are not created or perpetuated". Proposals are made and background presented on the topics of: the unfinished work of the MDGs; realising, through an enabling environment, the full potential of persons with disabilities; working together to protect our planet; and reaching the farthest behind first

This white paper will provide the reader with insight into the role technology plays for the full participation of persons with disabilities and older people in the digital society. The authors consider equal opportunities to participate in all realms of life a human right. The paper will help the reader to understand what the barriers to full digital inclusion for these groups are, how changing scenarios in society should lead to the definition of new goals and how these goals could be reached. 

This white paper looks forward and challenges the reader to identify strategies to tackle the digital divide. In the first section, it analyses trends and policy objectives as defined by the international community in 6 different areas relevant to the digital divide:

Disability and participation

Education

Employment

Health and social care

Technology

(Social) Media 

The writing of this white paper is the result of a three-year long project funded by the European Commission under the Lifelong Learning Programme. The ENTELIS project has brought together various organisations from different European countries and beyond and has resulted in the establishment of a sustainable network, supported by three European umbrella organisations: EASPD (European Association of Service Providers to Persons with Disabilities), AAATE (Association for the Advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe) and EVBB (European Association of Vocational Training Institutes). For them supporting the network means creating an opportunity for their member organisations and other interested stakeholders to actively engage with technology and technology users with disabilities in education, vocational training and person centred support services. Their common understanding is that ICT and AT can empower people with disabilities, lead to more fulfilled lives and a more inclusive society but that this can only be reached if there is effective collaboration between sectors. Their expectation is that the network will empower their member organisations in making this become reality and this document and in particular the roadmap contained in there might provide good guidance for that. 

La idea de deconstrucción analítica del concepto de contingencia da espacio a un ‘juego’ del pensamiento con relación a lo azaroso como naturalizado, cuando de hecho, al plantearlo desde la normalización, ya trae su correlato desde la ideología de la normalidad. Se invita a reconocer la temática en su tensión entre lo que se dice y lo que se hace, a partir del análisis reflexivo de algunas categorías analíticas y su referenciación con sensaciones y percepciones de sujetos concretos que hacen a personas en situación de discapacidad de la población económicamente activa. Bajo el rótulo de normalidad, en estas sociedades contemporáneas se van mezclando naturalizaciones que no son más que construcciones sociales que remiten a la producción y reproducción de la Ideología hegemónica. Todo está construido para hacer creer que lo contingente es tal, la normalidad es tal, en un marco donde los procesos de objetivación individuales y colectivos tienden a resquebrajarse o desaparecer.

Disability & the Global South (DGS), 2016, Vol. 3 No. 2

This advocacy briefing paper presents key information about the inclusion of people with disabilities in employment. It highlights key facts, gaps in accessing jobs and livelihood and legal policy and frameworks. It outlines practical steps can be taken by livelihood actors at different levels and suggests ways to measure progress

Advocacy briefing paper