The "World Report on Disability" was requested by the World Health Assembly, the governing body of the World Health Organization (WHO). Because disability is broader than health, WHO partnered with the World Bank. The "World Report" was published in 2011 and provides a comprehensive scientific analysis on the global situation…

The odds that a school district might be asked to allow a service dog or miniature horse into one of its facilities have increased tremendously in light of new legislative changes. With those changes comes a host of fresh challenges for school administrators and policy makers--not the least of which are complex disability discrimination laws and…

As someone charged with ensuring equality in the school environment, teachers have heard the term "inclusion"--the principle that students with special needs, skill sets, and abilities should be integrated in publicly supported activities to the same extent as their nondisabled peers. However, the word inclusion--in and of itself--does…

Western governments have emphasized paid work as a key route to social inclusion for disabled people. Although the proportion of disabled people in "mainstream" employment has increased in recent decades, rates remain significantly below those for non-disabled people. Moreover, disabled workers continue to face discrimination and a lack of…

This study explores how one secondary social studies teacher education program prepares prospective teachers for inclusive education. Drawing on theories of democratic citizenship education and Disability Studies in Education, inclusive social studies envisions a socially democratic educational setting that fosters the development of a community…

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine students with disabilities self-perceptions of their academic and social supports in the general and special education classroom and the impact of the students' counterstories to inform the design of classroom supports. This study was anchored in organizational theory, critical race theory, and the…

Several recent documents and presentations, most but not all from the British Columbia (BC) Ministry of Education, suggest that considerable changes are being floated as options for redesigning inclusive educational approaches in the BC K-12 public education system. The documents include: (1) "The BC Education Plan"; (2) "Global…

Disability legislation demands inclusive institutional policy and practice to meet the needs of the growing numbers of students disclosing specific learning difficulties (SpLD)/dyslexia. However, surveys of provision indicate mixed levels of student satisfaction. Institutions need to be able to monitor the extent to which their practice embodies…

This paper explores the development of Canadian immigration legislation from the mid-Nineteenth Century to the present day. The aim is to show, through an historical lens, how people with disabilities have been and continue to be treated as inferior to nondisabled people when it comes to immigration. Similar to other minority populations,…

This document provides an overview of research findings presented and audience response at the "state-the-science" conference conducted by Cornell University October 22-23, 2013 in Washington, D.C. on the topic of "Innovative Research on Employment Practices: Improving Employment for People with Disabilities." An overview of…

Inclusive practice is well embedded across society and has developed over time. However, although policy and public view have moved forward, the way organisations address the agenda for inclusion often represents a superficial interpretation of this concept. Qualitative data were gathered using new ethnography to explore the experiences of a…

This article discusses the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) which President George W. Bush officially signed in 2008. The law prohibits employers from making adverse employment decisions based on a person's genetic information, including family health history. It also forbids insurance companies from discriminating against…

Recent legislation means that it is now illegal to treat a student, for reasons relating to a disability, less favourably than a non-disabled student unless this is justified to maintain academic standards. However, recent research has identified numerous barriers faced by students with disabilities when they attempt to access the higher education…

One of the field's most enduring problems is the overrepresentation of students of color in special education. A less acknowledged challenge is the overrepresentation of students with disabilities in juvenile incarceration. Quantitative studies have documented the overrepresentation of students with disabilities in juvenile justice. Yet,…

The UK coalition Government's call to end the "bias" towards inclusion represents a shift in "policy speak" as the new administration attempts to re-narrate special education by putting forward a "reasonable and sensible" solution to the "problem of inclusion". However, implicit in the call is the assumption…