Over the past two decades, trends of integration processes in terms of citizens of different ethnicities, different gender and different sexual belongings, etc. has grown thanks to debates and new legislations. A marginalized and discriminated group in society such as women, immigrants, homosexuals, transsexuals and people with disabilities during this time has gained momentum in the community. The curiosity over whether these developments have changed our attitudes and values to the world around us, and if so how, is the reason for this master's thesis in disability studies.The Swedish development forms the basis for my belief on a younger generation of people who would be more tolerant than previous generations, in terms of what is considered to belong to the norm in our society, or not. The purpose of this study is therefore to increase knowledge about what beliefs young people today have about people with disabilities.

Background Participation in the community is vital to mental health and is beneficial to individuals and society. Many studies discuss this issue in relation to the disabled, and this study investigates this further. The goal of this survey, performed in Göteborg, Sweden, is to study issues relating to the participation of people with physical disabilities, according to their own perceptions and experiences on this issue. Method Qualitative methodology was used to explore experiences of participation in twenty physically disabled adults by means of semi structured personal interviews. Results From a social constructionist view, disability is explained in terms of being socially constructed.

During the last two years Gothenburg has become a central point in Sweden foractivists in the area of disability. The essay explores which strategies that activist usesin purpose to pay attention to and criticize the Normate. By doing so, five cripactivists have been interviewed about their experiences and feelings about how theymanage to stand up against different types of power relations. The activists describehow they develop different strategies to change their identity positions and takecontrol over themselves.The essay intends to contribute with a crip theoretic view in combination withmaterial feminisms and resistance theory. The conclusions of the essay shows that thenormate is incorporated in both social and material matter and how the activist?s usesthe strategy Critical Disability to negotiate their identity position.

To be able to feel a sense of belonging, people need to have the possibility to take part of the information from the society. Hearing-impaired don?t have the same possibility as hearing people when they want to take part of the information, therefore they don?t get the same benefit. This contributes to a feeling of not belonging and a sense of limitation in different social occasions. Therefore the society needs to be accessible to everyone regardless disability.

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.

In this study we have aimed to explore how participation and self-determination is implemented in the daily life of disabled people who receive support through LSS. The questions addressed concern possibilities/obstacles for the participation and selfdetermination of disabled people who live in group housings, and how the terms participation and self-determination are realized. Nine interviews have taken place with staff members and directors of different group housings. We have found that the interviewees believe that the nature of a person?s disability can be a barrier to the individual?s self-determination and participation in his or her everyday life.

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 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.

The aim of this study has been to investigate whether people with siblings that have disability have been personally affected when making choices about their studies and careers based on their upbringing with their siblings. The method chosen was qualitative data and consists of six interviews with people who are familiar with the chosen problem area. In conclusion, our results do not show a link between choices of study in relation to the sibling's disabilities. However a link was found between career choices, many choose to work in the area of health and well-being. This link was also found in literature we have researched, people living with disabled siblings have chosen careers and jobs within health and well-being..

The purpose of this study is to find out how housebuilding meets the demands of availability for people with some sort of disability. The rules and demands of availability are stated in Boverkets byggregler, BBR and the Swedish standard, SS 91 42 21:2006 (publ.5). The projects in this study are compared to the rules and demands of BBR and SS 91 42 21:2006 (publ.5). The rapport studies three different house projects in three different municipalities and the result shows that only three of these nine projects meet the demands of availability for disabled people..

The aim of this study is to illuminate images and discourses, in which media describe people with disabilities. The purpose of the study will be fulfilled, by answering the following questions: Is it possible to discern categories of how people with disabilities are described in the media and is it possible to find associations to handicap models? We have chosen to focus on how media describe people with physical impairments and have made a content analyses of articles, based on the theoretic aim of this study, social constructionism, handicap models and earlier research. Underlying the analyses, are six articles from two Swedish news papers. The results of our research are divided in three categories: assumptions which are taken for granted, hidden meanings and contradicted categories.

Treatment is both about the actual encounter and how individuals interact as well as the behaviour among the counterparts. Previous research shows that a person?s experience of how he/she is being treated is formed by conditions created by external factors, in literature known as the general view on treatment. The purpose of the study is to show how people with a physical disability experience the treatment from their Social Security Agency administrators. We have compared the empirical material with theories on treatment and power and analysed how this affect the interaction between the administrator and the disabled person.

Previous research has indicated that intellectual disabilities and parenting is not socially accepted and compulsory care of children often occurs in families where one or both parents have an intellectual disability. This study aims to, thru a document analysis, investigate ideas and representations of parents with intellectual disabilities that emerge in Swedish legal cases. The legal cases is about children who are taken care of according to LVU § 2, where one or both parents have a intellectual disability. The results of the study revealed that people with intellectual disabilities are seen as not capable of developing parenting ability, in some cases aroused concerns about parenting during pregnancy, these suggesting stereotypes of parents with intellectual disabilities. Of the documents reveals that social workers word overrides in the decision-making, this leads to a position of power where the parents are at a disadvantage..

Access for disabled people in the outdoor environment is an important and accurate issue for landscape architects. The demands on public places are increasing and the aim is that everyone should be able to use the environment and be a part of the society. To enable this, landscape architects must put and extra effort to their design. This report shows examples from Uppsala Travel Centre where different ways of travelling meets in one place and many people pass on a daily basis. The area is newly built and should thereby represent modern solutions that enable access for disabled people.

Aphasia is a disease that brings on disability. The purpose of the study is to describe the daily life when afflicted with aphasia and gain a deeper understanding of persons with aphasia in working ages. The study was made with a qualitative approach with a combination of data sources; literature, internet lectures, live lectures, interviews with personnel in medical and educational services and three persons with aphasia. More research in aphasiology is welcome. This may be aimed at developing knowledge about the importance of communication, of active participation in the social environment, and the achievement of improved attitudes towards people with disabilities. The study should give rehabilitation actors and close relations knowledge and support in their action when they meet people with aphasia..