This article documents the employment discrimination experienced by Americans "regarded as" disabled (but not medically verified as such), using the Integrated Mission System of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Claimants who were perceived as disabled, as contrasted with those with documented disabilities, were more likely…

Purpose: In spite of extensive literature on disability studies, little has been done on disability and development, more so the role of language and learning technologies in all of this. The purpose of this paper therefore is to focus on the crucial role language plays in the inclusion or exclusion of people with disabilities in development and…

This paper discusses barriers to the participation of women with disabilities in Kenyan university education. While studies have shown that students with disabilities are increasingly enrolling in and completing university education, the number of women with disabilities in higher education remains low. This paper highlights the factors that…

This article draws on critical disability studies, challenging the exclusion of right-brained thinkers from an education system designed to privilege left-brained thinkers. It focuses on individuals who are labelled dyspraxic, providing data from qualitative interviews with adults about childhood experiences in school and the impact on their…

This paper attempts to illuminate a central concept and idea in special education discourse, namely, "special needs". It analyses philosophically what needs are and on what grounds they are defined as "special" or "exceptional". It also discusses whether sorting needs into ordinary and special is discriminatory. It is argued that individualistic…

Background: Integration of students with special education needs (SEN) into regular classrooms has been implemented for over three decades in the western world. Asian regions, particularly Hong Kong, follow the proclamation of the Salamanca Statement. In 1996, the Disability Discrimination Ordinance was enacted in Hong Kong. In 2004, the Hong Kong…

In 1991, the Australian Government designated students with disabilities as one of the six equity groups that were under-represented in higher education. Since that time, there has been only a modest increase in enrolments of students with disabilities despite government polices and funding of disability support services and programs. People with…

The aim of this study is to develop perceptual knowledge of dyslexia from adults diagnosed with this condition. Historically, the dominant conceptual frameworks used to study dyslexia stem from psychological or educational practice. These disciplines predominantly draw on professional neuro-biological or educational knowledge that can be broadly…

Bringing service animals into schools raises serious questions about how to meet one student's special needs while ensuring the educational well-being of all. This article discusses how schools grapple with the practical and legal questions involved in allowing service dogs on campus. The author cites a case in 2009 called "Kalbfleisch v. Columbia…

This article discusses the dilemma faced by psychologists in responding to diversity. It is based on a qualitative review of relevant literature over the past decade. It first describes psychologists as frontrunners in recognizing the uniqueness and autonomy of each of their diverse clients but within the biomedical model that locates problems…

Ableism is discrimination on the grounds that being able bodied is the normal and superior human condition. In contrast, being "disabled" is linked to ill health, incapacity, and dependence. These understandings become institutionalized in the beliefs, language, and practices of nondisabled people and create barriers to equitable social…

Humanitarian crises as a result of conflict are often characterised by failure of the social contract between the state and its citizens. For a variety of reasons, children with disabilities are often particularly vulnerable in time of humanitarian crisis. This paper draws on research undertaken by the authors in a series of countries affected by…

This dissertation critically examines mental illness discourses through the intersecting disciplinary lenses of art education and disability studies. Research from multiple disciplines is compared and theorized to uncover the ways in which discourses, or language systems, have oppressively constructed and represented "mental illness." To establish…

This paper addresses the power of images of disability as a way to examine how such images can be read as reproducing normality. By image of disability, I mean "any" appearance of disability made through the social act of interpretation. In this paper, I conduct an interpretive sociological analysis of common and even mundane everyday images of…

After the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, thousands of families across the U.S. breathed a sigh of relief at the White House's reassurance: "Reform will eliminate health insurance discrimination against people with disabilities." However, the actual language of the law and the proposed implementation timeline of the…