Propuesta de estructura para los Grupos de Desarrollo

As a nation, Ireland has come a long way since the 1800’s in its approach, treatment and responses to PWID. The majority of PWID now live in community-based support settings. These services all work from an ethos of independence, rights, inclusion, dignity and respect for PWID. Significant advances have been witnessed in the development of legislation and policy making. Researchers such as Antonak, Seelman & Bury (2000) and Brostrand (2006), cited in Tacket (2009), have argued that there is evidence to suggest that societal attitudes to people with disabilities is improving. It is also fair to say from a global perspective, there have been genuine concerted attempts to address the social inequalities and unjustness that the majority of PWID have typically encountered.

Over the past three decades in the USA, there has been a major push to include PWID in all aspects of society (Siperstein, Pociask & Byrnes 2009). In Europe and Ireland numerous legislative and policy mandates have been enacted to ensure the welfare and rights of these individuals. However, research undertaken by the NDA (2011) in Ireland highlights that negative attitudes to disability still persist today. There are numerous possible reasons for this situation.

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The legacy of exclusion and survival of the fittest continues to influence how people with disabilities are supported in 2017. Although Ireland has enacted multiple pieces of rights- based legislation supporting community inclusion for PWID, the country has only recently enacted the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act in 2015. Up until this time, the situation in relation to capacity and PWID had its genesis in the Lunacy (Ireland) Act of 1871. According to the Act the word ‘lunatic’ shall be constructed to mean any person found by inquisition to be an ‘idiot’, ‘lunatic’ or of ‘unsound mind’ and incapable of managing his affairs (The Lunacy (Ireland) Act 1871). Such language is overwhelmingly negative with absolutely no focus on a person’s capacity and capabilities. It is also aligned to the Medical Model of disability and institutionalisation.

The Lunacy (Ireland) Act of 1871 allowed for the ‘Ward of Court’ system, which meant that for PWID who had been made a ‘Ward of Court’, the Court makes all relevant decisions about their lives, from medical and financial matters, to leaving the country and whom and when they should marry (Inclusion Ireland 2012).

This meant that many PWID were excluded from critical key decisions that affect their everyday lives and their future interests. There was no focus on a PWID or their capacity and ability to think for themselves, which by now has become a recurring concern of this author. Again, this reminds us of the dependency model of disability. Lennon (2011) claimed that such recent archaic legislation was an embarrassment at this point in Ireland’s development and continued to have negative effects on the everyday lives of PWID, such as attempting to open bank accounts, make wills and travel. Indeed, so archaic was the system it could be argued that the concept of rights- based pieces of legislation, which make claim to promoting inclusive communities for PWID, could only be but regarded as tokenistic, certainly up until 2015.

It is vital to stress that the Lunacy (Ireland) Act of 1871 has just very recently been surpassed by Capacity Legislation and it had profound effects on the everyday lives of many PWID, as it stripped the person of their right to be included in critical decisions about their life.

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While the intention of recent rights-based pieces of legislation was to promote inclusive communities for PWID, they were significantly undermined by the archaic Lunacy (Ireland) Act of1871. It is also important to stress that parts of the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act of 2015 have yet to commence and it remains to be seen how this legislation will impact on the everyday lives of PWID. Other issues with rights-based pieces of legislation such as The Health Act 2007 are the fact that they have only recently been fully implemented. This Act imposed a series of regulations on disability service providers to ensure PWID are protected and have a good quality of life. It makes explicit reference to the importance of social inclusion for all PWID. However, some disability service providers struggle significantly with promoting opportunities for PWID to experience real and meaningful inclusion and are assessed as being in breach of the Outcomes and Regulations stipulated under the Health Act of 2007.

Martin and Cobigo (2011) highlight the fact that in a global climate, where funds are limited and resources are scarce, the ability to demonstrate the achievement of outcomes becomes all the more important. As government departments continue to experience significant cut backs in resources (both financial and human) it is a concern that achieving outcomes such as community and social inclusion for PWID may not be viewed as a priority, even though the Health Act 2007 has been fully implemented and commenced. In 2006, Nolan and Gannon found that people with disability fared worse than others in their own age group in relation to inclusive education and work. In the report ‘A National Survey of Public Attitudes to Disability in Ireland’ published in 2012, the NDA found that public attitudes to PWID can be a key facilitator or serious barrier to their inclusion and participation in society. Recognising this, the NDA has had a long- standing commitment to measuring attitudes and researching effective strategies to address negative attitudes to disability where they exist. Findings also inform that there is a ‘hardening’ of public attitudes towards PWID and over the last four years the public are less accepting of the fact that it is society that disables a person (NDA National Survey of Public Attitudes to Disability in Ireland 2012, p.12).

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In stark contrast to the research above, the Special Olympics Ireland continue to claim that they are transforming the world into one where all PWID are respected and included in society and their communities. The SO organisation has become a particularly high-profile advocate for those young PWID who wish to engage in organised sports pursuits.

In 2003, the Special Olympics World Summer Games were held outside of the United States for the first time, taking place in Dublin, Ireland to considerable public and international acclaim. Lemke (2009) claimed the Special Olympics can alter the images of PWID to the obvious benefit of those that previously had encountered only negative stereotyping and exclusion. They can transform communities from closed ones to open ones, from intolerant to accepting ones and by using sport to accomplish this, they have come to represent the good, the power and the true spirit of the Games. In his paper

‘Changing Expectations’, Siperstein (2008) claimed that sports don't just increase self-respect among people with intellectual disabilities, they increase others' self-respect for them too. The benefits of inclusion in recreational settings are far-reaching and extend to participants without disabilities as well. By participating in an inclusive environment, children with and without disabilities learn more about tolerance, acceptance, and what it means to have a disability.

Notwithstanding what appears to be a widespread sympathetic view of the organisation, according to Storey (2009), the Special Olympics can shape the public’s image of PWID in a negative way. Storey (2009) believes the SO reinforce negative stereotypes about people with disabilities and further perpetuate segregation and oppression. Storey further underlines this point when he stated that popular press and mass media accounts of the Special Olympics often reinforce a negative, self-fulfilling prophecy that evokes sympathy, pity, or stigma and promotes a negative stereotype of people with disabilities.

Gardiner (1998) noted a headline in the Oakland Tribune which remarked "Special Olympics' Athletes Win Smiles: Races belong to not-so-swift, not-so-strong" and another headline from the Union Recorder was “but the real stars of the show were the event participants who, despite their mental handicaps, were able to inspire all who attended, as well as conjure up smiles from all the warm huggers and event contributors” (In the Union-Recorder [Milledgeville, GA, April 9, 2009]).

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Gardiner (1998) also highlights a comment made by the then President of the USA, Barack Obama on national television (March 19, 2009) in which he remarked in regard to his bowling skills, "It was like the Special Olympics or something." Gardiner (1998) has stressed that the way in which such media headlines and comments made about PWID and the SO are ‘interpreted’ by the general public can reinforce negative stereotypes and further perpetuate the exclusion of PWID from their communities. Storey (2009) argued that such headlines and remarks receive prominent coverage in the mainstream media and further enhance the general public's negative perception of PWID through the lens of the Special Olympics. Despite this, the Special Olympics (2011) claim that their Games are an international program of sports training and athletic competition for PWID and their ‘full potential as a powerful means to foster greater inclusion and well-being for PWID is only beginning to be realised’.

1.5 DEFINING SOCIAL INCLUSION AS IT RELATES TO PEOPLE WITH