Disabilities, Volume 5, Issue 3 (September 2025) – 11 articles

Background: Youth with intellectual disabilities are often marginalised and discriminated against regarding skills development and work opportunities as society seems to place high value on an individual’s intellect. Unemployment levels for youth with intellectual disabilities are significantly higher than youth in the general population, yet youth with intellectual disabilities can become valuable employees. This paper explores the untapped potential for youth with disabilities to access skill development opportunities through participation in sports organisations and events that enable them to become economically active. Methodology: A critical ethnographic approach was adopted as the research design. The sample included six youth with intellectual disabilities, five parents, two vocational trainers, two sports coaches, and two golf managers. Data was gathered through participant observations, semi structured interviews, and reflective journaling. Data was analysed using thematic analysis. Findings: The theme “Hidden treasures in a disabling environment” emerged, highlighting the untapped potential of youth with intellectual disabilities to engage in livelihood activities through participation in sports events. One subtheme was “Invisible and well-hidden resources” reflecting remote training centres leading to missed work opportunities. Research findings highlighted that youth with intellectual disabilities possessed marketable skills, alongside the discovery of substantial unexplored livelihood opportunities in the workforce of sports events. Full article

Persons with disabilities face barriers to accessing sexuality education. For those who identify as queer, these challenges are compounded by stigma, ableism, and heteronormativity, resulting in distinct and overlooked experiences. This study explored the sexuality education needs of persons with disabilities who identify as queer in Kenya—a neglected demographic—using a phenomenological approach. Data were collected through a focus group discussion with six participants and analyzed thematically. Three themes emerged: invisibility and erasure; unprepared institutions and constrained support networks; and agency and everyday resistance. Educational institutions often overlook the intersectional needs of persons with disabilities who identify as queer, leaving them without adequate tools to navigate relationships, sexuality, and rights. Support systems are often unprepared or unwilling to address these needs. Societal attitudes that desexualize disability and marginalize queerness intersect to produce compounded exclusion. Despite these challenges, participants demonstrated agency by using digital spaces and informal networks to resist exclusion. This calls for policy reforms that move beyond tokenism to address the lived realities of multiply marginalized groups. Policy reform means not only a legal or governmental shift but also a broader cultural and institutional process that creates space for recognition, protection, and participation. Full article

Background: Achieving meaningful community integration (engagement in meaningful activity, independent living, and social connectedness) after a traumatic brain injury (TBI) requires addressing persistent barriers limiting its fulfillment. This qualitative study explored the perceptions and experiences of community integration for individuals living with TBI in the community. Methods: Using semi-structured interviews, four focus groups of individuals with TBI were conducted. Data were analyzed using codebook thematic analysis. Findings: There were 13 participants between the ages of 25 and 64, who had acquired their injury at least three years earlier. Community integration was illustrated through three themes: (1) ‘Am I left on my own?’ explored the support systems after TBI, (2) ‘One size fits all’ described the response of society to TBI, and (3) ‘Adapting to a new normal’ highlighted responses to a changed reality. Conclusions: Individuals with TBI reported decreased community integration in multiple facets of life. Understanding the experiences of community integration after TBI can create room for future rehabilitation interventions that consider new abilities and adaptation to barriers. Full article

The present study focuses on investigating the contribution of puppetry as a pedagogical and psychosocial tool in special education, addressing the literature gap in the systematic documentation of the experiences of special education teachers, concerning its use in daily teaching practice. The main objective is to capture the way in which puppetry enhances the learning, social and therapeutic support of students with complex educational and psychosocial needs. The study employs a qualitative phenomenological approach, conducting semi-structured interviews with eleven special education teachers who integrate puppetry into their teaching. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings highlight that puppetry significantly enhances cognitive function, concentration, memory and language development, while promoting the active participation, cooperation, social inclusion and self-expression of students. In addition, the use of the puppet acts as a means of psycho-emotional empowerment, supporting positive behavior and helping students cope with stress and behavioral difficulties. Participants identified peer support, material adequacy and training as key factors for effective implementation, while conversely, a lack of resources and time is cited as a key obstacle. The integration of puppetry in everyday school life seems to ameliorate a more personalized, supportive and experiential learning environment, responding to the diverse and complex profiles of students attending special schools. Continuous training for teachers, along with strengthening the collaboration between the arts and special education, is essential for the effective use of puppetry in the classroom. Full article

Disability Certification is an instrument that can contribute to the identification of persons with disabilities who are potential beneficiaries of social protection programmes. In Colombia, the disability certification process was changed in 2020 to include a human rights perspective. However, little information exists on how far the process aligns with the recommendations made by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities or to what extent it provides useful information for the operation of the country’s social protection system. This study aims to analyse how the changes implemented in 2020 have contributed to the identification and determination of persons with disabilities in social protection programmes in Colombia. This research uses an analytical-descriptive design, in which legal documents related to the social protection programme and disability certification were analysed. In addition, we conducted semi-structured interviews in Colombia with people with disabilities, professionals conducting the certification, and with key stakeholders, and we analysed the information using thematic analysis. Colombia changed its certification process in 2020, moving from a capacity-to-work assessment to a process of assessing functioning capacity and participation limitations following the International Classification of Functional Disability and Health. However, the new certification process has not provided an instrument to contribute to determining persons with disabilities who should be prioritised or receive social benefits in Colombia. The certification does not establish the support needs of people with disabilities, does not recommend reasonable adjustments to support their participation in society, and has not been used systematically in social protection programmes. Finally, individuals with disabilities commented that the disability certification is a process that does not open up opportunities to receive social benefits and social transfers, and in most cases, it is an expensive and lengthy process. Disability certification in Colombia is not an instrument that determines the needs of people with disabilities, nor the reasonable accommodations that they require in order to participate in society. Full article

The present study investigated the impact of a disability awareness program on the attitudes of university students at Al-Ahliyya Amman University towards people with disabilities. The study employed a randomized, two-group, pre- and post-test design. A total of 60 university students were randomly allocated to either the experimental or control group. The results of a survey showed that those in the experimental group, in comparison with the control group, exhibited a statistically significant increase in the favorability of their attitudes towards people with disabilities following the implementation of the program. Based on the results of this study, we recommend implementing disability awareness programs inside universities and subsequently evaluating their effectiveness in enhancing student attitudes and interactions with people with disabilities, which in turn could lead to a more inclusive society and improve the quality of life for people with disabilities by reducing social barriers and fostering greater understanding and acceptance. The limitations of this study include its restriction to a single university setting and its utilization of a rather small sample size. The study did not assess the long-term effects of the disability awareness program. Full article

About 8% of Ghanaians, including adolescents, have various types of disabilities. Although many legal and constitutional protections for people with disabilities, including adolescents, exist in Ghana, it is widely known that these persons face a variety of psychosocial issues. Several factors have been identified as contributing to the unremitting marginalisation of people with disabilities in general, but the extent to which these can be generalised to adolescents with disabilities is unknown. This study, therefore, sought to document the determinants, manifestations, and consequences of disability-related stigma among differently abled adolescents in three special schools in northern, middle, and southern Ghana. An exploratory descriptive qualitative design was used. Overall, 54 participants were purposively selected for a semi-structured interview and focus group discussions. Braun and Clarke’s procedure for thematic analysis was followed. The findings showed a variety of stigmatising experiences by adolescents with disabilities in their sociocultural context. More broadly, the cause of disability was linked to the ramifications of parental sins against the gods, being a descendant of river gods, and the consequences of bewitchment/curses by family members. Others included the perceived transmissibility of the disability and disability as a visible condition. Stigma manifested in the form of pejorative labelling, ableism, and social exclusion. The consequences of this stigma included negative psychological and emotional effects (i.e., depression, low self-esteem, and a lack of confidence) and suicidal ideation. There is an urgent need for stigma reduction interventions for adolescents with disabilities in Ghana as part of an effort to improve their wellbeing. Full article

This study analyzes the current state and developmental characteristics of phonological awareness in hearing-impaired preschool children with cochlear implants aged 3 to 5 years in China. The phonological awareness development of hearing-impaired preschool children is assessed via a comparison with normal-hearing preschool children of the same age, utilizing a number of key metrics and statistical analyses to determine any differences in the developmental characteristics between the two groups. The results show that the phonological awareness development of Chinese-speaking hearing-impaired preschool children with cochlear implants follows, for the most part, the progression of their normal-hearing preschool counterparts, albeit at a lower level. Identifying phonological awareness profiles in children with cochlear implants helps improve the accuracy of assessment and supports the development of targeted intervention strategies. This study aims to provide a clearer understanding of their phonological processing abilities. Full article

This study examines the employment of persons with disabilities in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in rural Japan. An online survey of 40 SME owners was conducted to assess their understanding, experiences, and challenges in employing persons with disabilities. The results indicate that many SMEs lack awareness of employment systems, but those with prior contact experience demonstrate greater understanding. Key challenges include difficulties in job creation, workplace acceptance, and inadequate environments. To address these issues, it is essential to enhance information on job creation, share successful cases, and establish mentoring systems for knowledge exchange between SMEs. These findings provide insights for policy development and practical strategies to promote the employment of persons with disabilities in SMEs. Full article

This study explores the attitudes of university administrative staff toward disability and their perceptions of the potential for inclusive environments in higher education institutions across Georgia. Using the Attitudes to Disability Scale (ADS), a cross-sectional survey was conducted with 63 staff members from a Tbilisi-based and a regional university. The findings reveal generally positive attitudes, especially among younger and female staff, but expose persistent hierarchies in disability perception—particularly skepticism toward intellectual and psychosocial impairments. While the participants expressed support for inclusion, their recommendations for occupational roles reflected narrow and often custodial views of employability. Urban–rural and tenure-based divides further underscored structural and cultural barriers to full inclusion. This study concludes with actionable recommendations for inclusive training, policy reform, and participatory approaches to shift Georgian universities toward genuine inclusion. Full article