Childhood Disability, Advocacy, and Inclusion in the Caribbean

This book presents an ethnographic case study of the personal motivations, advocacy, and activation of social capital needed to create and sustain the Immortelle Children's Centre, a private school that has served children with disabilities in Trinidad/Tobago for four decades. Based on narratives by parents from the 1980's, current parents, teachers, community advocates, and the author, who was the founder of Immortelle in 1978, the study views the school within the context of a nation standing in a liminal space between developed and developing societies. It argues that the attainment of equity for children with disabilities will require an agenda that includes a legal mandate for education of all children, increased public funding for education, health and therapeutic services, and an on-going public awareness campaign. Relating this study to the global debate on inclusion, the author shows how the implementation of this agenda would have to be adapted to the social, cultural, and economic realities of the society.

Introduces ethnographic cases and interviews with parents of children with disabilities, teachers, and community advocates Examines childhood disability, inclusion, policy, and education in Trinidad and Tobago Describes the challenges that children, families, and professionals face and extends the research on the social, political, and economic levels

Auteur

Beth Harry is Professor of Special Education at the Department of Teaching and Learning, University of Miami, USA.

Contenu

1. Chapter 1 Historical and Cultural Influences on Education Policy and Disability Services.- 2. Chapter 2 The Immortelle: Planting, Nurturing, and Growing.- 3. Chapter 3 Original Parents' Stories: From Something not right here to She's wonderful!.- 4. Chapter 4 Forty Years Later: Current Parents From Something not Right Here to We Need Systems!.- 5. Chapter 5 Trinidad is Nice, Trinidad is a Paradise: Navigating negativity and creating love.- 6. Chapter 6 Sustaining the Immortelle: You Have to Love What You Do.- 7. Chapter 7 Building a Community of Advocates: Seeking Unity in Diversity.- 8. Chapter 8 Health and Education: Seeking an Explicit Place on the Agenda.- 9. Chapter 9 Trinidad and Tobago in a Liminal Space.