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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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• 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

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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

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• 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

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• 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

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Education
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Educational Rate
Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs,
1998
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• Employment
• Contribution

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Professional Levels of Persons with Disabilities
in Vietnam 1994-1995
Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs
survey 1994-1995
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Having Own Nest
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• But.
• .. Barriers Everywhere

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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.

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Study Goals

• Learn more about
• Disability movement
• Disability laws and their implementation
• Independent Living
• And bring the new knowledge home to
• Enable people with disabilities to 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

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• Self-Advocacy Training for Postsecondary Students
  with DisabilitiesRequesting Accommodations to
  Increase Full Participation in Higher Education

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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)
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Social Importance of the Problem
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• Students lack knowledge about
• Their legal rights
• Effective personal accommodations
• Self-advocacy skills

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• 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

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

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Research Question

• What are the effects of a self-advocacy training
  package in improving students with disabilities
  accommodation-requesting skills?

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Method
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Measurement Techniques

• A behavioral scoring form to score participants
  skills
• A social validation form for external experts to
  rate participants skills

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Data Analysis

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

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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)

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PAR used in this study

• Met with two groups of students with disabilities
  from 2 other universities to discuss challenges
  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

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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

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Findings
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• Self-advocacy is a critical skill required of
  students with disabilities to succeed in
  postsecondary school environments

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• Participants' knowledge of
• Rights to academic accommodations became more
  evident to them
• Who is responsible for providing academic
  accommodations increased significantly after the
  training

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Knowledge Assessment
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Data from independent observers, reading the
vignette transcripts, show a consistent positive
correlation between

• Systematic training, and
• The acquisition of self-advocacy skills by
  students with disabilities

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Clay
Booster
Percent of Applicable Behaviors Observed
//
//
//
Scenarios
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Rick
Percent of Applicable Behaviors Observed
//
//
Scenarios
//
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Zane
Percent of Applicable Behaviors Observed
//
//
Scenarios
//
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Percent of Applicable Accommodation-Requesting
Skills Observed
No occasion to occur 0
Generalization probes before training
Generalization probes after training 0-50

Participant 1 scenario 5, 6
Participant 1 scenario 23, 24 51-89

Participant 2 scenario 5, 6
Participant 2 scenario 27, 28
90-100
Participant 3 scenario 5, 6
Participant 3 scenario 31, 32
0
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Expert Judges - Clay
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Expert Judges - Rick
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Expert Judges - Zane
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• Participants stated that
• The training was useful to them
• They would be more capable of successfully
  requesting academic accommodations
• They would recommend the training to other
  students with disabilities

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Policy Implications
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• Self-advocacy skill training is a valuable tool
  for
• Students with disabilities
• Those who provide services to the students with
  disabilities in higher education

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• Because once students with disabilities are
  aware of their needs and know how to communicate
  them, they will reduce the need for service
  personnel to advocate on their behalf

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Final Thoughts
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Self-advocacy is

• A life-time skill
• An essential part of empowerment, a process by
  which people with disabilities can gain more
  control over their lives

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• This self-advocacy training package can be
  modified and applied to
• Any culture
• Working environment to help empower people with
  disabilities

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• Disability laws provide an open door to people
  with disabilities, but more efforts are still
  needed to
• Include people with disabilities in to full
  participation into society
• Create environments in which people with
  disabilities can maximize their capacity for
  making social and economic contributions
• Have their say in decisions, policies, and
  programs that affect their life, not just only
  passive recipients of charity acts

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• While it is not a replacement for personal and
  systems advocacy, increased attention and support
  should be given for disability research to
  provide valid and reliable data concerning the
• Impact of specific disability policies, programs,
  and practices on people with disabilities
• Relationship between personal and environmental
  factors that affect independent living outcomes
  for people with disabilities.