South Africa has adopted an inclusive education policy in order to address barriers to learning in the education system. However, the implementation of this policy is hampered by the lack of teachers’ skills and knowledge in differentiating the curriculum to address a wide range of learning needs. In this paper we provided a background to inclusive education policy in South Africa and a brief exposition of an instructional design approach, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) that addresses a wide range of learning needs in a single classroom. We reported on a workshop conducted with teachers and therapists in South Africa as a first attempt to introduce UDL in this context. Knowledge of UDL was judged to be appropriate and useful by the course participants in the South African context as a strategy for curriculum differentiation in inclusive classrooms. Furthermore, knowledge of the UDL framework facilitates dialogue between teachers and therapists and provides a relatively simple and comprehensive approach for curriculum differentiation. We therefore conclude that there is potential for this approach that can be expanded through further teacher training.

Although most people with intellectual disability remain under the lifelong care and support of their families, there is a hiatus in research that explores the sexuality of people with intellectual disability within the family setting. Little is known about how the responses of family caregivers align with a human rights approach to the sexuality of people with intellectual disability, particularly in the South African context. This study used a constructivist grounded theory approach to explore how 25 South African family caregivers responded to the sexuality of their young adults with intellectual disability. Findings revealed that family caregivers prioritise what they deem as being the immediate needs of themselves and the young adults, over the young adults’ rights to sexual autonomy. Practitioners, guided by the human rights approach, need to understand the individual and family context so as to better collaborate with family caregivers in supporting people with intellectual disability to realise their sexual rights. We apply two theories of needs to illuminate the conflict between needs-centred ethics and human rights approaches in a context where the family caregivers are the ones determining the sexuality needs of young adults with intellectual disability.

Research looking into the day-to-day lives of people with intellectual disabilities (ID) is on the increase in Africa. However, not enough is being done to include people with ID as active contributors to this research through inclusive approaches. Inclusive research empowers people with ID as they have the agency and autonomy to speak for themselves and they are given an active voice in the research process and outcomes. This leads to services that cater for what matters to people with ID themselves as opposed to having their needs defined by other people. The common myths and misconceptions attached to ID in Africa, which increase stigma towards people affected by this type of disability can be abated by their visibility in research and evidence of their ability to express themselves. This article makes a call to researchers on the African continent to include people with ID in research as active contributors to the research and not simply as research subjects or respondents. A background is given of global developments that have occurred in inclusive research based on the literature and the author’s personal experience, which African researchers can learn from while taking cognizance of the specific needs of their own contexts. This is followed by highlighting the gaps in Africa. The article ends with a discussion of possible reasons for a lack of inclusive research in Africa and suggestions and recommendations to address this gap.

Background: Rehabilitation is of fundamental importance for the persons with disability to achieve functional independence and have an improved quality of life. To enhance the effectiveness of rehabilitation, it is important to seek clients’ perspectives of the rehabilitation services and to incorporate these perspectives into the planning and delivery of rehabilitation services. The aim of this study was to explore the persons with physical disabilities’ experiences of the rehabilitation services they received at Community Health Centres (CHCs). Methods: In-depth qualitative interviews were used to collect data. Ten persons with physical disabilities, who had received rehabilitation services at CHCs participated in the in-depth interviews. The interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Results: The clients experienced problems with accessing transport and obtaining information from the service providers. Experiences regarding clients’ involvement in the rehabilitation were varied. All the clients reported positive experiences regarding their interaction with service providers and family involvement. Conclusion: The experiences of the participants who accessed CHCs for rehabilitation were positive and negative. The service providers should therefore address the aspects of rehabilitation that were negatively experienced.

Background: Access to assistive technology (AT) is poor in African countries because of a lack of knowledge, resources, services and products. A mobile application, the AT-Info-Map, was developed to map AT availability in southern Africa.Objectives: This article aimed to describe users’ and suppliers’ perceptions of the AT-Info-Map app.Method: Qualitative data were collected in Zambia, Botswana, Malawi and Lesotho, through nine focus group discussions with 72 participants. Participants included AT users, AT suppliers and representatives of disability organisations. Data were thematically analysed.Results: Two broad themes, that is, usefulness of the AT-Info-Map application and technical issues and content, emerged from the data analysis. Subthemes under usefulness focused on the importance of using current technology, convenience of the app, the need for accuracy, responsiveness of supplier to user’s needs, influence on AT market and how the app creates an opportunity for networking. Challenges to download and navigate the app, the need for training in its use, exclusion of those not literate in English and those with visual impairments were subthemes under technical issues and content.Conclusion: The app was perceived as an important step to increase access to AT for persons with disabilities in less resourced settings. The challenges that emerged from the data analysis have led to the development of a web-based system that will complement or replace the app and improve AT information provision. However, the information provided by the app and website is still only a partial solution to improve AT access in Southern Africa.