Doctoral Dissertation: Living With Disabilities in Ecuador

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The objective of this dissertation research is to examine the structural and cultural issues surrounding the rehabilitation and education of persons with disabilities in Ecuador through an exploration of the lives of disabled children in Quito. This project builds upon existing research by examining how the disability experience is shaped in a society where a formal structure surrounding disability issues has not fully developed. It explores how the disability experience is influenced by the structure of policy, international pressure on nations to address disability, an individual's relationship with the formal system, and the individual's personal experience with disability. This research will first entail the assessment of policy and service development directed towards persons with disability in Ecuador. Secondly, by eliciting narratives from parents, caretakers, teachers, therapists and disabled children about their life experiences, this research will provide a multi-voiced account of how disability is lived within this context. Finally, through a quantitative comparison of families who receive health and education services and those who do not, an assessment will be made on how involvement with these institutions affects how individuals and families construct the meaning of disability, or their "disability model." The results will encourage dialogue between disability scholars (both inside and outside anthropology) and those who study the forces of policy formation, thereby adding the issue of disability to the literature on the social location of caretaking. Broader Impact of the Research The objectives of this research will benefit curriculum and program development for disciplines that work with disabled populations. These data will be useful in the development of effective models and pedagogic approaches within special education. Furthermore, by illustrating the linkage between policy and experience, this research provides information that is relevant to national and international disability policy formation. In addition the research will contribute to the education of a young social scientist.