So far, I have really enjoyed listening to all the speakers and learning about different cultures.  At today’s conference, I was really intrigued  by Dr. Shivaun Quinlivan’s presentation on inclusive education for children with psychosocial disabilities. I have learned about inclusive education before in some of my courses at UMass, but I was excited to hear about her thoughts. Continue reading Inclusive education: pros and cons →

In my last blog post, I illustrated how I personally still have a lot to learn about psychosocial disability. Luckily, I am not the only one since multiple people attending the conference have asked “what is a psychosocial disability?”. By day three of the conference,  I still didn’t have a grasp on the concept: what mental health conditions are included? Is psychosocial disability the same as mental illness? Is it a more politically correct term? Continue reading Mad Words (and Language) →

I thought that Dr. Quinn’s talk about inclusive education was important to hear. She discussed how inclusive education was the route that every country should be aiming towards. Throughout our class, however, we have gone back and forth about if inclusive education really is the best for everybody. Continue reading Problematizing Inclusive Education →

We took a tour bus to Northern Ireland on Saturday and I was stunned by many things, in good and bad ways. We took a black cab tour through the city of Belfast where we learned about the strict divide between the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods. That was very alarming, but what was cool was that the small black cabs that we squeezed 6 people into are handicap accessible!! Continue reading aUKommodations →

Coincidentally we ran into some of the panellists at a restaurant. We introduced ourselves as attendees of the conference and told the woman from the Netherlands (also known as the lady with the Mohawk) how impressed we were with everything she had to share. However, I grew more impressed with a woman from Norway she was with, Liv Skree. Continue reading No(r)way! →

The conference has covered a large number of different articles within the CRPD. The panel discussing Article 19 change my perspective on group homes and housing for individuals with disabilities, specifically psychosocial disabilties. Continue reading Are group homes controversial? →