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LESSON 1: UNDERSTANDING DISABILITY

I. Objectives

Participants will:
- Understand the difference between impairment and disability
- Understand how society can impact on disability
- Learn about the international principles and national policies that ensure
the right to an education for children with disabilities
- Learn appropriate ways to describe people with disabilities
- Become aware of their own values and beliefs about disability

II. Introduction

The Royal Government of

Cambodia is committed to
ensuring that children with
disabilities can receive an
education. When children with
disabilities receive an education,
they can become independent
adults who can earn money, look
after themselves and contribute
to society. Ensuring that more
children with disabilities can go to
school involves creating a
systematic process for
identifying them, providing
supports and equipment they may
need, such as a wheelchair, and
making schools accessible through
ramps. It also involves providing
training to teachers so that they can help them to learn successfully.

III. Content

1. Difference between “impairment” and “disability”

When an individual has limited physical, emotional, or sensory function, they are
considered to have an impairment. For example, a landmine victim may have lost
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their legs, so they have limited ability to walk and move around. This person is
impaired because they have a biological or medical limitation.
When a person who is impaired
experiences the loss or restriction of
opportunity for equal participation in
daily activities with others in the
community due to physical factors and
social barriers, they are considered to
have a disability. For example, if the
landmine victim who has lost their legs
receives artificial legs or a wheelchair
or some such physical support, they
can participate in daily activities in
the community. If their house and the
buildings in their community have
ramps so that the person can enter them with their wheelchair, they can
participate in daily activities in the community fully and effectively on an equal
basis with others. However, if the landmine victim cannot participate in daily
activities or the community because they do not have a wheelchair or the

Impairment or Disability?
Read through these case studies to decide if the child has an impairment or a
disability:

1. Samnang is 6 years old. When he was 7 months old, he had a high

fever and developed polio. His legs are very weak and he cannot walk.
______
Now Samnang cannot go to school because he has no wheelchair to help
him to move around. _____
2. Kosal is 10 years old. He needs help to dress and bathe himself.
_____
Kosal also has difficulty understanding the rules of the games that the
children in the village play, so the children laugh and tease him and
don’t let him join in the games. ____
You are right that Samnang and Kosal both have an impairment. Because of polio,
Samnang cannot walk. Because of his intellectual impairment, Kosal needs helps with
self-care. And if you said that Samnang and Kosal also have a disability, then you
have understood how for Samnang and Kosal, as with many people with impairments
across the world, the effect of their impairments has increased because of social
and physical barriers and so they are also disabled.
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buildings in their community do not have ramps, they also become disabled.

If we believe that a person who has lost their legs can still participate in
society and do things for themselves and we include them in daily activities in
the community, our positive social attitudes can help to increase their
participation. Our positive attitudes and an accessible environment allow a
person with an impairment to participate and reduces the negative effects of
the impairment.

This definition of disability is from the 2007 United Nations Convention on the
Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD).

2. The Social Concept of Disability

If we look at a person with an impairment and think, “He does not have a leg, but
that is his problem,” then we do not see that our attitudes and the environment
can also be the problem. This is because attitudes and environment can increase
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the effect of the person’s impairment and also make them disabled. This is not
helpful to people with disabilities because it means we do not take responsibility
for our attitudes and actions and instead we only expect people with disabilities
to change and adjust to society. But if we understand that social attitudes and
environmental barriers can change the effect of an impairment, then we can
help to reduce this effect by having positive attitudes towards people with
disabilities and by changing the environment to increase the participation of
people with disabilities. This is called the social concept of disability. The social
concept of disability recognizes that children with disabilities should have full
enjoyment of all human rights on an equal basis with others.

3. International Principles and Conventions on Children’s

Rights

3.1 What are a child’s rights?

The rights of a child are basic standards
which set minimum entitlements and
freedoms that should be respected by
governments. They are founded on respect
Children with
for the dignity and worth of each child, disabilities
regardless of race, colour, gender, language,
religion, opinions, origins, wealth, birth have the same
status or ability and therefore apply to
every child everywhere. The Convention on right to an
the Rights of the Child of 1989 has
established that children everywhere have
education as
the basic human rights to: all children
 survival;
 develop to the fullest;
 protection from harmful influences,
abuse and exploitation;
 participate fully in family, cultural and social life.

3.2 Article 23 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

In addition, Article 23 recognizes the special needs of a disabled child and
ensures that a mentally or physically disabled child has effective access to and
receives education and vocational services, health care and rehabilitation
services in a manner conducive to the child’s achieving the fullest possible social
integration and individual development, including their cultural and spiritual
development.
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3.3 Important international initiatives on the rights of children

with disabilities
Three important international initiatives that set standards for the right of
children with disabilities to an education are:
 The Salamanca Statement on Special Needs Education, 1994
 The Biwako Millennium Framework for Action towards an Inclusive, Barrier-
free and Rights-based Society for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the
Pacific, 2003, and
 The United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities
(CRPD), 2007.
Priorities identified in these initiatives include identifying children with
disabilities, providing an education, making schools accessible, and providing
equipment and supports like wheelchairs and hearing aids. The Royal Government
of Cambodia (RGC) has expressed support for the Salamanca Statement and the
Biwako Framework and, as a signatory to the UN Convention, is legally bound to
keep the standards.

4. National Legislation and Policies on Education of

Children with Disabilities

The Royal Government of Cambodia has passed two major legislations which
specify the standards for education of children with disabilities in Cambodia.
These are:

Education Law, 2007

Article 38: Special Education
The state encourages and promotes the provision of special education for disabled
persons and outstanding learners who are gifted and/or talented. Special education
provided for outstanding learners shall be appropriate to their intelligence and talent,
and provide a suitable education for disabled persons. Special education programs shall
be formulated by Prakas of the Ministry in charge of Education.
Article 39- Rights of disabled learners
Disabled learners have the same rights as able learners and have separate special rights
as follows:
 Disabled learners of either sex have the right to study with able learners if there is
sufficient facilitation in the study process for the disabled learner to fulfill the
educational program of the educational institutions
 Disabled learners with special needs have the rights to receive additional teaching in
the regular educational program
 Disabled learners who are not able to learn with able learners have the right to
receive special education in separate special classes. These disabled learners can
study at community schools in their locality.
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Law on Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Disabled

Persons, 2009
Article 28 states that the State shall establish policies and national strategies for
educating disabled students with disabilities such as
 promoting inclusive education for students with disabilities to the utmost extent
possible
 establishing special classes in response to the needs of disabled students.
Article 29 states that the ministry in charge of education shall develop programs for
educational establishments to provide facilities for students with disabilities such as
 buildings, classrooms and study spaces
 Sign language and Braille
 educational techniques and pedagogy corresponding to types of disabilities
 learning materials or other equipment to assist students with disabilities
 training and teaching materials for teachers or professors and others to meet the
real needs of individual students with disabilities.

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports adopted the Policy on the
Education for Children with Disabilities in March, 2008 and the Master Plan
for its implementation in September, 2009. One of the ways this Policy is being
implemented is through this training that you are receiving.

The National Policy on the

Education for Children with
Disabilities, 2008
The National Policy aims to:
 Increase awareness and acceptance of
disabilities among communities, relevant
institutions and stakeholders
 Provide early identification and intervention
through rehabilitation services, such as
physiotherapy, and health services, e.g.,
immunization, to all children with disabilities
from birth to five years.
 Provide quality education, life skills or
vocational training to children and youth with
disabilities equitably and effectively
 Increase enrollment, promotion and survival
rates in schools
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5. Categories of Disabilities

According to the 2003 Directive on definitions, classification and

characteristics of disability of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and
Youth Rehabilitation and the Ministry of Health, there are 8 major categories
of disabilities in Cambodia.

Types of Definition/Characteristics Examples

Disability
Seeing difficulty Any individuals who have possibility to see blind in one or two eyes, retinitis, bulging
little, poor sight or cannot see other eyes and cannot see, trachoma, cross-eyes,
objects myopia, cornea, conjunctiva, cataract,
glaucoma, hereditary blindness, eyelashes
folded into the eyes
Hearing difficulty Any individuals who have possibility to deaf persons, ears with no holes,
hear little (from birth due to injuries or no/broken eardrums, inflammation of the
diseases) and old age ears (otitis)
Speaking difficulty Any individuals who have difficulties in Harelip, abnormal speaking, nasal voice,
speaking thick tongue, unclear sound and teeth
problem
Moving/ motor Any person who is difficult to move, or a person with no arm/hand/leg, polio,
difficulty cannot move (body) or any part of the muscle atrophy, paralysis, broken bones,
body or cannot move at all club foot, uneven foot, unmovable hand/
leg, congenital amputation, poliomyelitis,
curved backbone, arthritis, joint irritation,
bone TB, hump (forward, sideward, and
backward), dislocation, spinal cord injury,
sprained, burns by fire or acid, floppy bone
disease
Sensory difficulty Any individuals whose senses are lost or leprosy (severe condition), those whose
don’t feel when grabbing or touching any legs or hands are numb or lack nutrition
objects (swollen).
Mental difficulty Any individuals whose characters or Those who walk without clothes, speak/
attitudes change very often, as their laugh/sing & dance/play alone in an
behaviors are like the other people and unusual way, or remain motionless, hit or
they happen daily or have mental commit violence without knowing of one’s
difficulties – thoughts and own action, don’t understand danger,
conducts psychoneurosis, emotional, stress or
mental disorders.
Learning difficulty Any individuals whose memories are low, Persons who have slow intellectual
forget frequently, or cannot do anything development, Down’s syndrome, limited
like the other people in the same ages memory, cretinism, Cerebral Palsy (CP) or
children with timid behavior.
Those who have Any individuals who have frequent Children suffer from epilepsy, fever with
seizures convulsions including the presence of convulsion, being caused from high level of
saliva bubbles that causes from any sugar or lacking sugar in the blood
reason.
Other disabilities Any individuals who have difficulties in Children with facial deformity, children
performing their physical or social with chronic disease, dwarf/midget,
functions or roles or any other disabilities hardened skin (high level), AIDS carriers
that cannot be included into any types of and children suffering from hydrocephalus.
disability above
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6. Attitudes Towards People with Disabilities

When we use appropriate words to describe a person with a disability or when

speaking to a person with a disability, we show respect and increase their
inclusion by helping to change social attitudes. Often people use derogatory or
nasty words like “kwa” or “lop-lop” when talking about a person with a disability
because they do not know the appropriate way to describe the person. They are
also not aware that they are discriminating against the person by saying these
words. As a teacher, you can play a big role in changing social attitudes by
making sure you use appropriate words or names to describe your students with
disabilities. When other students hear you say, “He is Deaf” instead of “he is
deaf-mute (koh-thlong)”, they will learn to use the correct word too.

Describing People with Disabilities

√ YES X NO
Person with visual impairments, Blind person
Person with hearing impairments, person Deaf and mute, Deaf
who is hard of hearing, Deaf person and dumb
Person with motor/ orthopedic impairments, Spaz, gimp, crip
physically challenged person, person who
uses a wheelchair
Person with intellectual/ developmental Mental retardation,
disability/ delay idiot, retard, cretin,
imbecile, crazy
Down Syndrome Mongoloid
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Exercise
Read through each of the following case studies to answer the
questions:

CASE STUDY # 1: KALYAN

Kalyan is 8 years old. He is in the second grade in school. He writes in a big handwriting, like
a child who is just learning to write. Sometimes, he almost closes his eyes or squints when
he writes. When he reads, he holds the book very close to his eyes (less than 20 cms). He
sits at the back of the classroom. When the teacher writes on the board, Kalyan will
sometimes come to the front of the class to read what has been written. If she tells him he
must stay in his seat, he copies from his classmates sitting next to him. If she tells him he
must not cheat and has to do his own work, he gives the wrong answer.
Does Kalyan have an impairment?  YES  NO
Is Kalyan also disabled (that is, is his impairment increased because of societal and
environmental barriers)?  YES  NO
What are some barriers? _________________________________________________________
What supports could be provided? ____________________________________________________

CASE STUDY # 2: RITHY

When the School Support Committee (SSC) did the community mapping, they found Rithy.
He is 9 years old and has never come to school. This is because he had polio when he was a
child. His right leg is paralyzed and he cannot walk long distances. The school is too far (3
kms) for him to walk. The SSC spoke to the families of other students in the village and
arranged that the other students would take turns to give Rithy a ride to school. They also
contacted the local NGO which provided an assistive device to help him to walk more easily.
Now Rithy comes to school. His classroom is at the end of the building near the toilet, so he
does not have to walk far to reach the toilet. His teacher has given him a seat near the
door.
Does Rithy have an impairment?  YES  NO
Is Rithy also disabled?  YES  NO
What are some barriers? _______________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
What supports have been provided? ________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
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CASE STUDY # 3: THAVI

Thavi talks in a loud voice. Many times, she interrupts when other people are talking even if
she has been told it is rude. Sometimes, when a person asks her a question, her answer is
not related to the question. Often, when a person is talking to her, she turns her head so
that her right ear is closer to the speaker. If her teacher calls her when she is writing, she
does not respond.
Does Thavi have an impairment?  YES  NO
Is Thavi also disabled?  YES  NO
What are some barriers? ________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

CASE STUDY # 4: KANYA

Kanya was born with no arms. In the beginning, her mother was upset, and worried about her
future. Then she saw that Kanya tried to do things by herself using her feet. As Kanya
grew, she learnt to cook, to wear her clothes, and to write with her feet. She goes to school
and is in Grade 3. She holds her pen in her right foot to write. Her teacher gives Kanya extra
space on the bench so she can write with her foot. She says that Kanya is a good student and
studies hard. Kanya plays with her friends, and likes to sing.
Does Kanya have an impairment?  YES  NO
Is Kanya also disabled?  YES  NO
What are some barriers? ________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What are some supports? ______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

CASE STUDY # 5: VIBOL

Vibol is 12 years old. On the right side of his face, he has a big bump that covers his cheek
and part of his ear. In the class, he sits in the last row with the repeaters. The other
children tease him about this bump. They call him “bump”. But his bump has not affected his
hearing, vision or speech. His writing is neat and he gives correct answers. Sometimes, he
helps the repeaters in their answers. But Vibol is very shy about the bump on his face and,
if the children keep teasing him about it, maybe he will stop coming to school.
Does Vibol have an impairment?  YES  NO
Is Vibol also disabled?  YES  NO
What are some barriers or supports? ______________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What supports could be provided? _________________________________________________
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Role Play

Read the following story and answer the questions at the end:

Kamsot was born into a poor family in Kampong Speu province. He has two older sisters
and three younger brothers. He started school at the age of seven and became an
outstanding student in the class. His teacher liked him very much. Kamsot often helped
his father to pluck coconuts to sell. One day, he climbed up a tall coconut tree to get
some coconuts. Suddenly, he slipped and fell and broke his arm. He cried in agony. His
mother took him to a health center. The health worker said that Kamsot’s arm was very
badly damaged and should be amputated in a hospital. But Kamsot’s mother did not have
enough money to pay for the operation, so they came home. Kamsot was in a lot of pain
and cried all the time. His arm became infected.

Kamsot could not help his father to get coconuts. Soon, Kamsot’s father left the family
because, without Kamsot’s help, he could not earn enough money. The infection in
Kamsot’s arm became worse. Kamsot’s mother was very worried because she did not
have money to pay for treatment; moreover, she had to look after other children at
home. Finally, she decided to go to the hospital with Kamsot and leave him there.
Kamsot waited anxiously for his mother. After some days, he realized that she would
not return. He became angry that his life had changed so much because of his
disability. Now he had no friends or people he knew around.

A nurse at the hospital saw his condition and contacted a local orphanage to pay for his
treatment. The hospital amputated his arm, and he recovered. The nurse brought
Kamsot to the orphanage to live with thirty other orphans. In the first three months,
Kamsot did not say anything. He sat alone and did not want to eat or play with other
orphans. The other orphans stayed away from him. The caregivers worried about him
and did not know what to do. One caregiver, Sopheap, had some knowledge of
psychology and understood Kamsot’s feelings. She talked to him and encouraged a child,
Dara, to play with Kamsot every day. Sophea also tried to help Kamsot to learn how to
feed and dress himself. When he became frustrated because it took him a long time to
eat and dress with one hand, she was patient. Then Sopheap took him to a rehabilitation
clinic where he was fitted with a prosthetic arm. At first, it was heavy and difficult to
use. Slowly, Kamsot became more comfortable with the prosthetic arm and began to
feed and dress himself. He started to talk and make friends with the other orphans.

This year Kamsot was re-admitted to grade one. The school director did not hesistate
to admit Kamsot because he knew about the government policy on inclusive education
for children with disabilities. The teacher always gave Kamsot more time to finish his
writing and exercises and encouraged him to learn to write with his left hand. At the
end of the school year, he came first in the class, and he had many friends. In the
future, Kamsot wishes to be a teacher. His school director tells him that is a good
ambition.
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Questions:
1. How did Kamsot’s story make you feel? Why?
2. In what ways did Kamsot’s life change after the accident?
3. Re-read the definition of disability in the lesson. What attitudinal and environmental
factors affected Kamsot while he was with his family? Did these factors increase or
decrease the effect of his impairment?
4. What attitudinal and environmental factors affected Kamsot while he was (a) in the
hospital, (b) in the orphanage and (c) at school? Did these factors increase or decrease
the effect of his impairment?
5. Which part of the story is a good example of the social concept of disability?
6. What would be some specific ways you could welcome and respond to a student like
Kamsot in your classroom or school?