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Purpose: This study investigated the attitudes of secondary school teachers towards students with blindness or partial sight in selected states in Nigeria.

Method: The authors utilised the modified version of a previous instrument to collect data from 306 secondary school teachers in Nigeria. Six basic questions were established to address: respondents’ attitudes towards inclusion; training acquired related to teaching; knowledge pertaining to policy and legislation; confidence levels to teach students with disabilities.; impact of geographical location; and differences in attitudes by the variables of subject(s) taught, school level taught, and years of teaching experience.

Results: Attitudes of participants were mixed but were generally positive. The level of training was low, with teachers showing limited knowledge of policy and legislation. A little over a quarter (27%) of them lacked confidence in teaching. There were differences in attitudes related to the geographical location of respondents. Those who taught at the senior secondary school level tended to have higher attitude scores on average than their counterparts at the junior secondary school level.

Conclusion and Limitations: This study used self-report measures, although observations and interviews could be additional ways to evaluate the attitudes of participants throughout the country. Moreover, in-service programmes may need to be implemented to increase teachers’ knowledge base and expand their experiences in line with established policies and legislation.

Purpose:  The predominant mode of human communication is speech, and whenever it is hindered, humans resort to the tactile-kinaesthetic mode.  Use of sign language by persons with speech-hearing impairments is a classic example of such adaptation. The Demonstration School at the Regional Institute of Education in Mysuru, South India, undertook training of typically-developing students in Indian Sign Language (ISL), so as to facilitate communication and instruction of students with hearing impairment who are in mainstream learning environments. 

Method: Training in ISL was imparted to140 typically-developing students in higher primary classes. Twenty-four 40-minute sessions were conducted over a month. After theoretical orientation in logical bases of manual communication, practical training commenced with elementary manual alphabets, progressed through essential daily-life vocabulary necessary to construct simple sentences and carry out general conversations, and culminated in signing the Indian National Anthem.

Results: Typically-developing students gained primary benefits such as improved awareness about non-verbal communication modes, mastery of basic skills in ISL, and positive attitudes towards sign languages.

Conclusion: The UNCRPD 2006 authorises sign language as the linguistic identity of the Deaf, and encourages the use of sign language in learning environments. Future research should add to the findings on secondary benefits in the form of scholastic and sociometric advantages derived by students with hearing impairments who receive instructions in sign language in mainstream learning environments.

Purpose: This review investigates the training needs of Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) workers that would enable them to effectively facilitate CBR programmes. Emphasis was placed on identifying: (a) the skills that CBR workers require (b) the training currently available for them, and (c) the gaps in current training.

Method: A scoping review was conducted using on-line database searches (Medline, Embase, Cinahl, PsycInfo, Global Health) for English articles from 2006 onwards. A combination of keywords related to CBR, personnel, and training were applied. Hand searches of reference lists and the DCID journal were also conducted. Grey literature related to training, from the World Health Organisation (WHO), CBR Regional Networks and organisations affiliated with CBR were included as secondary data. Thirty-three articles and thirty-five sources from the grey literature were included. Data was organised under the three objectives outlined above – i.e., required skills, available training and training gaps.

Results: CBR workers represent a diverse group requiring a broad range of skills. A new cadre of mid-level workers is also necessary to effectively implement the CBR guidelines. There is currently no standardised training for CBR workers and training varies widely, depending on context. CBR workers require further training in various clinical, social, management, communication, and cultural competence skills across the spectrum of the CBR Matrix, and specifically in empowering persons with disabilities and facilitating community development. They also need to develop critical reasoning, creativity, and compassion.

Conclusion: A standardised approach to training CBR workers would be beneficial to ensure basic standards and quality services, to allow meaningful comparison and evaluation across contexts, to recognise the role of mid-level CBR workers, and to strengthen the workforce. Further research is required to determine minimal competencies, define the roles of various CBR workers, and evaluate the effectiveness of training.

Purpose: This paper sought to document the responsiveness of the University of Botswana towards the academic needs of students with visual impairments. The study examined the academic experiences of students with visual impairments enrolled at the University and explored their information-seeking needs. The study was informed by the theory of social justice.

Method: This was a qualitative study. Data was collected from students with visual impairments and academic staff from different faculties at the University of Botswana, through document analysis, interviews and observation techniques.

Results: The findings revealed that students with visual impairments experience extra challenges compared to students without disabilities. This is mainly because they do not get full support to enable them to excel academically. Furthermore, lecturers use teaching methodologies that do not accommodate these students, and learning materials are not adapted to formats suitable for them. Access to information is another major concern that hinders the participation of students with visual impairments in tertiary institutions.

Conclusion: The study recommends that lecturers need to be trained on suitable methods to teach students with visual impairments and how best to deliver academic content to them.

Disability, CBR and Inclusive Development, Vol 30, No 1 (2019)

Studies in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) point to a significant association of common mental disorders with female gender, low education, and poverty. Depression and anxiety are frequently complicated by lack of disease awareness and non-adherence, the absence of care and provider resources, low value given to mental health by policy-makers, stigma, and discrimination towards the mentally ill. This paper aims to show that female village leaders/ community health and outreach workers (CHWs) can be used to overcome the lack of psychiatric resources for treatment of common mental disorders in rural areas.

A multidisciplinary team was set up to evaluate and treat potential clients in the villages. A program of care delivery was planned, developed and implemented by: (a) targeting indigent women in the region; (b) integrating mental health care with primary care; (c) making care affordable and accessible by training local women as CHWs with ongoing continued supervision; and (d) sustaining the program long-term.   Indigenous CHWs served as a link between the centre and the community. They received hands-on training, ongoing supervision, and an abridged but focused training module to identify common mental disorders, help treatment compliance, networking, illness literacy and community support by outreach workers. They used assessment tools translated into the local language, and conducted focus groups and client training programs. 

As a result, mental healthcare was provided to clients from as many as 150 villages in South India. Currently the services are utilized on a regular basis by about 50 villages around the central project site. The current active caseload of registered clients is 1930.  Empowerment of treated clients is the final outcome, assisting them in self-employment. 

Rural mental healthcare must be culturally congruent, and must integrate primary care and local CHWs for success. Training, supervision, ongoing teaching of CHWs, on-site resident medical officers, research and outreach are essential to continued success over two decades.

Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development, [S.l.], v. 30, n. 2, p. 104-113, Oct. 2019

Purpose: This study explores and compares perspectives of educators and parents regarding interventions used in managing Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Sarawak, Malaysia. Information on parental desires and limitations when selecting and maintaining management will aid in the development of strategies for ASD educators to work effectively with parents and caregivers, and vice versa.

Method: This qualitative research employed traditional question and answer interviews with 7 ASD educators and 30 parents. Interviews were semi-structured and questions were open-ended to allow for additional details to be relayed within the scope of the subject matter. Thematic analysis revealed overarching perceptions concerning parental attitudes towards involvement in their children’s interventions, and implications of cultural context.

Results: Perspectives were similar regarding the importance of confidentiality from educators and cultural factors playing a major role in content of intervention chosen by parents. Perspectives differed across four themes. Of significance was the way in which both samples viewed parental self-reliance in supplementing interventions and parental attitudes in effort and perseverance. 

Conclusion: Parental resources and culture influence ability and attitudes towards involvement. While educators may not agree on certain aspects, mutual appreciation of differing perspectives would benefit the children.

Purpose: This study aimed to assess the implementation of an online parent training programme in Bangladesh, designed to enhance parental knowledge of autism and neurodevelopmental disorders and related interventions. In addition, study participants were expected to become “Master Trainers” with the intention of training other parents in their local communities.

Method: This survey study assessed parental knowledge and programme effectiveness, such as potential online learning barriers, cultural sensitivities, and general course content feedback after each unit.

Results: The programme had an 81% completion rate (with parents completing all but one unit) with an average programme knowledge score of 86%. Parents felt that the course content was moderately difficult, the length of the units was appropriate, and the units were culturally sensitive. They requested more detailed lessons, specific case studies, and adaptation of the curriculum for older children.

Conclusion: The pilot programme merits the next phase of development, which includes local adaptation and translation. However, the findings are limited by the small sample size.

Purpose: Roatán, a small island in Honduras, is home to six ethnic groups. Due to financial constraints, many children have limited access to schooling. This article is a study on teachers’ perceptions of disabilities and students with disabilities and inclusive education on the island.

Method: Twenty seven teachers working in public and private schools, and schools funded by the World Bank, were interviewed in March-April of 2014 in order to explore cultural and social representations of disabilities on the island.

Results: The findings show that many of the teachers’ representations can be analysed under the lens of different models of disability - the medical model, the social model, and a religious-moral model. Inclusive education is perceived less as a means of including children with disabilities in the regular classroom, and more as a method of creating institutions to take care of their needs.

Conclusion: There is a strong intersection of poverty, post-colonialism and disability which makes working under an inclusive lens very difficult for teachers. The cultural norms influence ideas of normalcy and disabilities, and the blame is on parents for having children with disabilities.

Aim: This study attempts a comprehensive qualitative and quantitative analysis of un-annotated bibliographic listing of books and citations compiled on specific learning disability published by researchers in India.

Method: An online and offline survey covering ISSN journals and ISBN marked books available in print or electronic media was compiled, coded, categorized, and classified by title, theme, year, journals, and names of author/s.

Results: The bibliographic search yielded 450 research articles drawn from 196 national and international journals of Indian origin and 29 book titles on the topic of learning disability and/or its equivalents covering themes related to their nature-characteristic (N: 184; 40.89%), therapy-intervention (N: 115; 25.56%), causes-correlates (N: 57; 12.67%), screening-assessment-identification (N: 52; 11.56 %), and epidemiology-prevalence (N: 42; 9.33%).  A decade wise timeline analysis shows an increasing trend in the quantum of publications on learning disability by almost four times from the base years of <=1990s to the contemporary period, along with corresponding shift in the increased use of the term ‘learning disability’ in preference for other older terms (p:<0.05).  

Conclusion: On the whole, there seems to be much unused information available about learning disabilities in the country, which now lies widely scattered.

Limitations & Recommendation: Although no claim is made that the bibliographic listing is all inclusive, it is recommended that the first step is to have an information gathering mechanism, creation of a dynamic repository, or archival system with retrieval systems in place for prospective researchers on a subject matter of great importance  within the country.