Disability Issues

Assignment Notes

1. INTRODUCTION

The assigment asks you to consider what steps you would take in your chosen field of work to try and reduce the disabling barriers encountered daily by persons with disability, to suggest practical solutions and to encourage more cooperative working practices among disabled persons, their families, associates, professionals, and non-government organisations working in the field. To do this, you must reflect on the theories, issues and ideas discussed in the course. You will be expected to take both a practical as well as an academic perspective, based on the social model of disability.

2. ASSIGNMENT TITLES

B.Ed (Hons) assignment

Students with disability have to confront many different disabling barriers throughout the years they spend at school. Focusing on issues relevant to one impairment group, (a) clearly illustrate the effect that these disabling barriers may have on the quality of education that a student with that particular impairment may receive; and (b) suggest steps and measures that can be taken for these disabling barriers in education to be minimised, or removed altogether.

Social Work/Social Policy assignment

Disabled people have to confront many different disabling barriers in their lives. Focusing on issues relevant to one impairment group,(a) clearly illustrate the effect that these disabling barriers may have on the quality of life of disabled people; and(b) suggest steps and measures that can be taken bysocial workers or social policy makers for these disabling barriers to be minimised, or removed altogether.

Institute of Health Care assignment

It is the job of health care providers to address the health problems of disabled people. But it is also their duty to ensure that they are not disabling by their attitudes and practices. Focusing on the issues relevant to one impairment group,(a) clearly illustrate the effect that disabling barriers may have on the quality of life of disabled people; and (b) suggest steps and measures that can be taken by health care providers for these disabling barriers to be minimised, or removed altogether.

3. ASSIGNMENT "DO"S AND "DON'T"S

DO study the question before you start
DO plan the structure you intend to follow
DO spend time drafting different parts before putting them together
DO use evidence to support your arguments
DO give acknowledgements/ references when you quote from an author
DON'T panic!
DON'T plagiarise
DON'T expect too much of yourself (at least early on)
DON'T except to write just one draft. You will probably need to write and rewrite and your assignment before you hand it in.
DON'T put off writing your assignment - fix a time to start and do it!

4. MARKING SCHEME

The assignment will be graded according to the norms laid down by the University of Malta. The marking scheme used can be viewed here.

5. NOTES FOR GUIDANCE

You should write between 1,500 and 2000 words.
Your assignment must draw on all the lectures in the course and go to the heart of how disabling barriers in society affect the quality of life of persons with disability and their families. Remember that besides giving a description of the present situation, you must also analyse the current situation and make recommendations justifying possible changes on both individual and social levels. You should always write within the context of your chosen profession.
Avoid the medical model approach. We are interested in first hand experiences of disability, not in what professionals have to say about it. Your assignment should concentrate on the experience of disability as seen through the eyes of the individual with disability and/or family members. Illustrate your arguments by referring to the first-hand experiences of disabled persons. You can do this by interviewing persons with disability who can represent themselves or family members of those who can't. Do not focus your work on impairments but on the socially constructed barriers disabled people have to face.
Do not use terms which are offensive and unacceptable for disabled people. Here is a guide on the use of language sourced from http://www.glad.org.uk. Also remember that you should not refer to disabled people as if they were a homogenous group and should not use terms like 'such people' or 'these people'.
When you report on the results of an interview, make sure that you observe the rules of confidentiality. Use pseudonyms for your interviewees and omit any details that are unnecessary and may make it easy to identify the person. If the interviewee gives you permission to mention him/her by name, then state that you have been given this permission.
The selected readings which accompany the lectures, supplemented by your own readings, should be of particular value to you in this assignment. Make sure that you acknowledge all the sources that you use. Plagiarism is a serious offence. Use quotations to support, not substitute, your argument and make sure that they are relevant. Also make sure that you write your references properly. Unless your faculty or department provides its own referencing rules, you can use the guidelines found at http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/academic-services/documents/library/citing-references.pdf.
Present your assignment in clear, error free English. Marks will be deducted for poor presentation.

6. CONCLUSION

Your assignment will be returned with an individual comment. If you have any questions, I can be reached on telephone number 21487789 or on email jmcamilleri@knpd.org

Joseph M. Camilleri
Course Co-ordinator