Is MIUSA a funding agency?

No. MIUSA is not a funding organization although we do supply a resource list that may be of use to you.

Does MIUSA and IDD sponsor international visitors for their entrance into the United States?

Neither MIUSA nor IDD sponsor visitors to the United States.

What are InterAction’s Private Voluntary Organization (PVO) Standards?

The Standards were born in 1989 and are intended to ensure and strengthen public confidence in the integrity, quality, and effectiveness of member organizations and their programs. These high and objective self-applied standards set InterAction members apart from many other charitable organizations. In 2000 InterAction passed disability amendments to the PVO standards, resulting in a broader definition of diversity.

Do you have a readily accessible resource for development organizations that are interested in being more inclusive in their projects but just do not know where to begin?

Yes. Please see the Manual on Building an Inclusive Development Community. See also the Checklist for Inclusion.

What organizations besides MIUSA are actively looking to hire interns with disabilities?

At different times in the year, our Model Partner Organizations (MPOs) hire qualified interns. These organizations encourage people with disabilities to apply.

What information/sources do you have for hiring qualified people with disabilities?

The Human Resources Toolbox for Resources for Recruiting and Accommodating People with Disabilities is a good place to start.  Also, this tool will provide you with strategies for key issues on disability inclusion in project design and implementation, such as “Budgeting for Inclusion.”

We don’t discriminate against people with disabilities in our programs, yet we find that there are VERY few people participating. Could you shed some light on this phenomenon?

Yes. Over the years, extraordinary social change movements have lead to increased and improved disability policy both in the USA and abroad. Although many steps have been taken in the right direction for the empowerment of people with disabilities (PWDs), big contrasts remain as a proof of continued worldwide oppression against people with disabilities. As a consequence, PWDs are either denied, or are significantly limited in their fundamental human rights and freedoms. International development and humanitarian assistance organizations, however, can affect the dire circumstances experienced by so many PWDs around the world by including them in their programming and projects which will therefore serve to challenge the unrelenting cycles of exclusion, persecution and neglect experienced by PWDs.

Can you give us more information about the appropriate terms when referring to people with disabilities?

Yes. Please see the Human Resources Toolbox “Tips for Appropriate Language” chapter.

I’ve heard about the shift from Medical Model Paradigm to a Human Rights Paradigm (Social Model). Could you tell me more about this?

The most significant contrast between the social model and the medial model is that the social model sees that the “problem of disability” is not with the individual – but with society and how society treats people with disabilities. When society tries to “cure” a person of a disability, the focus is not on the person, but rather the disability that in turn defines the person, leaving the person without an identity other than the medical terms imposed upon them. This leads into the medical model approach to disability:

Medical Model Paradigm:
Working with people with disabilities has so often been framed as a medical concern that some development organizations consider working with people with disabilities outside of their mission and more suited to medical, charity and social work. Such an approach is ‘disabling’ in society. Disability, when approached from a medical point of view, focuses on a condition that is not considered “normal.” The medical response to “abnormality” is providing a cure or care. The person with a disability is cast in the permanent role of “patient.” The medical or institutional approach traditionally attempts to alter, mold or repair the human body to bring it to as near “normal” as possible, rather than making any changes to the environment.

Human Rights Paradigm / Social Model:
The social model of disability defines the term “disability” as discrimination via attitudinal, environmental, and institutional barriers. People with disabilities will be included in society when attitudinal, environmental and institutional barriers and discrimination are removed from society.

The Disability Community’s approach to disability in society is human rights via inclusiveness – Within the disability community “inclusion” is a term that signifies a method to active integration and full participation in the life of the community. The word tends to refer to an antidote to historic isolation and segregation of people with disabilities. For some it also stands for political empowerment – for taking a seat at the table. Inclusion does not mean separate or special programs only for people with disabilities, though it does not suggest that certain medical and rehabilitation programs are inappropriate. Rather, by removing policy, attitudinal and architectural barriers, people with disabilities can participate – be included – in all aspects of society, as can people who do not have disabilities.