What is DisAbuse?

Disabuse is a 2 year project that is part of the Erasmus Plus Programme, Key Action 2 “Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices”.

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 See www.disabuse.eu

The project involved 5 partners from 4 European countries:

Map of Ireland with national anti bullying research center logo and iadt logo

Ireland
Dublin City University & 
Institute of Art, Design and Technology
 

Italy
Fondazione Mondo Digitale
 

Portugal
ICSTE-IUL, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa

Spain
UM-The University of Murcia, Spain

What is ‘disablist bullying’?

Bullying related to a child’s Special Education Need (SEN) or Disablity (D) is commonly known as ‘disablist bullying’.  This type of bullying can be defined as intimidating, manipulative, hurtful, or insulting behaviour related to a perceived or actual disability. Literature across Europe indicates that people with SEN/D are more likely to be a victim of bullying, and interventions that addresses this topic are very important and needed.

The DisAbuse project aims to tackle disablist bullying by learning from the experiences of both young people and adults with Special Educational Needs with Disabilities (SEN/D). DisAbuse has created training modules, hosted on the training tab on the www.disabuse.eu website, which are available to both people with SEN/D, and those who educate or work with them. The aim is to empower these young people and adults, support services and teachers to take charge around the issue of disablist bullying and to stop it from happening.
 

These interactive materials will teach people about bullying and their right to learn and keep safe from it. This will help those who are bullied to be confident and feel that they are important valued citizens who want to live a good life as equal and valued members of their community. This project will support and educate, teachers and trainers in promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion. 

To tackle the reality of disablist bullying the Anti Bullying Research and Resource Centre (ABC) at DCU in Ireland have been engaging in research and delivering Stop Bullying Courses to help tackle and empower people to take charge and interrupt this form of very prevalent bullying.

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The Disbuse platform (www.disabuse.eu

The Disbuse platform (www.disabuse.eu) has been developed by the Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT) in Dublin. The platform, which has a rich graphical user interface, provides all interested stakeholders access to information and training materials on disablist bullying. These include teachers, teacher trainers, individuals with special educational needs and disabilities (SEN(D), parents and all other schools’ professionals and  interested groups.

The public section of the platform provides information on the Disabuse project. It provides information about disablist bullying, the 5 partner institutions involved and updates on all activities of the project. It has a translation option for English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. It also has an easy to read section about the project and a glossary of terms with rich graphic content for SEN(D) users.

The project has developed 6 modules, which are available via the Training tab. The Disabuse platform is building a cooperative approach among the partner countries to prevent and fight disablist bullying.

The DisAbuse Project YouTube channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRmDrUrpeYKHMiEKuf06ptQ

The DisAbuse Project YouTube channel hosts purpose-built videos by the Partners from Ireland, Italy, Spain and Portugal explaining: 

  • The project and its aspects
  • How it works, 
  • Reflections on the training by both Facilitators and Service Users 
  • The materials that help make up the project and
  • Reflections on Disablist bullying by users

The first of these: Sarah Jane’s Story is already available for viewing, as she talks about her experiences as someone with SEN/D in both a care setting and while out working, what she thinks about those who carry out the bullying and what she feels should be done/what she would like to say to them.  

Please visit the Channel and be sure to subscribe to be alerted to updates.

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