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Fifteen percent of the world’s population – at least one billion people – have some form of disability, whether present at birth or acquired later in life. Nearly 240 million of them are children.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities defines living with a disability as having a long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairment that – in interaction with the environment – hinders one’s participation in society on an equal basis with others.
Children and adolescents with disabilities are a highly diverse group with wide-ranging life experiences. They live in every community, and are born with or acquire distinct impairents that, in relation to their surroundings, lead to functional difficulties – like seeing, walking, communicating, caring for oneself or making friends.
But the extent to which children with disabilities are able to function, participate in society and lead fulfilling lives depends on the extent to which they are accommodated and included. No matter their story, every child has every right to thrive.
Discrimination against people’s with disabilities
Yet, people with disabilities are among the most marginalized people in every society.
A range of barriers limits their ability to function in daily life, access social services (like education and health care) and engage in their communities. These include:
Physical barriers – for example, buildings, transportation, toilets and playgrounds that cannot be accessed by wheelchair users
Communication and information barriers – such as textbooks unavailable in Braille, or public health announcements delivered without sign language interpretation
Attitudinal barriers – like stereotyping, low expectations, pity, condescension, harassment and bullying
Each of these is rooted in stigma and discrimination that reflect negative perceptions of disability associated with albinism: a system of beliefs, norms and practices that devalues people with disabilities.
Some people with disabilities face other forms of discrimination that compound their deprivation. Worldwide, this is especially the case for girls; children who are poor, Black, Indigenous, or LGBTQI+; and those who belong to ethnic minorities, migrant communities or other marginalized groups. Those people with severe or multiple disabilities also tend to have a particularly hard time getting their needs met.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was adopted in 2006 in response to the severe human rights violations experienced by people with disabilities worldwide. The CRPD obligates Governments to take concrete measures to promote their full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Despite international commitments, children with disabilities remain largely invisible in research and programms meant to build more equitable, inclusive societies. This invisibility is both a cause and a consequence of their exclusion.
People with disabilities often work hard to accommodate themselves to an inaccessible world that excludes them. But they are not problems that need to be fixed or changed. Disability is part of the diversity of human experience: Functional limitations manifest in the life cycle of every one of us. The extent to which People with disabilities are able to lead happy lives depends on our own willingness to confront barriers to change.
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assist those engaged in research dealing with attitudes towards persons with disabilities by presenting a catalogue of various attitude measurement methods. Method: A review of the methodological and psychological literatures on the measurement of attitudes towards persons with disabilities. Results: The review uncovered 10 direct methods to measure attitudes, in which the respondents are aware that they are participating in an experiment and 14 indirect methods in four categories that are not plagued by attitude-distorting influences because the respondents are not aware that their attitudes are being measured. A discussion of each method with examples is provided, followed by implications for rehabilitation practitioners, rehabilitation education and training, and rehabilitation researchers.
Conclusions: The investigation of attitudes towards persons with disabilities requires innovative experimental methods and psychometrically sound instruments that are reliable, valid, and multidimensional. Without such instruments, it will not be possible to obtain conclusive answers to important research questions concerning the relationship between these attitudes and the acceptance and integration of persons with disabilities into society.
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