Cost of Assistive Technology as a Barrier to Inclusion Through Sport

Social Structures

Author: Dr. Emma M. Smith, Postdoctoral Researcher, AT2030, ALL Institute, Department of Psychology, Maynooth University

Montgenèvre, France A freeride sit skier and local legend rides down a powder field off-piste in Montgenèvre. Photo by Go Montgenevre on Unsplash
Photo by Go Montgenevre on Unsplash

This week, like many of our colleagues who work in the areas of disability and inclusion, we are anticipating the start of the Paralympic Games. Aligned with this, we are also celebrating the launch of #WeThe15, a global campaign to promote inclusion of persons with disabilities through engagement in sport. Participation in culture, including sport, is enshrined in Article 30 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We also have research which supports the concept that sports promote health and wellbeing through social inclusion, access to the community, and opportunities for physical activity.

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Promoting Engagement in Sport for Persons with Disabilities Through Assistive Technology

Social Lives

Authors: Dr. Emma Smith, Postdoctoral Researcher, AT2030, ALL Institute, Department of Psychology, Maynooth University and Ana Geppert, Masters student of Global Health at VU Amsterdam, intern with the ALL Institute at Maynooth University, in partnership with Loughborough University.

Photo by Audi Nissen on Unsplash: ESPN WIde World of Sports Complex, United States Womens wheelchair basketball
Photo by Audi Nissen on Unsplash

In celebration of the launch of the #WeThe15 campaign; the largest ever global human rights campaign to increase awareness and social inclusion of people with disabilities through sport, we would like to share some of our recent research in the area. #WeThe15 is an acknowledgement that at least 15% of the world population – over 1 billion people – live with one or more disabilities, each of whom is entitled to all of the rights and freedoms, and the benefits of social inclusion experienced by people without disabilities worldwide. Of those rights affirmed in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure, and sport (Article 30) is one that we have had a recent focus on in our work.

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Adaptive Fashion: An Instrument to Enhance Independent Living and Self-Confidence of Persons with Physical Disabilities

Social Structures

Author: Francesca Albi, J.D. Candidate – Università degli Studi di Verona (Italy)

Francesca Albi Profile Picture
Francesca Albi Profile Picture

Accessibility is one of the general principles embodied in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and it is explicitly affirmed by Article 3 (f), Article 9 and other provisions of the Convention. Accessibility must be understood as “the right to use goods, services and facilities available to the public without discrimination, and obtain an equal benefit from them” (Broderick and Ferri, 2019, p. 140). Accordingly, accessibility is strictly linked to the concept of “universal design”, which is an expression of the paradigm-shift embraced by the CRPD (Cera, 2017, pp. 107-118) and which is defined in Article 2 of the CRPD as the “design of products, environments, programmes and services to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design”.

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No More Stolen Sisters

Social Structures

Authors: Gerard Maguire – Nottingham Trent University, DSA Ireland & Katie Donnellan – Maynooth University

Group of Indigenous Women at a protest holding a large red sign with the wording in white font 'Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls #MMIWG'
Figure 1

The 2021 International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples will focus on the theme “Leaving no one behind: Indigenous peoples and the call for a new social contract” and takes place on the 9th of August. Various groups and peoples are redesigning a new social contract that serves the interest of “We, the peoples”, as per the preamble of the United Nations Charter. However, it appears that in certain instances, there are some people being left behind. The plight of Indigenous Women in the United States (US) and Canada is one that receives little attention or media spotlight. The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) is a human-rights crisis that disproportionately affects Indigenous Peoples in the US and Canada.

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Sexuality, disability, and the law: a call for action

Debates

Author: Carla Maria Reale- post-doctoral researcher at Faculty of Law, University of Trento (Italy)

Original Post: The Loud Silence on Disability and Sexuality; My perspective. by Mohamed Maalim

Carla Maria Reale Profile Picture
Carla Maria Reale

Addressing the topic of sexuality and disability means uncovering issues capable of questioning our stereotypes, our bodies, the construction of our desires, and our ideas on desirability. Sexuality is an issue that touches the core of our relational selves, of our identities as persons. Anne Finger, a prominent writer, and disability activist, defined sexuality for people with disabilities as “the source of our deepest oppression; (…) the source of our deepest pain.” (Finger, 1992).

In a post published on this blog, while discussing sexuality and disability from a psychological/social perspective, Mohamed Maalim used the expression “loud silence”. I was deeply moved by these words, as the same loud silence dominates the legal sphere of sexuality and disability as well.

This short post has the purpose of engaging in an interdisciplinary dialogue, to better understand how, from different perspectives, scholars, activists, and professionals can create a positive approach to and constructive debate on people with disabilities’ sexualities.

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A Matter of Trust: Accepting Artificial Intelligence and Robotics-Aided Care to Enhance Independent Living for Persons with Disabilities

Social Structures

Author: Matthew McKenna, PhD Researcher at Maynooth University’s Assisting Living and Learning Institute (ALL Institute)

Matthew McKenna Profile Picture
Matthew McKenna

The European Union (EU) is arguably emerging as a global leader in the ethical and human rights-based regulation and deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare, domestic and wider societal settings in the twenty-first century. On the 8th of April 2019, the EU High-Level Expert Group on AI presented ‘Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence’. This followed the publication of the guidelines’ first draft in December 2018 on which more than five hundred comments were received through an open consultation.

According to the Guidelines, trustworthy AI should be:

(1) Lawful – Respecting all applicable laws and regulations

(2) Ethical – Respecting ethical principles and values

(3) Robust – Both from a technical perspective while taking into account its social environment

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Access, not Ability: Why are young women not engaging with STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Maths) and what can we do about it?

Social Lives

Author- Neasa Boyle- Researcher in the ALL (Assisting Living & Learning) Institute, Department of Psychology, Maynooth University.

Picture of ALL Microsoft Interns image shows 6 women smiling at the camera 4 sitting on a blue large armchair and 2 standing with a poster in the background and a white wall.
ALL Microsoft Interns

It has been well documented that STEM learning is the key to societal growth and economic prosperity considering STEM graduates are becoming more sought after, the benefits of effective STEM education may extend past those who wish to pursue STEM careers. STEM prepares students to adapt to any industry, by enhancing in skills problem-solving, adaptability, and creativity. However, despite these clear advantages, female students are significantly less likely to participate in STEM in school or continue these subjects into 3rd level education. This is particularly true for female students from lower socioeconomic areas.

In Ireland, we see girls in DEIS (disadvantaged, or, delivering equality of opportunity in schools) schools are particularly under-represented in STEM. According to an OECD report less than one-third of engineering and one-fifth of computer science undergraduates were female. Additionally, at age fifteen, only 4.7% of female students compared to 18% of their male counterparts showed interest in STEM, even amongst the highest achieving pupils.

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World Youth Skills Day – Reimagining Youth Skills Post-Pandemic

Social Structures

Author: Clíona de Bhailís is a PhD Candidate at the Centre for Disability Law and Policy (CDLP), NUI Galway. She has received Irish Research Council funding for her research focusing on Article 12 UNCRPD and young people with disabilities. In her previous role she worked as a Research Assistant on the European Research Council funded ‘Voices of Individuals: Collectively Exploring Self-determination (VOICES)’ project.

Clíona de Bhailís
Clíona de Bhailís

In 2021 World Youth Skills Day celebrates the creativity and resilience of youth during the COVID 19 pandemic. Young people with disabilities have been particularly impacted by the crisis with schools and services closed, supports limited, and reopening creating additional barriers in accessing many public spaces. Through it all however, they have shown remarkable creativity, resilience and adaptability. This is despite not being consulted or at times even considered by decision makers. 

The importance of participation in decision making is often mentioned when discussing research and policy which relates to children and young people. Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is well known in this regard and guarantees children who are ‘capable of forming a view’ the right to express their views on matters which affect them. Their views must then be given due weight based on the child’s age and maturity. The applicability of this right to children with disabilities is reinforced by Article 7 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) with two notable differences. These are the absence of the requirement for a child to be ‘capable of forming a view’ and an obligation on States Parties to provide ‘disability and age appropriate assistance’ to support disabled children and young people to express those views. Therefore, all children and young people, regardless of cognitive ability, should be allowed to express their views on matters affecting them, their views should be given due weight and they should have access to the support if necessary. Further, General Comment No. 7 of the UNCRPD clearly outlines that States Parties have a duty to consult with children and young people with disabilities and their representative organisations about policy development and the implementation of the Convention.

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The Loud Silence on Disability and Sexuality; My perspective.

Social Lives

Author: Mohamed Maalim – PhD Researcher, of the ALL Institute, Department of Psychology, Maynooth University

Mohamed Maalim Profile Picture
Mohamed Maalim

11th of July is celebrated as World Population day to highlight global issues on sexual and reproductive health and rights gender equality and the right to family life.  Personally, as a husband and father to five children, am blessed and privileged to be able to exercise this fundamental human right to family life and family unity as enshrined in international and European human rights provisions. Many people, however, including people with disabilities, refugees, and others requiring international protection do not enjoy the right to adequate sexual and reproductive health in particular.

In this piece, I will discuss sexuality issues for people with disabilities from the perspectives of personal understanding and professional practice both as a research student and a registered Occupational Therapist. From an Occupational Therapy point of view, sexuality is considered an activity of daily living (ADL) by the American Association of Occupational Therapists. Occupational therapists may include sexuality as part of a routine evaluation of clients and address this area in occupational therapy interventions.  Sexual activity and intimate social participation are part of meaningful occupational participation contributing to personal satisfaction while sharing intimate relationships may potentially impact one’s wellbeing and quality of life. Sexuality should not be misconstrued to mean only physical intimacy but as a holistic concept encompassing sexual activity, decisions, communication, identity, and choice.

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