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Ask us too!: Hearing the voices of children and young people (CYP) with disabilities living in poverty in South Asia
Project Summary
This pilot project set out to explore the use of participatory听methodologies with disabled children living in India and Sri Lanka, in听order to gain their own perspectives about their lives and with a听particular focus on poverty and social exclusion. 听In addition we听wanted to pilot a semi structured interview about poverty and听social inclusion with their parents.听
The pilot studies were carried out in collaboration with local (Indian听and Sri Lankan) NGO and university partners with whom we had听pre-existing working relationships, which we wanted to cement, in听order to plan to work with them on the main study subsequently.听
Disabled children in rural and urban India and Sri Lanka were invited to 'children's meetings' to do activities which would encourage听them to talk about their priorities and concerns. 4 meetings in each听country were held with between 3-6 children in each group. The听participatory methods used included adaptations for children with听physical, learning, hearing and visual difficulties. Children with a听range of difficulties and aged 8-18 were involved, all enjoyed the听meetings and were keen for more of such events to take place. 听They valued having their opinions sought and expressed a range of听interesting and sometimes surprising views.听
An interview schedule for parents was piloted, particularly focussing听on their experiences of having a disabled child, on social inclusion in听their community, on availability of resources and the financial听impact of their situation. 听Project partners were NGOs working in听the disability arena and local university colleagues. NGO staff and听postgraduate students were trained as research assistants and were听involved in a range of stages in the research process.听
The pilot project therefore provided a proof of the concept and听feasibility of the study. 听Further fine-tuning and modification of the听study design, methods and interview schedule will be needed听before the main study. 听The broad idea is to run a series of听children's meetings over some weeks or months, in order to include听more disabled children, and gain their perspectives in depth on a听number of aspects of their lives. 听The parents' interview would听include more specific questions about household expenditure in听order to explore their financial and esource situations further.听Comparative data would also be collected from nondisabled 听children and their parents, in order to investigate whether families听with a disabled child are, as is often suggested anecdotally听significantly poorer than others in their community. 听This would听contribute to filling a currently recognised gap in knowledge about听the relationship between disability and poverty, particularly in low听income settings.听
A conference presentation, various lectures to students, a journal article and a book chapter have reported the pilot project, focussing mainly on the methodological issues, as the data collected so far is听very preliminary.听2 applications for funding of the main study have been submitted听but have been unsuccessful so far, we preparing for further funding听applications. Some of the ideas and methodologies have been听incorporated into a larger programme grant about disability with听other colleagues at 911爆料网.