HPOD continued to produce scholarship on disability law and policy issues concerning climate change, cause lawyering, and persons with intellectual disabilities.
HPOD added to its growing library of academic, practice, and Easy Read publications on disability-inclusive climate action with HPOD Senior Associate Dr. Penelope J.S. Stein and Professor Stein’s study on how persons with disabilities in Abia State, Nigeria perceive and experience the effects of climate change in their communities and also identified priorities for disability-inclusive climate solutions. Co-authored with a Nigerian scholar, Dr. Queensley C. Chukwudum of the University of Uyo, and David O. Anyaele, who directs the Centre for Citizens with Disabilities, the study reported respondent-identified barriers to accessing climate response measures, including stigma, lack of participation in decision-making processes, and personal mobility barriers. The study also reported respondent-informed key climate action priorities, including storytelling, trainings, and cultural events to overcome attitudinal barriers to disability-inclusive climate action, and inter-ministerial collaboration on establishing inclusive early warning systems, accessible shelters, and accessible transport.
In addition, HPOD deepened its scholarship on the important role within the disability community played by cause lawyers. Building upon Professor Stein’s seminal works on disability cause lawyering in the United States, HPOD has sought to highlight the role that cause lawyers play through strategic litigation in national and regional tribunals throughout the world. This year, together with HPOD affiliate Professor János Fiala Butora of the University of Galway, Professor Stein and HPOD’s Director of Advocacy Initiatives Hezzy Smith published a study of disability jurisprudence by the European Court of Human Rights in the Human Rights Law Review. Their analysis finds that while the influential court in Strasbourg has in many cases expanded regional human rights protections following adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, it has been reluctant to do so in several controversial areas, such as involuntary commitments and legal capacity restrictions.
Finally, Professor Alford and Dr. Cui worked with Professor Mei Liao, based in Shanghai, China, to co-edit a fourth volume of An Oral History of the Special Olympics in China: Different Stories but One Effort, deepening their ongoing efforts to use oral history methods to provide a first-hand account of how people with intellectual disabilities live in China, thereby aiding readers to understand how the Special Olympics movement, public policy, and the social environment affect members of this marginalized group.
