INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RESPONSES TO DISABILITY [PEOPLE WHO ARE DIFFERENTLY ABLED]

5 6 October 2016; Elephant Hills Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

NOTIFICATION AND CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
Great Zimbabwe University and the Jairos Jiri Association will co-host an international conference on responses to disability / people who are
differently abled. The conference is dedicated to the advancement of the theory and practice of community-oriented approaches to service
provision for people who live with disadvantage and vulnerability in order to enhance their participation and quality of life. This conference
is an opportunity to promote collaboration between cross-disciplinary academics and professionals in disability service practice in
rehabilitation, inclusive and special needs education. We are now calling for abstracts for papers on empirical studies, good practice and
theoretical reviews on the theme:
RESPONSES TO DISABILITY IN AFRICAN SETTINGS
The sub-themes for the conference include but are not confined to the following:
SUB-THEMES
1. REHABILITATION

Community living

Community based rehabilitation

Universal design

Employment: New solutions to old challenges

Multi-agency partnerships

Equity

Institutional support for community based

rehabilitation

Advocacy and social justice

Disability rights

International conventions and charters

Legislation and policy

2. INCLUSION

Community participation

Quality of life issues

Assistive technology

Transition to employment

Multi-agency partnerships

Advocacy and social justice

Disability rights

International charters

Competing paradigms in inclusive education

Challenges and opportunities in inclusive

education

Local legislation and policies

3. SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION

New and emerging opportunities

From research to practice and back

Early identification and intervention: challenges

and opportunities

Equitable assessment practices

Curricula for pupils with intellectual disabilities

Children with severe and multiple disabilities in

education

Learners with visual impairment

Sign Language in education

Teaching gifted, talented and creative learners

with disabilities

Teaching pupils with specific learning disabilities

Orphans and other vulnerable groups in education

Key-note speaker:
Professor Elias Mpofu, PhD (UW-Madison), DEd (UP); CRC, FASORC,
MAPS, is a qualified rehabilitation counsellor and recipient of three
international research awards in rehabilitation. These are: Mary Switzer
Distinguished Researcher Award (2008), National Council on
Rehabilitation Education (NCRE) and the American Rehabilitation
Counselling Association Research Award (2007). He was also awarded the
Rehabilitation Educator of the Year by the NCRE (2010) and Fellow of the
Australian Society of Rehabilitation Counsellors (2013). He published a
seminal edited book on Counselling People of African Ancestry
(Cambridge University Press, 2011) among many other books, book
chapters and journal articles. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Australian Journal
of Rehabilitation Counselling (Cambridge University Press) and the
Journal of Psychology in Africa (Taylor and Francis). Professor Mpofu
currently teaches at the University of Sydney in Australia, and has
experience teaching in the United States and in Africa.
Publication
All speakers will be invited to extend their presentations into full papers in
order for these to be considered for publication in a special issue of Great
Zimbabwe Universitys Dzimbahwe Journal of Multidisciplinary Research
[DJMR].
Important Dates
1st September 2016: Last date for Notification of Acceptance
1st September 2016: Registration Opens
5th to 6th October 2016: Conference
Other important information
Conference venue: Elephant Hills Hotel, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
Main Language: English
Presentation formats: Plenary presentation, poster presentation and parallel
presentations
Abstract Format and Submission Process
Abstracts should follow the generic format of purpose, method, results and
contribution to knowledge without necessarily using these sub-headings.
The abstracts should not exceed 200 words. Abstracts are to be submitted
as word documents to: research@gzu.ac.zw.
Registration Fees
For all accepted abstracts, registration fees must be received by the
Secretariat by 26th September 2016. Registration fees are US$250.00 for all
delegates.
Further Information
For more information please contact research@gzu.ac.zw or phone +263
776 440 804