The challenge before us is to find creative and culturally appropriate ways to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities by providing knowledge and information that will enable them to achieve their aspirations for self-direction, independence, inclusion, and functional competence. In the past 20 years, technology has greatly enhanced the accommodation of disability, self-awareness has raised expectations of and for people with disabilities, and advocacy has resulted in the recognition of the rights of people with disabilities to societal access and reasonable accommodations. The past 20 years have also witnessed the emergence of new vulnerable populations where disability is coupled with conditions such as constantly changing health policies, poverty, enthnicity and culture, and the age continuum. In response to efforts to point out of challenging attitudinal and institutional barriers by people in the disability community, policymakers around the world have slowly begun to react. They have rejected the old paradigm of dependence and segregation and have begun to move toward a new paradigm that considers disability a natural and normal part of the human experience (Schriner & Batavia, 1995;Silverstein, 2000).As the 21st century begins, this new paradigm is reflected in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF; World Health Organization, 2001) reclassification of disability. The ICF includes terminology that is more positive and addresses factors such as the environment and personal issues. This new paradigm maintains that disability is a product of an interaction between characteristics (e.g., conditions or impairments, functional status, or personal and social qualities) of the individual and characteristics of the natural, cultural, and social environments.
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