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NEW BOOK!
Landscape of Literacy and Disability in Canada Published: December, 2008
View the entire document or select chapters online (pdf format):
Email the Abilities Foundation to purchase a printed copy. Contact the authors for more information about the study and methodology. |
This project is intended to provide an understanding of the relationship between literacy and disability through the use of maps. The combined expertise of researchers from the fields of human rights, disability policy analysis and Geographic Information Science or GIS, allows for a wide array of policy initiatives to be put forth aimed at addressing both the overt as well as covert relationships between disability, literacy, social inclusion and justice, and public policy. This spatial look at these social issues provides a tool for policy and service development.
Our approach reveals relationships between factors and characteristics at play in promoting or hindering literacy, opportunities for communication, and consequently, participation in society. Our objectives are to:
- use the spatial characteristics of literacy and disability in Canada to understand the underlying presumptions about disability and about literacy;
- document the very different perspective that may be drawn depending on the definitions of the two phenomena;
- get a clear picture of the characteristics of their relationship as a basis for policy initiatives.