Monitoring Individual Experiences Fact Sheet 2007 / 2008

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How does Monitoring Individual Experiences work within the DRPI Canada project?

Monitoring Individual Experiences is one of 4 interrelated themes of Disability Rights Promotion International – Canada (DRPI Canada) project that promotes a holistic view of the human rights situation of people with disabilities. The other three themes include Monitoring Media, Monitoring Policy and Law, and Monitoring Survey Datasets. DRPI Canada, funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, is a collaborative effort between universities and human rights and disability organizations, and works to establish a sustainable and comprehensive monitoring system to address disability discrimination in Canada.

What does it mean to Monitor Individual Experiences?

Monitoring Individual Experiences involves research on the documentation and verification of information regarding personal experiences of human rights violations.

Research Questions:

  • Are people with disabilities able to exercise their rights in their daily lives?
  • How is the exercise of rights by people with disabilities affected by intersecting forms of disadvantage (e.g. race, gender, ethnicity, immigration status, geographic location, age, education level, income level, sexuality and aboriginal status)?

How do we Monitor Individual Experiences?

Individuals with a wide range of disabilities tell their own stories and identify those rights issues of greatest concern to them through face-to-face interviews conducted by people with disabilities themselves. Fifty people who self-identify as having a disability will be interviewed at each one of 4 monitoring sites: Toronto, St. John’s, Quebec City, and Vancouver. Prior to engaging in data collection, the interviewers will participate in intensive training sessions in order to develop research ethics and monitoring skills.

Why is Monitoring Individual Experiences important?

Evidence-based information about the way people with disabilities face discrimination is essential to fully inform effective policy and program changes directed to achieving full equality in the lives of Canadians with disabilities.

Monitoring Individual Experiences – Team Members

  • Marcia Rioux, Project Director, York University
  • Normand Boucher, Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherche en Réadaptation et Intégration Sociale (CIRRIS), Laval University
  • Steven Estey, Council of Canadians with Disabilities
  • Sandra Carpenter, Centre for Independent Living, Toronto
  • Isabel Kiloran, York University
  • Mihaela Dinca, DRPI Canada Project Coordinator, 416-736-2100 ext. 20883

Organizational Partners