Disability and Rehabilitation in Jamaica

Dr. Dennis J. Edwards

Head of the Psychology UnitUniversity of the West Indies, Mona Campus

Kingston, Jamaica

Dr. Michael L. Dorn

Urban Education & Disability Studies Programs Temple University College of Education

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Disability and Rehabilitation in Jamaica

• Building disability community @ Temple U.

• Raising the visibility of childhood disability

• Jamaica’s challenges

• Moving forward

Building Disability Community@ Temple U

1. Philadelphia was a key early center of civil rights agitation

2. Temple U. attracts diverse students from across the globe

3. The disability movement itself is globalizing

Disabled in Action NewslettersBuilding on a Building on a rich history ...rich history ...

Disabled in Action Newslettersriding the riding the public bus ...public bus ...

Piss on Pity: ADAPT protest

photos

Advocating for the option of shifting the Medicaid funding that currently goes to support placements in nursing homes towards the expenses of living independently and employing personal assistants.

ADAPT!ADAPT! fighting against fighting against institutions ...institutions ...

Disabled in Action Newslettersand celebrating and celebrating victories.victories.

Filmmaker Shelley Barry

Stills from Shelley Barry's autobiographical work 'Whole: A Trinity of Being.

recognizing our recognizing our diversity ...diversity ...

Presenting at the Pennsylvania Statehouse

... getting the ... getting the word out ...word out ...

Urban Education Summer Abroad Program in Jamaica

learning about

Community-Based

Rehabilitation [CBR]

... building ... building international international partnerships partnerships ......

The Disability Rights Movement has gone global

check out

Maestrapeace Art Works, http://www.maestrapeace.comPhoto credit: Leah, Toronto, Canada

http://www.flickr.com/photos/loveandbicycles

Building Disability Community@ Temple U

1. Philadelphia was a important early center for agitation

2. Temple U. attracts diverse students from across the globe

3. The disability movement itself is globalizing

Building Disability Community@ Temple U

1. Philadelphia was a important early center for agitation

• Temple U. attracts diverse students from across the globe

• The disability movement itself is globalizing

• Our challenge: how to capture this complex story for the benefit of our students

The Graduate Certificate in

Disability Studies

12 semester hours of course work

Students can take courses as continuing education, or in combination with one of Temple University’s masters or Ph.D. programs

Steve Eidelman teaching Disability and Social Policy.

Today Carol Marfisi, Mike Dorn and David Mitchell and Julie Kessler continue this important tradition

Cultural EnvironmentDisability Studies Blogs and Meetups

Disability Studies, Temple University

Community-building Activities

Disability Studies Meetups

South Jersey singer-songwriter Melody Gardot took the 'stage' at our November 2, 2006 Disability Studies Meetup. She performed material from her first two albums and spoke about her emerging understanding of herself, her abilities, and her disabilities.

Homer Avila, amazing dancer from New York City who performed live at the conference 'Disability Studies & the University,' Emory University, March 5-7, 2004.

U.S. Department of Education Grant

Higher Education for All

Goal to in insure that students with disabilities are not only accommodated but also vitalized.

Disability Studies faculty partner with Mosiac humanities faculty.

Modeling Universal Design for Learning.

Mike will be guest lecturing on Sir Thomas More’s Utopia, and Jane Jacob’s The Death and Life of Great American Cities.

Raising the Visibility of Childhood Disability in Jamaica

1. Contesting the charity mindset

2. Creating new role models

3. Recognizing disability as a shared human responsibility

contesting outmoded representations

Jerry Lewis received the Jean Herscholt Humanitarian Award at the Academy Award Ceremony.

Outside the auditorium, his award was greeted not with applause but derision by a small group of disability activists.

changing the way we see one other

Cerrie Burnell of the BBC children’s show CBeebieshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies

not every parent is seems to enjoy answering their children’s questions however

disability as everyone’s concern

Leader of the Tory Opposition, David Cameron at home with Ivanhttp://news.bbc.co.uk

across political and ideological divides, a recognition of shared humanity and loss

Jamaica’s Challenges in responding to difference

1. Much disability in Jamaica remains hidden from view

2. Spotted history

3. Potential for mixed motives

4. Location and stigma

Spotted history of surveillance and health promotion

Mico College anthropometric case 3: pedigree

http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/html/eugenics/static

constructed by Morris Steggerda for Race Crossing in Jamaica

Date: 1927

Source: National Museum of Health and Medicine, Otis Historical Archives, Steggerda, Box 5 Folder 46, 97 2640e

accusations of disability in studies of the ‘other’

“There exists in mankind a strong instinct for homogeneity. Even children tend to mock the cripple or deformed person. A homogeneous group of white people will always be led by its instincts to separate from Negroes, Chinese and other groups that are morphologically dissimilar from themselves.”

“We should consider the psychological, instinctive basis of this feeling.”

Date: September, 1928

Source: C. B. Davenport, “Race Crossing in Jamaica .” The Scientific Monthly,

27(3): 225-238 (p. 238).

Jamaica’s Challenges in responding to difference

1. Much disability in Jamaica remains hidden from view

2. Spotted history

3. Potential for mixed motives

4. Location and stigma

Moving Jamaica Forward

1. UN Declaration of Rights for Persons with Disabilities

2. Jamaica’s Disability Act

3. Beyond ‘One Love,’ towards ‘Belonging’