Author:Dr Holly Foley, PhD, Project Manager at the Digital Wealth Project, UDL Digital Badge Lead Maynooth University
Research Stream: Lived Experience
Digital Wealth: An Overview
As we pass the sixth anniversary of the ALL institute it’s a perfect time to reflect on how our research has grown and developed under the ethos of the institute. The Digital Wealth Project commenced in March of 2021 for a 3-year project and funded through Rethink Ireland and Microsoft Ireland led by Dr Katriona O’Sullivan and Dr Holly Foley.
The aim of the Digital Wealth Project is to tackle Digital Poverty. Digital Poverty is not income-dependent, instead it relates specifically to being able to access the digital resources (materials, skills, training, infrastructure) necessary to enjoy a basic standard of living.
Author: Emma Smith, Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute Member and Post-Doctoral Researcher; recipient of the prestigious Marie Sklowdowska Curie Actions Individual Fellowship
Emma Smith
On Wednesday, October 12th, the ALL Institute was pleased to welcome Dr. Natasha Layton to our first ALL Brown Bag Lunch. Dr. Layton is a Senior Research Fellow at Monash University’s Rehabilitation, Ageing, and Independent Living (RAIL) Research Centre in Australia. Dr. Layton drew from her experiences as an assistive technology provider, researcher, and consultant to key global organizations to share ‘what works’ in assistive technology provision on both a global and national scale.
While Dr. Layton spoke broadly about her experiences in assistive technology policy both nationally and internationally, I would like to highlight three key ideas which Dr. Layton talked about, which stood out as requiring further consideration and thought for us in Ireland, but also for those of us working globally.
Authors: Tadhg E. MacIntyre Assistant Professor, Dept. of Psychology, Maynooth University and scientific coordinator of the H2020 project GoGreenRoutes. Chloe Mooney is a third year BSc. Psychology student and was an intern for GoGreenRoutes this semester. Cassie Murphy MA is second year MU Psychology doctoral student, on a scholarship funded by GoGreenRoutes, supervised by Dr. Elaine Gallagher and Dr. Tadhg MacIntyre.
Stephen Seaman (Head Groundsman) explains how they cultivate a green campus approach.
The Maynooth University green campus with 700-year-old trees provided an authentic backdrop to our GoGreenRoutes project Autumn School concerned with understanding the links between nature and health. Our award winning campus venue (see here for Green Shoots feature) was a highlight for participants who had a tour of the grounds with Stephen Seaman supported by Rachel Freeman (TU Dublin, PhD candidate on GoGreenRoutes).
The wonder of our bucolic campus, recently featured on RTÉ, was not lost upon our new President Eeva Leinonen who noted how nature may be vital for effective leadership too. Our president, a psychologist, quoted as she opened the event, the 44th President of the United States Barack Obama who, in his memoirs had said, how the one-minute open-air commute along the colonnades that bookmarked his day helped him clear his mind and free him from stress. This speech was followed by a superb strategic overview of gender, inclusion and diversity at Maynooth University and beyond, by Vice-President for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Dr Gemma Irvine, which set the tone for event, with strong gender representation across all the sessions (over 60% Women speakers) and more emphatically, an appreciation for inclusion at every level.
Author: Rebecca Daniel – PHD Student, Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute, Department of Psychology, Maynooth University
Rebecca Daniel
The IDA Global Survey on political participation of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) was launched earlier this year and will remain open until the end of 2021. It is conducted as part of a PhD research project undertaken at the ALL Institute and discussed below on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
The human right to participation of persons with disabilities through their representative organisations is clearly stated in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). Articles 4.3 (on participation of OPDs in implementation of the UNCRPD overall) and 33.3 (on participation of OPDs in national implementation and monitoring of the UNCRPD), as well as General Comment No 7 specify this right. As far as the United Nations (UN) are concerned, participation of OPDs is a crucial principle to be considered throughout the activities of the UN, in line with indicator 5 of the United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy (UNDIS) on consultation of persons with disabilities.
Author: Mac MacLachlan, Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute, Maynooth University
Mac MacLachlan
Different models of disability understand disability in different ways. The medical model associates disability with illness, deficit or disorder; and with the limitations these impose on individuals. The social model sees disability, not as a personal attribute but as the experience people have of barriers to their participation in society. The human rights model recognises both social barriers to participation and personal experience (for instance chronic pain) independent of barriers; and it asserts people’s rights to overcome barriers and access services to fulfil their right to fully participate in society. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD, 2006) embraces the social- and human rights-based models and obliges States that have ratified it – Ireland did in 2018 – to provide the necessary services and supports for its implementation.
