The principles of Inclusivity acknowledge individuals have unique and particular needs in the learning and work environment.
They include respect each individual's right to express and present themselves relative to their religion, culture, ethnic background, sexual orientation, gender-identity, physical and mental ability.
Inclusiveness of differently-abled young people differs from accessibility in that it doesn't specifically address a particular need or problem that the audience may have, but instead provides a spectrum of tools and features that the end user can choose from to fit their requirements in that given environment or context.
Accessibility involves designing systems to optimise access. Being inclusive is about giving equal access and opportunities to everyone wherever possible. In education this involves reducing and overcoming the barriers that might occur in:
- Digital content
- Teaching and learning activities
- Assessments
The social model of disability suggests that the society or environment is disabling the individual rather than their impairment or difference. For example, not providing captions on videos will disadvantage anyone watching in a noisy environment, but lack of captions disadvantages deaf and hard of hearing people all the time.
The EYNCRIN dedicates a program on the inclusion of young people with disabilities, which we prefer to call "Differently-abled young people".
With the term-shirting, we focus on the abilities and the young people, not on their dis-abilities.
We understand the youth disability inclusion as the understanding of the relationship between the way young people function and how they participate in society, and making sure everybody has the same opportunities to participate in every aspect of life to the best of their abilities and desires.
Inclusion of differently-abled young people into everyday activities involves practices and policies designed to identify and remove barriers such as physical, communication, and attitudinal, that hamper individuals' ability to have full participation in society, the same as people without disabilities.