Disability Literature Review

LITERATURE REVIEW

Theoretical Overview of Persons with Disabilities

“Improving the health and well-being of people with disabilities is fraught with challenges,” this according to W Aubrey Webson, who despite being born legally blind was able to become a successful and valued citizen. He was able to achieve an education, securing his degree in Business Management from the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica. He then moved onto his post graduate certificate in Organisational Development from the New School for Social Research in New York, after which he secured his PhD in Management from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland Ohio in 2014. A remarkable example of the many achievements PWD’s can accomplish once given the

According to the Preface of the World Health Organisation’s report on disability (2011), “more than one billion people in the world live with some form of disability, of whom nearly 200 million experience considerable difficulties in functioning.” Focusing specifically on Trinidad and Tobago, the National Census Report of Trinidad and Tobago stated that “approximately, 45,496 persons, comprising 4.1 percent of the total population have some form of disability in Trinidad and Tobago.” (2000, p.11) This is a cause for concern considering the youths account for the majority of the population in this country. Additionally, a local newspaper article stated that “the Ministry of the People and Social Development estimates that approximately 51,000 persons in the country are differently-abled with over 5,000 persons being 18 years and under.” (De Souza, 2014, para.1) Needless to say, the setback faced by such persons is as a result of them not being afforded the same level of treatment as their non-disabled counterparts. As both a human rights and development issue, PWD’s are faced with tremendous hurdles to overcome if the right mechanisms and laws are not implemented or adhered

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA, 2010, p. 25) defines human rights as those “intrinsic [core or fundamental] values that give all human beings dignity” (as cited in Open Campus, 2017, p. 46). Simply put, human rights are those rights given to an individual because they are human. This principle and law is not divisible, that is; it applies to everyone irrespective of their difference. The National Policy on Persons with Disabilities defined a disability as “an umbrella term for impairment, activity limitations and participation restrictions.” (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) (WHO)). All the while, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) report on Persons with Disabilities identifies a disability as being a “result from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.” (p.4) With that being said, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) Article 7, speaks specifically to children with disabilities stating that “state parties shall take all necessary measures to ensure the full enjoyment by children with disabilities of all human rights and fundamental freedoms on an equal basis with others.” (n.d,