African Journal of Disability最新文献

Background: It is critical that disability-disaggregated indicators of educational outcomes are developed and monitored in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) to demonstrate whether progress is being made towards educational equality.

Objectives: To design, test and analyse new indicators of grade progression for learners with disabilities relative to learners without disabilities in South Africa. To determine which indicators are the most appropriate for future monitoring.

Method: We undertook the first-ever quantitative analysis of grade repetition and age-for-grade of learners with disabilities relative to learners without disabilities using student-level data collected in the new Education Management Information System (EMIS). Using a longitudinal student-level dataset extracted from EMIS, we conducted cohort analyses of grade progression from 2017 onwards, disaggregated by gender and disability category.

Results: On average, learners with disabilities experienced grade repetition more frequently than learners without disabilities and were older than their peers. Grade repetition rates decreased from 2017 to 2023 in mainstream schools in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province but increased in special schools. Comparatively, 54% of learners without disabilities who started Grade 1 in 2017 progressed to Grade 7 without repetition, versus 20% of learners with disabilities (Gauteng) and only 12% of learners with disabilities (KZN).

Conclusion: The high rates of grade repetition among learners with disabilities suggest that reasonable accommodations and curriculum differentiation have not been fully implemented in schools.

Contribution: There has been a substantial decline in reporting of learner disability status in Gauteng province since 2022 which warrants further investigation.

Background: Cerebral palsy (CP) represents the most common and disabling motor disorder in childhood. It can lead to chronic pain and reduced quality of life (QOL). These challenges can also affect mothers, who are typically the primary caregivers, contributing to physical and psychosocial strain.

Objectives: This study explored the associations between motor impairment, chronic pain, and QOL in children with CP, as well as maternal stress and pain intensity, and examined their mediating roles.

Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 132 mother-child dyads in Tunisia. Children were aged 4 to 12 years. The Gross Motor Function Classification System, the Cerebral Palsy Quality of Life Questionnaire, the Visual Analogue Scale, and the Perceived Stress Scale were used to assess motor impairment, quality of life, and chronic pain intensity in children with CP, as well as maternal pain intensity and stress.

Results: Motor impairment was significantly associated with lower child QOL (β = -0.671; SE = 0.657, p < 0.001) and higher pain intensity (β = 0.5; SE = 1.213, p < 0.001). Maternal stress partially mediated the relationship between motor impairment and child QOL (Sobel test = -4.073; p < 0.001). Maternal pain also partially mediated the relationship between motor impairment and child pain (Sobel test = 2.505; p = 0.012).

Conclusion: These findings highlight the significant impact of motor impairment on QOL and chronic pain intensity in children with CP.

Contribution: This study emphasises the mediating roles of maternal stress and pain intensity, suggesting that interventions should address both the physical symptoms of CP and the psychosocial well-being of children and their mothers.

Background: Inclusive education for learners with special education needs is challenged with a rigid curricula and inadequate policy monitoring. Parental perspectives are crucial for shaping inclusive policies. However, these are insufficiently examined in the existing research and hinder improvements in special education practices.

Objectives: This study explored parents' perspectives on how special schools met the unique needs of learners living with physical disabilities.

Method: A descriptive, qualitative exploratory design utilising semi-structured interviews with 11 parents from three selected special schools was adopted. Participants were recruited using a purposive non-random sampling method through telephone calls and face-to-face interviews. Transcripts were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed inductively using a six-step approach to thematic data analysis on ATLAS.ti version 9. Intercoder reliability was achieved with consensus agreement.

Results: Three themes emerged: (1) A lack of curriculum differentiation and its effects on the learners' academic performance. (2) A lack of empathy and support in addressing the learners' challenges. (3) Poor management of assistive devices.

Conclusion: Parents perceived that special schools inadequately addressed their children's needs, particularly in curriculum delivery. Insufficient assessments resulted in learners remaining in unsuitable academic stream instead of transitioning to vocational pathways.

Contribution: Parental insights highlight critical areas for improvement in informing policies to enhance support for learners with special education needs.

Background: Since the implementation of the inclusive education policy in 2001 in South Africa, several milestones have been celebrated. Nevertheless, studies have reported the significant challenges in the implementation of the policy for learners with disabilities across schools in South Africa, which impede transformation.

Objectives: Reflecting on key research insights from a recent study, this article argues for the development of a Theory of Change (ToC) as a road map or blueprint for implementing inclusive education for learners with intellectual disabilities in South Africa. A ToC is imperative for bridging the gap between policy implementation and outcomes.

Method: A qualitative research design was adopted for the study. Data were collected through a desktop review, 12 key informant interviews and 10 focus group discussions with key role players and stakeholders in various positions in the education system (i.e. senior education specialists, special needs teachers, one education operations support officer, a principal, deputy principals and head of departments). The data collected were analysed thematically.

Results: The findings of the study highlighted progress regarding government financial resources and also the various structural barriers impeding the implementation of inclusive education for learners with intellectual disabilities.

Conclusion: This article encourages the continued development of theories of change to promote the effective implementation and ensure quality inclusive education for learners with disabilities in South African schools.

Contribution: This article contributes a potential ToC to guide the effective implementation of inclusive education policy and practices for learners with intellectual disabilities in the South African schooling system.

Background: Special education teachers, especially those working with learners with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), often face significant stress and burnout, affecting their well-being. This study explores teacher well-being in special education, motivated by personal experiences as a novice teacher in a special educational needs school.

Objectives: The study aimed to provide special education teachers with an opportunity to collaboratively examine and address well-being challenges and opportunities within a professional learning community, focusing on belonging, competence, and autonomy in Learners with Special Educational Needs (LSEN) settings. Utilising a phenomenological research design, the study involved eight teachers working with learners with ASD.

Method: Data collection methods included observations, semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions to comprehensively explore their lived experiences. The findings highlighted the profound impact of challenging experiences on teacher well-being and the lack of sufficient support structures. Participants emphasised the critical role of social support in enhancing teacher well-being.

Results: Participants defined well-being as emotional, physical, and holistic, including social and family aspects. While working with learners with ASD was meaningful, it also caused significant stress due to their complex needs. Daily challenges shaped teachers' professional identity and competence. Connections with colleagues were valued, but a lack of institutional support and a restrictive school culture hindered well-being. When given autonomy, participants creatively co-developed well-being interventions, though support from management was essential for implementation.

Conclusion: This research highlights the essential role of fostering a sense of belonging and connection within professional learning communities for special education teachers. It calls for increased accountability in developing well-being support structures and comprehensive training programmes tailored to the needs of novice educators in special education. By nurturing connections, fostering competence, and ensuring autonomy, the well-being of special education teachers, particularly those working with learners on the autism spectrum, can be significantly improved.

Contribution: This study contributes to enhancing well-being support structures and training programmes for special education professionals.

Background: Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) interventions are important for improving the well-being of people with disabilities. However, there is no universally accepted framework for evaluating these interventions, which limits their effectiveness and integration into policy.

Objectives: To explore theoretical frameworks used in evaluating CBR interventions, assessing their suitability, context-specific applicability and cultural relevance.

Method: A scoping review methodology was employed to examine the literature. Databases searched included PubMed, CINAHL, EBSCOhost and Web of Science. Broad search terms and keywords used were CBR, analytical and/or methodological and/or theoretical and/or conceptual and/or evaluation framework, impact and evaluation. Only full-text articles written in English and published between 2000 and 2020 were included. Data were analysed using a narrative synthesis method.

Results: No single framework has been widely recognised as the superior or most effective standard for evaluating CBR interventions. Instead, a combination of the CBR matrix and CBR guidelines was frequently used and adapted to be context-specific.

Conclusion: While cultural relevance and context specificity are recognised as essential to the evaluation process - and measuring outcomes at the individual level is viewed as most appropriate - there remains a need for a certain level of standardisation.

Contribution: The study highlights the need for context-specific and culturally relevant evaluation frameworks for CBR interventions, including appropriate outcome measures and/or evaluation instruments.

Background: Vicious cycles of disability and poverty isolate disabled women, making it difficult for them to meet their own and their family's human needs. Their exclusion and deprivations may be bridged through inclusive development processes. The article presents an Afro-centric approach to inclusive development that speaks to experiences of disabled women who lived in informal settlements in the Cape Town metropole, South Africa that also has relevance for marginalised and oppressed communities in the Global North.

Objectives: To describe how human scale development (HSD) as a conceptual framework resonates with Ubuntu values and principles to enable individual and collective action spaces to overcome human poverties.

Method: Reflexivity was done to explicate and further conceptualise an Ubuntu approach to community-based inclusive development for disabled women.

Results: Analysis revealed the centrality of Ubuntu values in effecting social change through bi-directional shifts in self and collective identities, and a spirituality of disability. Themes included Disability as a burden (deprivation), and Disability as a gain (a potentiality). Five development opportunities emerged: enhanced self-identity; strengthened family life; sustained livelihood; community rehabilitation workers as brokers to facilitate access to health and social services; and information.

Conclusion: Ubuntu as an African philosophy draws on indigenous knowledge systems that provide an Afro-centric approach to inclusive development of disabled women. Ubuntu promotes a reflexive, person-centred and collective approach to human development at the micro-level.

Contribution: Harnessing the power of learning to listen deeply to each other's stories facilitates the interdependence and spirituality of Ubuntu to create supportive, inclusive development.

Background: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are an evolving concept in the neurodiversity community. There is a continuum of views ranging from biological to social models, of which the medical model views ASD as pathological rather than atypical. How people live with their diversity attributes may depend on how they understand their own diversity attribute.

Objectives: This study explored self-perceptions of young people with mild-to-moderate ASD within their cultural context.

Method: Participants included an equal number of males and females with mild-to-moderate ASD (five each). They participated in two focus group discussions on self-perceptions of life situations in young people with ASD and whether they are considered as neurodiversity or pathology paradigms. Data analysis was done using the thematic content analysis approach.

Results: Participants viewed ASD as: (1) a human neurological variation, (2) were not disordered, (3) had sense of friendship and belonging, and (4) had natural and normal social emotional development.

Conclusion: Young people with ASD perceive ASD from a neurodiversity approach. A neurodiversity approach to ASD is primarily a social justice movement aiming to end what proponents see as the default pathologisation of neurodivergence and promoting the acceptance and accommodation of human neurodiversity.

Contribution: This study enhances understanding of self-perceptions among young people with ASD in Zimbabwe, revealing challenges and strengths unique to their experiences. It may inform educators and policymakers, promoting inclusive practices and tailored interventions, ultimately fostering empowerment, acceptance, and improved quality of life for young people within this community.

Background: Women with disabilities are at disproportionate risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes partly because of the limited information on their pregnancy histories. However, deaf women are faced with communication challenges, sexuality, menstrual health as well as pregnancy and its care, which remain a contemporary phenomenon. Still, little is known about the lived experiences of deaf women and girls.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the maternal health experiences of deaf women and girls, identify the challenges that influence their antenatal, childbirth and postnatal outcomes and improve access.

Method: The study used qualitative research of an intrinsic case study design utilising semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with 50 deaf women and girls who are deaf or hard of hearing in Mbale district and 13 key informants from state and non-state entities. Documentary analysis was also utilised to examine government documents on this topic.

Results: Findings revealed that 100% of deaf women and girls lack antenatal services tailored to their linguistic needs and communication barriers, which provide no opportunities for better medical provider-patient communication.

Conclusion: Despite Uganda's legal frameworks on maternal health rights (MHRs), deaf women and girls' linguistic needs are yet to be incorporated into the Ugandan health sector. Current healthcare provisions do not always meet their needs during maternal services. Therefore, visible and constructive policies are necessary to steer deaf MHRs and services.

Contribution: Deaf epistemology should be integrated into policy, research spaces and practice for effective and evidence-based policies needed to guide Sexual and Reproductive Health services among deaf women and girls.