A perspective from Bolivia on the implications of the World Report on Disability for people with communication disabilities

The World Report on Disability: An impetus to reconceptualize services for people with communication disability

“…Roulstone and Harding (2013) noted data are needed for both Minority and Majority World countries, but discussed challenges in measurement, including varying social constructs of disability. Buell (2013), writing about her work in Bolivia, refl ects on grass roots approaches to data collection such as participatory rural appraisal and key informant methods as a more sustainable approach to measurement and establishment of services.…”

“…Authors writing about the development of speech-language pathology university programs in Majority World countries (see Ahmad, Ibrahim, Othman, & Vong, 2013;Atherton, Nguy n, & V õ , 2013;Barrett & Marshall, 2013;Crowley, Baigorri, Ntim, Bukari, Oseibagyina, Kitcher, et al, 2013;Topouzkhanian & Mijiyawa, 2013) refer to the lack of services and the numbers of under-served PWCD as drivers for these educational developments. In writing about speech-language pathology service development and delivery issues from a range of countries including Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, China, India, Malaysia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, and the US, contributors highlight under-served populations in those countries and outline philosophical, cultural, political, and practical frameworks for identifying, engaging with, and meeting the needs of these populations (see Buell, 2013;Cheng, 2013;Davidson, Hill, & Nelson, 2013;Goldbart & Sen, 2013;Jones, Marshall, Lawthom, & Read, 2013;Kathard & Pillay, 2013;Roulstone & Harding, 2013;Van Dort, Coyle, Wilson, & Ibrahim, 2013;Westby, 2013). Davidson et al (2013), Lowell (2013), and Westby (2013) all write on developing culturally appropriate and relevant services for Indigenous populations in Minority World countries.…”

“…Contributors advocate for increased input on communication disability within the training of other disciplines (see Goldbart & Sen, 2013;Worrall et al, 2013) to build knowledge and skills in responding to PWCD. Buell (2013) adds to this theme by raising a need to assist in building grassroots capacity of PWCD to create supportive networks, advocate for services, and educate their communities to overcome attitudinal barriers experienced by PWCD. Van Dort et al (2013) illustrate knowledge exchange with parents, teachers, and volunteers in a community-directed early intervention service in Kuala Lumpur.…”

“…This sentiment is expressed effectively by Buell (2013), who discusses the inability and inappropriateness of attempts to reproduce services and models of intervention from one region to another, in the presence of vastly different context, culture, language, and disability perceptions.…”

Meeting the communication support needs of children and young people with intellectual disabilities in the Bolivian Andes

“…The number of speech and language therapists (SLTs) registered to practice in Bolivia remains unclear. Buell (2013) reported that 63 SLTs were working in Bolivia: 60 in urban areas and 3 part time in the public sector. The boundaries between different professionals were not well-defined and as a result the quality of outcomes of speech and language interventions could not be assured.…”