Disability policy

Ending the education lottery: why the government must extend the NDIS to schools

by Christopher Boyle

Published in 'The Conversation'

While funding a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) seems a laudable attempt by the Labor Government to... more While funding a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) seems a laudable attempt by the Labor Government to redress chronic inequality for a vulnerable group, an opportunity to link it to disability support in schools has been missed.

CALL FOR PAPERS: Journal Special Issue: Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies

by Karen Soldatic

CALL FOR PAPERS:
Journal Special Issue: Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies
more CALL FOR PAPERS:
Journal Special Issue: Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies

Disability and Colonialism: (dis)encounters and anxious intersectionalities

Guest Editors: Shaun Grech (Manchester Metropolitan University) & Karen Soldatic (University of New South Wales)

We are pleased to announce that we will be guest editing a special edition entitled Disability and Colonialism: (dis)encounters and anxious intersectionalities on behalf of the established refereed journal Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies.

The aim of this special issue is to position disability within the colonial (the real and imagined), through which to explore a range of (often anxious) intersectionalities as disability is theorised, constructed, and lived as a post/neocolonial condition. While postcolonial theory and associated fields (e.g. critical theory, cultural studies etc.) have engaged with race, gender and ethnicity in the exploration of themes of identity, representation, space, historicity and the neocolonial, they have almost wholly bypassed disabled people- paradoxically limited to the subjectification of the able-bodied, or rather disembodying colonialism. Westerncentric fields of study such as disability studies often remain detached from the global South, the histories, contexts and cultures of these specific geopolitical spaces, and how disability is ontologically constructed and lived through a history replete with signifiers of power and empire and that frame the global. While some have adopted colonialism as a metaphor for the experience of disability (see for example Shakespeare, 2000), of colonized bodies by the medical profession, the colonial encounter per se, its creation of and implications for the disabled subject, remains inadequately theorised. In turn, disability is persistently removed from history and any contemplation of the post or neocolonial and efforts (discursive or material) at decolonizing these spaces and those within.

The special issue aims to transcend disciplinary, epistemological, methodological, spatial and historical boundaries. Engaging indigenous, post/neocolonial, disability studies, critical theory, psychology, Latin American Cultural Studies, and a range of other perspectives and literatures, and prioritising voices from the global South, we invite authors to engage in critical debate around colonialism to explore a range of thematic concerns (not exclusively):

• Colonial representations and the construction of the disabled body and mind
• The violence and disablism of colonialism
• Intersections of race, ethnicity, culture, gender and disability
• Empire and the domestication of bodies: globalisation, economics and beyond
• Disabled identities, metaphors and language, and their roles in subjugation
• From the colonial to the post/neocolonial: disability and contemporary lineages of imperialism
• Social identities and visions of disability
• Colonial medicalisation: identifying, labelling and ‘treating’ the disabled body
• The Christianising mission, biblical renditions and the disabled subject
• Decolonizing epistemologies, practices and lives: renegotiating power and contemplating global justice

We encourage authors to engage work on Southern theory and movements and approaches prioritising and promoting Southern epistemologies and counter-hegemonic knowledges emerging from struggles for justice.

Those wishing to submit an article, please email your full manuscript to both Shaun Grech (S.Grech@mmu.ac.uk) and Karen Soldatic (ajks123@bigpond.com). Please insert ‘Submission for Disability and Colonialism Special Issue’ in the subject line. Manuscripts will be sent anonymously for double peer review, and comments and recommendations relayed to authors through the editors.

Articles should not exceed 8,000 words in length, and include a 300 word abstract. The journal style guide is available here: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/journal.asp?issn=1369-801X&linktype=44.

Manuscripts should be submitted by no later than: 1st January 2013

Just Care

by Sophie Moullin

My Sunshine Boy

by Reuben Wong

'Father and baby' column published in 'Mother and Baby' (Singapore, May 2012), p.74.

Reflections on coping with and growing up with Down Syndrome in Singapore. Reflections on coping with and growing up with Down Syndrome in Singapore.

Uncloseting Discrimination Consultation Report

by Senthorun Raj

NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby (March 2012)

The Uncloseting Discrimination Consultation Report examines the intersections of discrimination in LGBTI communities... more The Uncloseting Discrimination Consultation Report examines the intersections of discrimination in LGBTI communities and identifies opportunities for further legal and policy reform.

Ashley’s treatment: the arrested development of a disabled child

by Karen Soldatic

in collaboration with Jo Milner

NEDA as a Community Development Agency Ver2

by Brian Cooper

Giving and taking away: NDIS and disability pension reform

by Karen Soldatic

Appointment Time: Disability and Neoliberal Workfare Temporalities

by Karen Soldatic

Disability and Neoliberal State Formations.

by Karen Soldatic

Soldatic, K. and Meekosha, H. (2012) Disability and Neoliberal State Formations. In N. Watson, A. Roulstone and C. Thomas. Routledge Handbook of Disability Studies, London, Routledge, Chapter 15.

Finding Ernesto: Temporary Labour Migration and Disabled Children’s Health

by Karen Soldatic

published in Journal of Population Research

Surviving the Assault? The Australian Disability Movement and the Neoliberal Workfare State

by Karen Soldatic

The three D's of welfare reform: disability, disgust and deservingness

by Karen Soldatic

Disability and Skills in a Changing Economy

by Tom Higgins

Co-authored with Nigel Meager

Part of a series of briefing papers commissioned by UKCES on equality and skills in a changing economy. Part of a series of briefing papers commissioned by UKCES on equality and skills in a changing economy.

Disability and the Australian Neoliberal Workfare State

by Karen Soldatic

Continuity or Change? Disability Policy and the Rudd Government

by Karen Soldatic

Soldatic, K. & Pini, B. (2012) Continuity or Change? Disability Policy and the Rudd Government, Social Policy & Society, volume 11, part 2

Revision of International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Ethical Guidelines

by Elena Colombetti

Colombetti E, Osimani B, Aluas M, Pessina A, Musio A:
Revision of international classification of functioning, disability and health ethical guidelines. Am J Phys Med Rehabil
2012;91(suppl):S155YS158.

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is a classification instrument of the... more The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is a classification instrument of the World Health Organization. It is the result of the revision of the concept of disability. Its aim is to classify health and functioning in the various domains of human life and to provide standard units of measurement for disability on a global basis. In the framework of the Multidisciplinary Research Network on Health and Disability in Europe (MURINET) project, a recent revision of the ICF ethical guidelines has been proposed by the Centre for Bioethics of the Universita`Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. Although we are well aware that not everybody agrees with the ICF approach, in that they have objections concerning the biopsychosocial model on which it is founded, this commentary aims to illustrate the theoretical background on which this revision is based as well as to examine the ethical and practical implications of the perspective on disability which is at the basis of ICF.

System integration and its influence on the quality of life of children with complex needs

by Dillon T. Browne

Supported Employment for Person with Disabilities: A Survey of Austin Employers Attitudes and Perceptions

by Texas State PA Applied Research Projects

Richardson, Kerri Lynn, "Supported Employment for Person with Disabilities: A Survey of Austin Employers Attitudes and Perceptions" (1995). Applied Research Projects, Texas State University-San Marcos. Paper 135.
http://ecommons.txstate.edu/arp/135

Texas Disability Determination Services: A Study of Unemployment Rates, Disability Application Rates, Allowance Rates and Fraud Referrals Over Time

by Texas State PA Applied Research Projects

Campbell, Brook N., "Texas Disability Determination Services: A Study of Unemployment Rates, Disability Application Rates, Allowance Rates and Fraud Referrals Over Time" (2010). Applied Research Projects, Texas State University-San Marcos. Paper 344.
http://ecommons.txstate.edu/arp/344

The purpose of this research project is to explore three areas of behavior and decision-making pertaining to the... more The purpose of this research project is to explore three areas of behavior and decision-making pertaining to the Disability Determination Services program. Specifically, this paper will research (1) the relationship between unemployment rates and Texas Disability Determination Services application rates from 2000 to 2009; (2) the relationship between Texas Disability Determination Services application rates and allowance rates from 2000 to 2009; (3) and the relationship between application rates and fraud referral rates to the Cooperative Disability Investigations (CDI) program from Texas Disability Determination Services from 2001 to 2009. This is accomplished by visual inspections of linear figures based on data from Texas DDS, unemployment data, and CDI data. Method: After reviewing relevant literature, a conceptual framework was developed, allowing the working hypothesis to be generated. The literature and conceptual framework are based on individual level behavior. Based on the individual level behavior the working hypotheses are developed to examine aggregate level data for applicants and agency decision-making. Theories and concepts for the working hypotheses are derived and supported by the literature presented in Chapter II. To fulfill the research methodology, quantitative data is collected from government agency’s online databases. Linear figures represent each working hypothesis, displaying the research results. There is a visual inspection and discussion of the data to test the hypotheses and establish trends over time. Findings: Based on the information provided by the data along with visual inspection positive support was found for each hypothesis. Research results in addition to comprehensive literature support the working hypotheses of a positive relationship over time between Texas unemployment rates and Texas DDS application rates; a negative relationship between Texas DDS application rates and allowance rates; and a positive relationship between Texas DDS application rates and CDI fraud referral rates.