Accessible Information: Advocating the Use of Technology for Individuals with Intellectual Disability on their Path to Individualised Services

Providing people with an intellectual disability (ID), opportunities for social integration have been shown to have a reliable positive influence on their well-being (Wehmeyer et al., 2006; Bunning, 2009). A large percentage of individuals with ID are unable to read and write. For this reason in order for the person to make an informed choice the person needs to have good information presented in a way that they can understand. They may need to see tangible visual aids (video, role play, film, photographs). It may need to be demonstrated to them a number of times. This assists a person in making choices and decisions so that they can actively participate not just in their own lives but in the community. Otherwise the person cannot make the decision, and other people are making it for them. Therefore this research will investigate the viability of developing an internal webbased learning and communication tool for people with an ID. The tool will focus on providing accessible information through image to image navigation and by providing choice of modality when receiving information. (Who, 2011) state that two of the biggest barriers to living an ordinary life are the lack of accessible information and being able to advocate. A person cannot be an active citizen if they cannot access the information or understand the way it is presented. It effects every part of your life. The experiment also evaluated if video conferencing communication tools are accessible for the participants who reside in different locations to communicate with each other. The key issues that must be explored around the development of such a system will be factors such as; Accessible Information, Web Accessibility and Universal Design. The pilot system will involve individuals with mild to moderate ID who attend one of seven training centres in disparate locations. This research will also explore these issues in the context of social models, such as Wolfensberger\u27s theory of Social Role Valorization

Sexual Assault of Women and Adolescent Girls with Mental Disabilities

This Report considers the research that addresses the sexual assault of women (age 18+) and adolescent girls (12-17) with mental disabilities (disabilities that affect cognition and decision-making, including intellectual disabilities present from birth, dementia, brain injury and certain psychiatric conditions.) These victims are targeted for sexual violence at rates even higher than for women generally. Yet when these women report abuse to authorities, the criminal trial process struggles to provide them with justice, while the consequences of disclosure can be severe and participation in the criminal justice process particularly traumatizing for them

Business Modelling for ICT based services targeted to Intellectually Disabled People

Services are becoming a key focus in the current era. Organizations globally are facing rapid changes in providing services. Despite this alarming growth, the advancement in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has created so many opportunities but considerable challenges for the service industry. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have become part of everyday life in recent years. ICT can provide dignity and well-being to people through self-facilitation. ICT like the Internet, really helps the intellectually disabled people to enrich their life. Intellectually Disabled People can take advantage of ICT as a force for social inclusion. The case company is a small and medium sized organization. This thesis is part of an international project called DiY-SE (Do-It-Yourself Smart Experience). The study is done for the service symbol-based chatting client. Two stakeholders, University of Tampere and Laurea University of Applied Sciences, participated in this study. Presently, the case company needs a business model for its operations and this study solves this business problem. The main objective of this study is to design a business model for the case company so that other similar sized organization that offers ICT based services can also follow the steps undertaken. This objective is fulfilled by completing certain actions which are given in subsequent sentences. Firstly, understand the business model concept by reviewing the existing literature and formulate a few maps of questions. Secondly, apply it to the case company by means of workshop and open-ended interviews. Thirdly, find some improvement areas by collecting feedback from potential customers by means of open-ended interview. Henceforth, this dissertation aims to shed light on how to develop a business model for the case company. The theoretical framework of this study collects service definitions and picks one that is more apt to ICT-based services. Then it gives a picture of pure service businesses and lists out the four main characteristics of services. Followed to this, services that take place through electronic means are explained which follows a definition of the term intellectual disability and the importance of ICT in the life of intellectually disabled people. Finally the concept of business models is detailed emphasizing business model canvas. The empirical study is made based on questionnaires, workshops, open-ended interviews and online discussions. The guideline questionnaires were sent to the participants before the workshop and the workshop is conducted with one of the stakeholder, Laurea University of Applied Sciences. Two representatives from Laurea participated in the workshops. In order to get data to fill the business model canvas open-ended interview was conducted with stakeholders. The responses are then analyzed based on the business model canvas by means of content analysis method and then sketched the canvas. After the canvas was filled up it was then shared with stakeholders for validation and refined further, based on some online discussions, until stakeholders were satisfied with the model. Once the business model was created it was then used to collect feedback from customers. Potential customers are intellectually disabled people in Finland and people who are linguistically impaired in India. As the case company had already collected feedback from Finnish people this study concentrates mainly to collect feedback from Indians. This feedback collection was undertaken by means of open-ended interviews with a few people randomly selected from three different Indian states. The collected responses were then undergone content analysis to figure out some improvement areas. These suggestions for improvement are identified so that the application's market in India rises which increases the case company's profit. The suggestions identified are (1) visually simple and culturally accepted symbol design, (2) educate the masses to tackle technology illiteracy issue, (3) provide assistance through local training organizations, (4) to overcome the problem of less signal sensitivity come up with an application that works offline also, (5) minimize the subscription or usage costs and (6) include government procurement channels also to distribution channel. Finally, the improved business model canvas is presented to the case company. The study has shown that the business model canvas is a useful management tool to formulate the business model in a uniform manner. The result of the thesis is a comprehensive business model that can be implemented in real life use. As said earlier, the business model generation can be used by other similar sized (small & medium) companies as well and hence the generalization possibility of the study is high. Additionally, the business model is composed based on a broad literature review and the final model is checked by the stakeholders. This makes sure that the validity and reliability constraints of the study are adhered well

Ambivalent Inheritance: Down Syndrome and Kinship Futures in Jordan

This dissertation traces the emergence of Down Syndrome in contemporary Jordan and explores how certain forms of embodied difference become disabling in different contexts. Down Syndrome is a relatively new idea in Jordan. Its dissemination and uptake are tied to burgeoning biomedical, therapeutic, and educational industries, as well as to the significant presence of human rights-focused organizations that operate locally and internationally. The emergence of Down Syndrome is also tied to growing disability communities that connect people around the world through Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms. This research explores how Down Syndrome fits into a context where strong models of gender and sexuality shape performances of personhood, and where the resources channeled through kinship-based networks vastly outstrip state-centered support systems or citizen-based identities. Drawing on twenty months of ethnographic research based in the capital city of Amman, the chapters that follow trace how ambivalent and potentially violent practices of kinship comingle with acts of care to unevenly transform the actors connected through them. Families and individuals in Jordan situate and experience disability – real or potential – through embodied relationships of kinship and faith. These affective ties intimately shape entanglements of self, society, and temporality, which I theorize through the concept of kinship futures. Families mark the passage of time and imagine the future in terms of shifting, embodied capacities for providing care. Down Syndrome emerges through these existing and anticipated relationships. In turn, fears about sustaining family-based economies of care remake Down Syndrome in the present. Kinship futures encompass relationships of moral accountability forged at the nexus of human mortality and divine authority, and they create value and hazards for disabled and nondisabled people alike. Ultimately, Down Syndrome operates as a node where various registers of difference coalesce, providing a powerful lens for understanding how family, gender, politics, and power shape the boundaries and meanings of personhood in contemporary Jordan.PHDAnthropologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145926/1/casarge_1.pd

Going online on behalf of others: an investigation of ‘proxy’ internet consumers

A range of Australians find themselves acting as ‘proxy internet users’ – i.e. using online services and applications on behalf of other adults who otherwise make limited use of the internet. Researchers at Monash University and Federation University have looked at the way proxy use works, finding that despite proxy internet users commonly involving themselves in important and/or ‘risky’ online activities – e.g. banking, personal finances and purchasing goods, few have considered the possible implications of their help to both themselves, or the person they are assisting. The paper below highlights a number of issues that merit attention from communications stakeholders and provides a set of recommendations to help ensure proxy internet use can be a positive experience for all. Also check out the Proxy User Tip Sheet which runs consumers through some of the things to think about if you are using the internet on another's behalf