All Institute

12/07/202117/10/2022

The Loud Silence on Disability and Sexuality; My perspective.

Social Lives

Author: Mohamed Maalim – PhD Researcher, of the ALL Institute, Department of Psychology, Maynooth University

Mohamed Maalim

11^thof July is celebrated as World Population day to highlight global issues on sexual and reproductive health and rights gender equality and the right to family life. Personally, as a husband and father to five children, am blessed and privileged to be able to exercise this fundamental human right to family life and family unity as enshrined in international and European human rights provisions. Many people, however, including people with disabilities, refugees, and others requiring international protection do not enjoy the right to adequate sexual and reproductive health in particular.

In this piece, I will discuss sexuality issues for people with disabilities from the perspectives of personal understanding and professional practice both as a research student and a registered Occupational Therapist. From an Occupational Therapy point of view, sexuality is considered an activity of daily living (ADL) by the American Association of Occupational Therapists. Occupational therapists may include sexuality as part of a routine evaluation of clients and address this area in occupational therapy interventions. Sexual activity and intimate social participation are part of meaningful occupational participation contributing to personal satisfaction while sharing intimate relationships may potentially impact one’s wellbeing and quality of life. Sexuality should not be misconstrued to mean only physical intimacy but as a holistic concept encompassing sexual activity, decisions, communication, identity, and choice.

01/07/202117/10/2022

Protecting and Promoting Legal Capacity of Persons with Disabilities: Disentangling the Relationship between the CRPD and International Private Law in the Italian Legal System

Social Structures

Author: Francesca Albi, J.D. Candidate – Università degli Studi di Verona (Italy)

Francesca Albi

Persons with disabilities represent human diversity and their inherent dignity must be recognised. In legal terms, the protection of human dignity is linked to the recognition and respect of the right to legal capacity, which is established by Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). According to this provision, persons with disabilities have the right to legally act on an equal basis with others. Even though they may need support and reasonable accommodations, disability cannot be used to justify the denial of the right of persons with disabilities to make their own choices concerning their lives. To this aim, supported (and not substituted) decision-making mechanisms must be provided to help them in decision-making processes.

Since international mobility of adults (including those with disabilities) is an increasing phenomenon in the contemporary globalized world, international human rights instruments acquire special relevance regarding the exercise of civil rights in transnational situations. In that connection private international law, which has been defined as ‘the body of conventions, model laws, national laws, legal guides, and other documents and instruments that regulate private relationships across national borders’, must be read in conjunction with international human rights norms. To this end, legal scholars (Franzina, 2012; Franzina, 2015; Franzina and Long, 2016, 106-177; Franzina, 2019; Long, 2013) who investigate the transnational protection of the rights of adults with disabilities speak of “integral approach” to identify the mutual influence of international human rights and private international law.

25/06/202117/10/2022

Day of the Seafarer

Social Structures

Author: Joanne McVeigh, Lecturer at the Department of Psychology and the ALL (Assisting Living & Learning) Institute, Maynooth University

Joanne McVeigh

June 25^th marks the Day of the Seafarer, an international campaign aiming to increase governments’ support for seafarers during the pandemic, but to also more broadly ensure fair treatment and equitable employment conditions for seafarers. We often fail to appreciate our reliance on the world’s 1,647,500 merchant seafarers for the effective functioning of the global economy. However, international trade is underpinned by maritime transport, whereby approximately 80% of the volume of global trade and 70% of the value of global trade are transported by sea. In the book Ninety Percent of Everything: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry that Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your Plate, British author Rose George questioned: “Who looks behind a television now and sees the ship that brought it? Who cares about the men who steered your breakfast cereal through winter storms? How ironic that the more ships have grown in size and consequence, the less space they take up in our imagination” (p. 2). Indeed, the importance of merchant shipping was brought into sharp focus by a container ship obstructing the Suez Canal in Egypt, through which more than 50 ships pass daily, constituting approximately 12% of world trade.

24/05/202117/10/2022

ALL Institute and the new HSE Digital Health Transformation Masters.

Social Structures

Authors: David Prendergast: Professor in the Department of Anthropology, Trevor Vaugh: PI at Mi:Lab, The Maynooth Innovation Lab and Assistant Professor in Department of Design Innovation, Linzi Ryan: Assistant Professor in Department of Design Innovation, Mac Maclachlan: Professor of Psychology and Social Inclusion, and Co-director of the ALL Institute

Image of a monitor in a casula office space - screen shows image of elderly persons hands resting on a walking stick on the top half white background on the bottom half. Text Reads CS6024 Digital Health and Wellbeing in the community. MSc in Digital Health Transformation. Underneath text reads: Trevor Vaugh & Linzi Ryan, David Prendergast & Mac MacLachlan, MAynooth University Dept of Design Innovation, Anthropology & Psychology. ALL Institute (Assisting Living and Learning). Logos on Bottom Left Hand Side of the Screen: HSE University of Limerick, Maynooth University, ALL Institute. — CS6024 Digital Health and Wellbeing in the community.
MSc in Digital Health Transformation.

On Wednesday 4th September 2019, the inaugural Health Service Executive ‘Digital Academy Forum’ was held at Dr Steeven’s Hospital in Dublin. During this meeting, Dr Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer for the HSE announced plans for an ambitious and experimental Masters in Digital Health Transformation to help build digital skills and train future leaders in health service innovation. Co-designed between the HSE and several Irish Universities, including Maynooth, Limerick, UCD, DCU NUI Galway and University College Cork, the new degree runs over 18 months and is open to HSE employees and the General Public.

In the first semester of the degree, students completed five modules on topics ranging from eHealth Systems and Standards, Health Information Modelling and Governance, Research Methods and Digital Health Service Transformation. In the second semester, topics such as Digital Health Change Management, Clinical Decision-Making, Data Science and AI in Healthcare were covered, along with a design innovation module on Digital Health and Wellbeing in the Community run by the Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute at Maynooth University. Building on these modules, students were expected to work on a substantial project designing, developing and deploying a digital solution within the Irish Healthcare system.

17/05/202117/10/2022

My Placement Experience with ALL Institute

Stories/Lived Experience

Author: Kimberly Wright, Postgraduate LLM student Global Legal Studies

Kimberly Wright

One of the main reasons I decided to pursue a Master’s Degree in Global Legal Studies after completing my Bachelor’s in Law was to obtain a better understanding of the global legal system in the hopes of one day working for an international organization, as well as to apply for a placement to gain practical experience in a reputable organization. From February to May of this year, I had the privilege of interning with Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute.

My first day with the ALL Institute I was incredibly nervous as I had no previous experience working in this field and it was completely different from what I was accustomed to. However, upon meeting the co-directors and their administrative lead for the first time, I was warmly welcomed and immediately put at ease.

05/05/202117/10/2022

Nothing About Us Without Us – Reflections on the European Day for Independent Living

Stories/Lived Experience

Author: James Cawley, Policy Officer, Independent Living Movement Ireland

James Cawley

First of all, a big thank you to the “ALL Blog” for asking me to contribute! When doing some reflections on the European Day for Independent Living I was thinking about what I would write. I’m writing this blog as a very proud Irish Disabled man who is a son, brother, husband, friend and co – worker. Quite often I’m asked to speak about Independent Living, so this particular piece is coming from my personal and professional lived experience. I attended mainstream education in primary and secondary and entered Maynooth University through the DARE scheme where I completed a BA in Business and Geography, a Professional Masters in Education and then a Certificate in Transformative education with the Turn To Teaching project there within the University. I’m delighted to write this blog as I’m a very proud “Maynooth Access Office” alumni – Rose Ryan and her team are legends in my book!! Of course, being from a big family and being the youngest of 9 siblings from rural County Longford I did everything I wanted from festivals to shark cage diving to ending up marrying my beautiful wife Ally and settling back in rural Longford.

I worked hard in college (and loved to party) and got to pursue my passion for teaching and then wanted to hone my activism skills and bring other people along with me as a collective. When the opportunity came up in Independent Living Movement Ireland (ILMI) I jumped at it and now work as policy officer for the National Disabled Persons Organisation (DPO). I also co – facilitate on the Disability Studies Certificate at Maynooth University.

For me, Independent Living is when all the pieces of the “Independent Living Jig saw” fit together which some include Housing, Transport, Employment and Personal Assistance Services (PAS). Independent Living Movement Ireland (ILMI) are a campaigning, national cross impairment disabled person’s organisation or DPO as defined under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

30/04/202117/10/2022

Digital Visual Arts and Cognitive Neuroscience: Keeping the “me” in memory research

Social Technologies

Author: Dr Richard Roche, Dept of Psychology

Maynooth Illuminations exhibition space - Maynooth University — Maynooth Illuminations exhibition space – Maynooth University

Memory is arguably the most important cognitive function we possess, and its loss leaves a profound gap in many aspects of life. The progressive deterioration of brain structures responsible for memory – so common in old age, and even more so in degenerative conditions – robs people of so much: their most treasured moments, their ability to recognise friends and family, their independence, their confidence, their very sense of self. While pharmaceutical remedies for memory decline remain unsuccessful, research with lifestyle-based, non-pharmacological interventions may offer promising avenues for the future. Among these approaches in Reminiscence Therapy, whereby older people – often in group settings – meet regularly to actively recall and share memories from earlier life epochs, with the process often steered by a moderator. At one time, older adults reminiscing was considered a worrying sign, suggesting some form of regression, but since Butler’s seminal paper in 1961, the benefits of reminiscence – resolving affairs, giving meaning to life – have been well studied, leading to the adoption of Reminiscence Therapy in many care homes and hospitals.

28/04/202128/04/2021

Let’s talk about non-verbal communication

Audio Version

Let’s talk about non-verbal communication – in Maynooth University. Authors: Shauna Louise Byrne, Sales Assistant, studying Sign Language and QQI Level 5 Medical Terminology & Kimberly Wright, Postgraduate LLM student Global Legal Studies. Voiced by Kimberly Wright

26/04/202117/10/2022

Towards an Inclusive Creativity: reCreating Europe for World Intellectual Property Day 2021

Authors: Giulia Priora – Postdoctoral researcher, Institute of Law Politics and Development, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies Pis, Caterina Sganga – Associate Professor, Institute of Law Politics and Development, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies Pisa, Arianna Martinelli – Associate Professor, Institute of Economics, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa

Social Structures

ReCreating Europe Logo

Today more than ever, digital technologies are revolutionizing the ways we express our creativity, access culture, information, and knowledge. Technology and, in particular, the Internet have the potential to bring an unprecedented democratization of our practices related to both the production and consumption of music, literature, news, movies, and so many other intellectual and artistic works. However, the reality still presents considerable uncertainties and profound inequalities: among the main obstacles to a sound democratization of creative and cultural processes are the complexity and obsolescence of laws and norms involved, the lack of awareness thereof, and a growing digital divide.

Copyright law is a fundamental building block in this shift towards digital creativity and digital access to culture. By protecting the creators’ exclusive rights to exploit their works and regulating the limits of such protection, copyright law essentially aims at striking a balance between the safeguard of creators and investors, on the one side, and end-users’ interests, on the other. The discipline boasts a long-standing European history, having started interacting and regulating the “offline” creative world over three centuries ago. The entry into the scene of digital technologies represents a significant disruption in the EU and national copyright legal frameworks as well as an opportunity to modernize the law.

21/04/202117/10/2022

Let’s talk about non-verbal communication

Stories/Lived Experience

Click here for Audio Version

Authors: Shauna Louise Byrne, Sales Assistant, studying Sign Language and QQI Level 5 Medical Terminology & Kimberly Wright, Postgraduate LLM student Global Legal Studies

Shauna Louise Byrne (LHS) Kimberly Wright (RHS)

“My name is Shauna Louise, and I was diagnosed with profound hearing loss at the age of 2. I contracted Scarlet Fever and have since lost 100 per cent of my ability to hear high frequency sounds. Throughout childhood, my teenage years and continuing into adulthood, my only form of communication is lip-reading.

The pandemic has highlighted just how much I rely on lip-reading as a primary method of communication in addition to the struggle of those around me to accommodate me by removing their face masks. Although, many deemed this as high-risk and left me feeling extremely isolated in my social and work life, resulting in me feeling as though I was a burden to those around me.

Consequently, I feel no other choice but to remove myself from social gatherings while it is required to wear a mask in public. The risk of asking someone to remove their masks when speaking to me isn’t a responsibility I want to bear. This goes as far as saying that I will only engage with people on video call as I can see their lips and it is safer, thereby lessening my physical social interactions where possible.

I have no shame in being Deaf and I embrace it as much as I can. I recently purchased hearing aids which allows me to pick up background noises. Furthermore, it has allowed me to connect to my phone where I can video call with ease, listen to music and has even allowed me to connect to my laptop so I can achieve my dream of completing an online course. This would have not been made possible without such hearing assistive technologies. Nevertheless, it does not provide me with the ability to communicate with others.

I think more awareness needs to be echoed in terms of accommodating those who are Deaf and hard of hearing. For instance, cinemas have their hearing aid loop signs to help those who wear hearing aids. I think all establishments should adopt similar strategies to allow those who are Deaf to have access to different ways of communication. In addition, I strongly believe that sign language should be provided as an optional language alongside Spanish, French, German, and others. It gives the opportunity to enable everyone to engage in a form of communication between the hearing world and the Deaf world” –Shauna Louise Byrne.

Shauna’s experience has prompted me to reflect on the rights of persons with disabilities, and on the need to value their diversity.

15/03/202117/10/2022

Including Patients and the Public in Research

Stories/Lived Experience

Author: Jamie Howell; PhD researcher, Department of Psychology, Maynooth University

Animation, 6 people on a blue background 3 healthcare practitioners 2 elderly people 1 person in a wheelchair and a female. — BioMed Central-

In recent years, health researchers have begun to embrace the concept of patient and public involvement (PPI). Rather than conducting research on or for various populations, we have begun to move towards working with patients and the public by prioritizing their needs and concerns. This allows researchers to learn from those who have lived experience and can help them design research projects which are more beneficial to the population being researched.

I first heard of PPI during my MSc, when my supervisor, Dr Rebecca Maguire encouraged me to include aspects of PPI in my research. Dr Maguire has worked as both a researcher and as a patient advocate, and her expertise has been invaluable to my own research.

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