Overview of policies for the disabled

ENABLING THE DIFFERENTLY ABLE: A. N. Singh: Shipra Publishers, 115-A, Vikas Marg, Shakarpur, Delhi-110092. Rs. 475.

THIS BOOK has been inspired by, says the author, the announcement of the University Grants Commission that the chosen area is one of the thrust areas of social work and social work education. It discusses various kinds of disabilities, their causes, social problems faced by the disabled persons and their families, the rights and legal dimensions, rehabilitation and other practical aspects leading to the best adjustment of the disabled persons with their environment. It also provides a critical overview of current welfare policies, programmes and the role of social workers and the community at large.

The contents of the book have been broadly divided into seven chapters. Chapter one deals with various concepts relating to disability. Chapter two provides detailed information about the legal dimensions of disability. The information provided about various Acts could be very useful to persons in the field. Chapters three to six describe various kinds of disabilities, both physical and mental, in great detail. Chapter seven deals with welfare policies and strategies for rehabilitation of disabled persons in India.

The book is meant to be useful to students of social work, sociology, psychology and other related subjects. The extensive bibliography given at the end of the book is highly impressive. However, very little evidence of such in-depth and vast reference work is available in the text itself. More care could have gone into editing, avoiding literary and grammatical shortcomings in the text. The IQ ratings are repeated on pages 149 and 152, without any rational explanation for the same. However, the information on legal as well as policy matters will be useful to the reader.

GEORGINA PETER

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Features
Previous : Monetary policies and reforms
Next     : Illusive, mocking reality?