Community Attitudes to People with Disability: Scoping Project

Communication Disability in Fiji: Community Cultural Beliefs and Attitudes

“…Addressing negative attitudes requires development of an effective policy response from governments in Fiji and around the world. Thompson et al (2011) suggest that there are three policy levels for attitude change: personal, organisational, and structural. Significant work across all of these levels has been conducted in Fiji (Hopf, 2014); however, there is more that can be done.…”

“…At the personal level, people with communication disability are rarely, if ever, a focus of disability-related media in Fiji. Raising awareness of the capabilities of people with communication disability through positive portrayal, supported opportunities for contact, and public media presentations may break down persisting stereotypes (Thompson et al, 2011). At the organisation level, resources are required to ensure that the community of people interacting with people with communication disability in education, health, and employment settings are well-informed.…”

“…At the organisation level, resources are required to ensure that the community of people interacting with people with communication disability in education, health, and employment settings are well-informed. Providing widespread information and awareness training about the capacity of people with communication disability to be productive members of the community is a potentially effective method for reducing stigma (Thompson et al, 2011). At the structural level, the much-awaited Fiji ratification of the 2006 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Parliament of the Republic of Fiji, 2016) will hopefully result in the provision of the necessary resources (e.g., locally-trained culturally and linguistically matched speech-language pathologists / communication disability specialists) to ensure that people with communication disability have the same opportunities to live happy productive lives as others in the community.…”

“…Such attitudes suggest that the dominant cultural value is one of social exclusion for people with communication disability. Such attitudes not only are in conflict with the premises of the 2006 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, of which Fiji is a signatory, but also align with the reported view of many people in Western countries (for a summary see Thompson et al, 2011).…”

“…Beliefs and attitudes are informed by language, culture, and personal experience and are 'learned, global evaluations of an object (person, place, or issue) that influences thought and action' (Perloff, 2008). Research in international communities has revealed that the attitudes of people without disability towards people with disability influences the level of participation a person with disability has in society, and ultimately the level of handicap people with disability experience as a consequence of their disability (e.g., Haines-Wangda, 1996;Maloni et al, 2010;Thompson et al, 2011;Sanchez and Wood, 2016).…”