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Callista Kahonde

Postdoctoral fellow, Disability & Rehabilitation Studies, Stellenbosch University

I am a passionate disability researcher and advocate with a background in Physiotherapy and a PhD in Disability Studies. My specific interest is in giving a voice to people with intellectual disabilities and their families, especially in areas of family and community living, sexuality and reproductive health. My PhD study explored the responses of family caregivers to the sexuality of young adults with intellectual disabilities. This was followed by postdoctoral research that explored adults with intellectual disabilities' knowledge, perceptions and experiences of sexuality. The other component of my postdoctoral work explored perceptions and responses of service providers (staff) working with adults with intellectual disabilities towards these adults' sexuality issues.

My passion to make research outputs and other textual material accessible to people with intellectual disabilities and those with difficulties in reading led to my training as an Easy-to-Read document writer through a course run by the Cape Mental Health in South Africa. To date, I have produced an Easy-to-Read booklet and a video entitled My Body, My Rights, My Choices for educating adults with intellectual disabilities about sexual abuse. I have worked with NGOs as a disability research consultant and technical advisor assisting them with developing research proposals, applying for research grants and dissemination of findings through written reports and online platforms. I also love teaching and engaging with students through postgraduate supervision and mentoring in academic writing and qualitative research methods. Currently, I am an associate editor for Africa's main disability journal, the African Journal of Disability (AJOD) and a board member and African representative of the Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities (PIMD) Special Interest Research Group of the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IASSIDD). I am also a member of the governing board of the African Network for Evidence-to-Action in Disability (AfriNEAD) and a member of the task team spearheading the programmes and events of the newly established African Intellectual and Developmental Researchers Network.

Experience

  • –present
    Postdoctoral fellow, Stellenbosch University

Education

  • 2017 
    University of Cape Town, PhD/Disability Studies