This essay examines the theme of blindness in the Gospel of Mark. The two main questions asked are: 1) ?What is Mark?s view on blindness?? and 2) ?How does the Gospel of Mark?s view on blindness inform the current discourse of Disability studies and how can we interpret Mark?s view on blindness today?? By the methods of metaphor analysis and character analysis, four passages of the Gospel are studied (Mark 4:10-12; 8:14-21; 22-26; 10:46-52). The analysis concludes that blindness is depicted by the author of the Gospel as a Disability which also consist of a lack of cognitive ability and a hopeless state that is in need of healing.  The depiction of blindness in Mark originates out of the authors use of blindness as a metaphor for lack of cognitive ability (Mk 4:12; 8:18) and the lack of characterization of the blind man at Bethsaida (8:22-23). This view on blindness is, in comparison to a modern view, difficult, as it marginalizes persons with blindness as inconsiderate and not fully human.

This thesis aims to investigate possible positions of identification for people with dis/abilities. With a theoretical basis in crip-theory it discusses the notions of power and deviance and its? importance for the formation and reproduction of ideas around the concepts of dis/ability, ableism, deviancy and normality..

The last 1½ decade young people with intellectual disabilities have been a part of my life. My now 13 year old son and several pupils I have taught as a teacher in the compulsory school. Their future and what will affect their lives has always been interesting to me. How do I affect them, why do I do the things I do and think the way I think? This study springs out of that curiosity.

Participation is central to the concept of democracy. The role of the civic participation varies with different types of democracy, but a fundamental requirement is that the participation is free and equal. In spite of this, there are significant differences between possibilities to democratic participation in Sweden today.This essay seeks to understand how Disability, historically and still today, is constructed as a social deviation from normality, and is constructed to Otherness.One way to regard freedom and equality is to examine the personal autonomy, the legth to wich a person decides her/his roles and activities in abcence of external limitations. Personal autonomy is theoretically central in deliberative and strong democracy, but should reasonobly be a demand for the fundamental definition of democracy.The explanation to why the lack of personal autonomy is accepted, is that the construction of Otherness results in that the persons are categorized and are given simplified characteristics, and are thereby not accepted as equivalent people.In the inteviews conducted, seven politicians contribute both whiteness, pathological discourses regarding Disability and ideas of normality through discussing democracy, participation and Disability. Simultaniously, they express interest and an awareness on the majority's power and symbolic violence on the minority..

AbstractThis essay investigates what knowledge members of staff in day care centres for grown up people with disabilities have about Alternative and Augmentative Communication, AAC (in Swedish, Alterantiv och Kompletterande Kommunikation, AKK). Day care centres are working places for people with disabilities who do not have the possibility, caused of their Disability, to work in ordinary works in the open market.To communicate with other people is a human right for all people even if you have a Disability, even if you don?t have a spoken language or if you, because of your Disability, have difficulties to understand a spoken language. When you don?t have a spoken language you need different ways to be able to communicate, make choices and take part in activities in the community.

The aim of this study was to increase the knowledge of possibilities and obstacles for disabled people to meet a partner. The ambition was to know more about wishes for and needs of professional or other support. The methods have been literature studies, survey research, and interviews. A simple questionnaire was sent to administrative staff and social welfare officers who gave the information that they experienced those persons with intellectual Disability or Aspergers syndrome had asked for support to meet a partner. To get a perspective from inside six semi structured interviews were made with disabled people having experience of relationships, love affairs.

Science has shown that siblings to children with a Disability are affected by the family situation. The siblings often let their own needs and requests come secondary to their family members. This study illustrates how different professionals, who keep in contact with families with a disabled child, works with its siblings. The purpose with this study was to see how professionals, working as administrators, counselors at the habilitation and kin supporters in the region of Kalmar, include siblings while working with the families. Representatives from the professionals have been interviewed with a semi structured interview manual.The result showed that professionals have various opinions how siblings are affected by the family situation.

The purpose of this study was to examine what social workers include in the term "parenting ability". More specifically the purpose was to investigate how social workers view the parenting ability among parents with an intellectual Disability. Furthermore the aim was to examine what difficulties social workers come across in their work with families where one of the parents are intellectually disabled. The study was based on six interviews with social workers that specifically work with children under the age of 18, and occasionally come across parents with this type of Disability. The interviews were analysed using Donald Winnicott's terms "good-enough-parenting", "holding" and "the holding environment".

This bachelor thesis is studying the development of Swedish law in relation with EU-law. There are two different points of view expressed in the theories of Europeanization. One that means EU makes a big influence on national policy, one that says path-dependency will make the national policies differ. The case used in the study is discrimination on the ground of Disability as regards employment. The aim of this thesis is, through a case study, to analyze the relation between Swedish and European law and by that shed some light on the matter of Europeanization..

The aim in the study is to search for a deeper understanding of how parents experience a neurological diagnose of the child and how this affects the parenthood. Parenthood was seen in a systemtheoretical perspective as a social construction. The narrative method was used in two lifestory parentinterviews. The analysis was made from parenthood. The result formed stories about parenthood with children having neuropsyciatric functional Disability who even came to be a woman?s struggle.

Siblings of persons with disabilities tend to be sidelined and not get the same attention in the same amount as the child with the Disability gets, both by the parents and the society. Previous research in this area is limited and siblings of people with disabilities and their experiences of support needs to be explored. The purpose of this paper is to learn about support for siblings of people with disabilities in terms of both adult siblings own experiences from his childhood and from practitioners experience. Six qualitative interviews with four adult siblings of people with disabilities and two professionals were interviewed. Systems Theory and Bronfenbrenners ecological model has provided the theoretical basis for the essay.

The purpose of my study is to contribute with knowledge about three teachers? view on the possibilities and difficulties to support students with intellectual disabilities insocial interaction.to get answers to my research questions in the analysis I have in my qualitative study used the theory of Fleck's model about thinking styles rooted in a socio-cultural perspective. In the study, I have used semi-structured interviews. My study shows that teacher?s way of thinking affect students' opportunities to practice social interaction. An important finding in the study was that the school management?s attitude, is of great importance for educator?s opportunities to support the students with intellectual Disability in social interactions.

This essay addresses and treats the employer's obligation to work adaptation for people with a physical Disability according to discrimination law and the work environment law. Furthermore it also treats the employer's obligation to rehabilitation of employees that has a reduced working ability as consequence of their work. The essay also intends to investigate if there are any differences in the employer?s obligation to work adaptation when recruiting and the employer?s obligation to work adaption for an existing employment. In this work, there is a background chapter which describes the UN and the European Union's approach to work reduction ability and Disability. Furthermore, there is a detailed description of the work environment law, the discrimination law, the social insurance code and the employment protection legislation.

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to examine if a pre- and post-operative difference could be seen in self-reported pain Disability and self-efficacy among patients undergoing surgery as treatment for spinal disc herniation in order to improve process of rehabilitation.Method: A quantitative and descriptive design was used. 10 patients awaiting surgical treatment for spinal disc herniation were included at Akademiska sjukhuset (The Academic Hospital) in Uppsala. Participation was voluntary and the selection was made by convenience. Data was collected using The Pain Disability Index and Self-Efficacy Scale by which the patient would estimate how hindered they felt because of their pain in everyday activities and their self-efficacy to perform everyday activities. This was done the day before surgery and two weeks after surgery.

The study aims to describe, compare, and analyze how managers and basic staff in Disability care reflects on education and competence in the organization and from an organizational context explain how the professionalization efforts can be understood at different levels of Disability care. Highlighting these questions can stimulate discussion within this field when it comes to the evaluation of competence and skills of staff working with people with various disabilities, which is also sought after in society even more today. The study is qualitative and the result is based on five semi-structured interviews with managers and basic staff in Disability care. The interview questions were categorized according to the concepts that are central in this essay: competence, training, professionalism and organization.The results show that there is some doubt about what a higher competence of personnel in direct contact with the users would mean. Among the basic staff uncertainty seems to be highest.