Hungarian Journal of Disability Studies & Special Education 2024/1 is out

Perhaps the most defining concept in disability studies is the focus of this issue. Independent living has been at the heart of the work of researchers in the field for many decades.  The authors contribute to the mapping of current trends in Independent Living by sharing their theoretical and empirical findings, as well as their own life experiences.

In their synthesis, Michael Ochieng' Otieno, Anikó Sándor and Andrea Perlusz examine the trends in disability studies research of recent decades in terms of definitions, language use, methods and approaches. They also show  the resources that have been available for research projects, and conclude by raising the long-debated dilemma of who can conduct disability research, with whom and for whom.

Jácint Farkas's hermeneutical analysis of Western and Buddhist perspectives highlights the untenability of what he calls universal truths and views of man today. It also suggests how participatory methodologies can be applied to the teaching of subjects of a philosophical and philosophical nature, with a view to promoting accessibility.

Boglárka Gregosits and Veronika Kalász report on personal assistance services as a key to self-determined living. In their participatory research, they jointly investigated what characterises the relationship between disabled employers using the service and their assistants.

The empirical study by Borbála Bányai and Anna Légmán presents partial results of a comprehensive research project focusing on the mechanisms of exclusion in Hungarian institutions and policies. The authors analyse the characteristics of school inclusion and exclusion through life course interviews with people with disabilities.

Eszter Pechan, Ferencné Gereben and Csaba Bánfalvy report on a story-reading programme with intellectually disabled children living in a special children's home. The experience shows that tales, especially the Kagsagsuk folk tale, are well suited to develop children's social skills, which can later contribute to their successful social participation and self-determined lives.

Zsolt Plaszkó-Pető's story shows how the author found his identity as a deaf person through life's events and became a proud bilingual, bicultural person.Finally, Klára Jenei's article is about the conference organised as part of the project "LépÉsKÉK - Let's make the world understandable for people with intellectual disabilities! The main value of the article is the inclusion of testimonies from participants with intellectual disabilities after the introduction (Zsolt Cziráki, Denis Schreiber, Maria Hütter-Songailo, István Molnár-Gábor, Mariann Nagy, Nevenka Kos and Éva Tóth).