Vietnam Through A Disability Lens: Finding A Prescription for Greater Clarity and Action

1. Vietnam Through A Disability Lens: Finding A Prescription for Greater Clarity and Action Yen Thi Hoang Vo, M.A., and Glen W. White, Ph.D. Department on Human Development and the Research and Training Center on Full Participation in Independent Living at the University of Kansas

2. Major Legislation Including Persons with Disabilities • 1992 Constitution of Viet Nam Rights and Duties of Citizens: • No fees for primary school • 1994 Labor Code, No. 35-L-CTN: • Covers wage laws, vocational training, occupational safety and hazards, and production establishments for persons with disabilities • 1998 Ordinance on Disabled Persons (No. 06/1998/PL-UBTVQH-10): • Covers all aspects of legislation pertaining to persons with disabilities • April 18 was chosen as the National Day of Protection and Care for People with Disabilities

3. We also have: • Society of Support FOR Vietnamese Handicapped Orphans and Children • Vietnam Society FOR Protection and Support of the Disabled • The National Coordinating Council on Disability (NCCD), 02/2001

4. However, • Gaps between the aim of legislation and the actual programs implemented are significant • Few specific instructions have been disseminated on the implementation of the Ordinance on Disabled Persons

5. No consensus among different governmental organizations regarding the implementation of laws and regulations • Lack of coordination among these governmental organizations • People with disabilities have not been a target group or a concern, even just appearing, in the project documents

6. In Vietnamese Society • TOLERANCE and CHARITY towards people with disabilities is easily found • However: • Lack of understanding and awareness of disability legislation still persists • Negative attitudes towards persons with disabilities still exists

7. For the first time in Ho Chi Minh City, a group of 13 persons with disabilities organized an photo exhibition “Focusing on Equal Opportunities” that featured: • People with disabilities in their every day life • Their ability to develop and live to their full potential

8. This photo exhibition “Focusing on Equal Opportunities” stressed the full participation of people with disabilities in Vietnam society: • In education • In employment • In contribution to society • In building their own “nest”

9. Education

16. Educational Rate Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, 1998

17. Employment • Contribution

25. Professional Levels of Persons with Disabilities in Vietnam 1994-1995 Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs’ survey 1994-1995

26. Having “Own Nest”

31. But…. ….. Barriers Everywhere

36. How can I improve life for my fellow Vietnamese with Disabilities? • Independent Living Conference in Hawaii in December, 2000 • Learned about the concept of Independent Living • Received a Ford Foundation International Fellowship in June, 2001 • In the Fall of 2001 I came to University of Kansas to study with Dr. Glen White and learn about research on rehabilitation and independent living.

37. Study Goals Learn more about: • Disability movement • Disability laws and their implementation • Independent Living And bring the new knowledge home to: • Enable people with disabilitiesto better influence the course of their lives and the decisions which affect them • Do research to obtain data on disability issues • Use data to change disability policy and practice

38. Self-Advocacy Training for Postsecondary Students with Disabilities:Requesting Accommodations to Increase Full Participation in Higher Education

39. Self-Advocacy means: • Knowing your rights and responsibilities • Speaking up for yourself • Negotiating for yourself • Making your own decisions • Asking for what you need • Using the resources that are available to you (State of Vermont Developmental and Mental Health Services)

40. Social Importance of the Problem

41. Students lack knowledge about • Their legal rights • Effective personal accommodations • Self-advocacy skills

42. Students with disabilities need to advocate for themselves and solicit their own supports rather than rely on others providing advocacy and advice to succeed: • in higher educational settings • in their working environments later

43. Self-Advocacy is universal (i.e., it can be applied in Vietnam)

44. Research Question What are the effects of a self-advocacy training package in improving students with disabilities’ accommodation-requesting skills?

45. Method

46. Measurement Techniques • A behavioral scoring form to score participants’ skills • A social validation form for external experts to rate participants’ skills

47. Data Analysis • A visual presentation will be made of these data using a multiple baseline analysis to compare participants’ skills before and after training

48. Participatory Action Research (PAR): • Collective, self-reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in order improve the rationality and justice of their own social practices (Kemmis and McTaggart 1988: 5) • A process through which stakeholders influence and share control over development initiatives and the decisions and resources which affect them (World Bank Participation Sourcebook)

49. PAR used in this study • Met with two groups of students with disabilities from 2 other universities to discusschallenges that they have been facing in their educational settings • Collaborate with the Services for Students with Disabilities Office (SSD) at the University of Kansas to identify and recruit potential study participants

50. PAR process continued • Involve students with disabilities in refining the definitions of behaviors to be addressed • Involve students with disabilities in getting reliability data • Collaborate with people whose work is related to disability issues (SSD, local Independent Living Center, Social Work department, etc.) to obtain social evaluation for the outcomes • Have participants evaluate the training