Disability and Development

This course introduces and explores historical and contemporary concepts and models of disability, and discusses links with major issues in community development (e.g. health and illness, gender, education, poverty, social participation and exclusion).

You’ll learn about international legislation in relation to disability, and the cultural and sociopolitical contexts in which this has developed.

You’ll look at ways in which the lives of disabled people and their families might be improved across sectors (e.g. not just in health, but in education, justice etc.).

Your knowledge, assumptions and attitudes towards disability will be stretched and challenged as you explore in detail a broad range of issues related to disability across sectors, with a global focus.

You’ll learn about the following areas:

• Historical and contemporary perspectives on major movements, terminology and attitudes to disability
• Major historical and contemporary international disability legislation, guidelines and national initiatives
• Relationships between disability and human rights
• Disability as part of intersectionality, identity and gender issues
• Inclusion as a key concept in disability studies; the mainstreaming/inclusion and independent-living movements and inclusive-education movement
• Disability and culture, disability and poverty, disability in relation to health, disease and illness
• Models of service delivery for disabled people focusing on public health approaches and community-based rehabilitation
• Doing disability related research – models and methods
• Critical analysis and reflection on issues in disability literature and service provision arenas