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| Hungarian Journal of Disability Studies & Special Education 2022/2 | SPECIAL ISSUE
| A fogyatékosságtudomány folyóirata |
4
Introduction to the Special Issue of the periodical
Hungarian Journal of Disability Studies & Special
Education: Support mechanisms and independent
living during and after the COVID-19 pandemic
’The COVID-19 experience may oer contextual experience of the
prepandemic lives of persons with disabilities and in doing so foster
greater social responsibility and opportunities for change and a more
inclusive society’. (Ebuenyi et al., 2020, p. 1.)
As Guest Editors of the Hungarian Journal of Disability Studies & Special Education,
we are pleased to share the last Special Issue of 2022: Support mechanisms and
independent living during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 experience has shaken our society and presented us with many
challenges. However, as the authors (Ebuenyi et al., 2020) cited above point out,
it is precisely the experience of this crisis that has brought us all much closer to
the sense of isolation, loneliness, and vulnerability that people with disabilities often
experience. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, heavy pressure has been put on people,
families, communities, and service systems. Among others, the everyday lives of
children, adults, elderly persons with disabilities, and their support network has
changed considerably. As social distancing and the closure of social institutions were
considered primary forms of protecting people from infection, several elements of
formal and informal relationships and mechanisms of support have been challenged.
The usual social activities built on personal contacts needed – and still need – to be
reorganized.
Underlying the human rights mediated by the UNCRPD are the barriers that
pervaded the daily lives of people with disabilities before the COVID -19 pandemic.
Unfortunately, the situations that many people are experiencing in the dicult days
of the pandemic are very similar: quarantine, curfews, and reduced, impeded or
non-existent social interactions have all evoked the institutional conditions that have
been fought for decades in the process of deinstitutionalization around the world.
Nevertheless, the COVID-19 experience has created a new perspective in many
people, contributing to a broader understanding and appreciation of the social and
human rights model of disability (Armitage & Nellums, 2020; Ebuenyi et al., 2020).
This special issue of the Hungarian Journal of Disability Studies & Special
Education brings us closer to understanding what characterized the everyday lives
EDITORIAL PREFACE
DOI 10.31287/FT.en.2022.2.1
| Hungarian Journal of Disability Studies & Special Education 2022/2 | SPECIAL ISSUE
| A fogyatékosságtudomány folyóirata |
5
of people with disabilities during the pandemic. The issue presents Hungarian and
international empirical research articles and case studies on good practices on
support mechanisms and independent living for people with disabilities during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The rst two studies of the Special Issue deal with the COVID-19 challenges
in the eld of education. Ryan O. Kellems, Alex W. Wheatley, Doug Petersen, and
Elizabeth A. Cutrer- Pá rraga examine how the provision of special education services
for students with disabilities was implemented in the context of remote learning in the
USA. This study is based on the perceptions of teachers and parents, similar to the
article by Katalin Mező who aimed to present the impact of the pandemic on teaching
students with learning disabilities. In this article, not only challenges but alternative
support mechanisms are addressed that special educators used, in order to deal with
the challenges of distance education.
Viktória Pázmány, Ágota Barabás, and Renáta J. Erdei introduce an online pilot
program for young athletes – with and without intellectual disabilities – to compensate
for the lack of face-to-face sports activities during the pandemic. Their preliminary
focus groups highlighted the need for continuing training so that young people could
maintain their physical tness and, at the same time, reduce their sense of isolation.
Sára Csillag, Jácint Farkas, Zsóa Fekete-Frojimovics, Adrienne Nagy, and
Csilla Petykó interviewed restaurant owners who employ persons with disabilities.
While the hospitality sector was severely aected by the pandemic, the authors found
that disability is a “controversial issue” in the owners’ narratives. The challenges in
supported decision-making of persons with intellectual disabilities are represented in
the Special Issue in an article by Rita Farkasné Gönczi. The author describes how
professionals and NGOs published easy-to-understand content on COVID-related
information.
There are two articles in the Special Issue based on surveys with larger sample
sizes. Barbara Czeizel, Boróka Fehér, Krisztina Hajtó, Gabriella Safcsák, and Réka
Vályi conducted an online survey among families on access to early intervention
services. In their article, the Early Intervention Centre Budapest operation is
described as a good practice. On a sample of 1500 persons, Julianna Boros, Edmond
Girasek, Bence Döbrössy, Anna Susánszky, and Zsuzsa Győry analyzed whether
there is a dierence in the use of digital health solutions between persons with and
without disabilities.
We highly recommend all of the articles to our Readers.
Budapest, November 2022.
Borbála Bányai PhD, Lucia Csabai PhD and Nóra Menich PhD
Guest Editors of the Special Issue
References
Armitage, R. & Nellums, L. B. (2020). The COVID-19 response must be disability inclusive.
Lancet Public Health 2020;5:e257. https://doi.o rg/10.1016/S2468 -26 67(20)30076 -1
Ebuenyi, I. D., Smith, E. M., Holloway, C., et al. (2020). COVID-19 as social disability: the
opportunity of social empathy for empowerment. BMJ Global Health 2020;5:e003039.
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003039