Sport is a cultural phenomenon that has spread throughout the world (Harvey & Houle, 1994). For youth, sport is perceived as a context that can play a major role in person’s psychosocial development across their life-span (Danish, Petitpas, & Hale, 2007). However, despite the increase in research in this field, very little work has examined how sport may play a role in the psychosocial development of youth with intellectual disabilities (ID). Moreover, an area of study that has also grown related to the lived experiences of individuals living with a disability including ID is social inclusion (SI). Similar to research related to psychosocial development, very little research has been conducted to examine whether the context of sport can foster social inclusion for youth with ID. Special Olympics Canada (SOC) is an organization “dedicated to enriching the lives of Canadians with an intellectual disability through sport” (SOC, 2010, “SOC Mission Statement”, para.1) and may be an organization that has the potential to positively impact the lives of its youth participants. Thus, the purpose of this research was to examine whether stakeholders perceived SO as impacting the psychosocial development and social inclusion. The results indicated that SO, by all stakeholders, is perceived as an organization that is facilitating the psychosocial development of its athletes through the incorporation of strong social support networks and the development of life skills. In addition, SO was perceived as facilitating social inclusion for youth, particularly in the context of school and their surrounding community.

Sport is a cultural phenomenon that has spread throughout the world (Harvey & Houle, 1994). For youth, sport is perceived as a context that can play a major role in person’s psychosocial development across their life-span (Danish, Petitpas, & Hale, 2007). However, despite the increase in research in this field, very little work has examined how sport may play a role in the psychosocial development of youth with intellectual disabilities (ID). Moreover, an area of study that has also grown related to the lived experiences of individuals living with a disability including ID is social inclusion (SI). Similar to research related to psychosocial development, very little research has been conducted to examine whether the context of sport can foster social inclusion for youth with ID. Special Olympics Canada (SOC) is an organization “dedicated to enriching the lives of Canadians with an intellectual disability through sport” (SOC, 2010, “SOC Mission Statement”, para.1) and may be an organization that has the potential to positively impact the lives of its youth participants. Thus, the purpose of this research was to examine whether stakeholders perceived SO as impacting the psychosocial development and social inclusion. The results indicated that SO, by all stakeholders, is perceived as an organization that is facilitating the psychosocial development of its athletes through the incorporation of strong social support networks and the development of life skills. In addition, SO was perceived as facilitating social inclusion for youth, particularly in the context of school and their surrounding community.

Tidigare forskning har visat att barn med typisk utveckling går från en visuell strategi till en fonologisk. Huruvida denna utveckling sker hos personer med utvecklingsstörning är oklart. De flesta forskare är överens om att dessa personer har en nedsättning i den fonologiska loopen. Om denna nedsättning beror på strukturella avvikelser eller utvecklingsförsening är forskarna inte eniga om. Det är även oklart var en eventuell strukturnedsättning skulle sitta. Studiens syfte var att undersöka om ungdomar med utvecklingsstörning använder sig av en fonologisk strategi, styrd av den fonologiska loopen, vid visuellt presenterat arbetsminnestest. Ordlängdseffekten, spann på bilder, ordproduktionshastighet samt korrelationen mellan de två sistnämnda undersöktes. Resultaten jämfördes mot en mental kontrollgrupp matchad i mental ålder. Ingen av grupperna uppvisade någon ordlängdseffekt på arbetsminnets kapacitetsnivå (spannivå) men den mental åldersmatchade gruppen uppvisade detta på spannivå plus en enhet.  Båda grupperna visade en positiv korrelation mellan spann och ordproduktionshastighet. Det går att diskutera hurvida testning har skett av ordproduktionshastighet eller benämningshastighet. Det är därför svårt att dra slutsatser utifrån resultaten men de skulle kunna tyda på att ungdomarna med utvecklingsstörning använder sig av en annan minnesstrategi än barnen med typisk utveckling. Möjligtvis använder sig ungdomarna med utvecklingsstörning av en fonologisk strategi men spekultioner om eventuell koppling till långtidsminnet eller användning av en visuell strategi tas upp. En förklaring till att de använder sig av en annan strategi skulle kunna vara att de faktiskt har en strukturell nedsättning i någon del av den fonologiska loopen. / Previous research has found that children with typical development begin with a visual memory strategy and then develop a phonological strategy. Whether this development takes place in individuals with intellectual disabilities is unclear. Most researchers agree that they seem to have a deficiency in the phonological loop. Researchers disagree whether the deficiency is caused by a structural deviation or a developmental delay. What is also unclear is where a possible structural deviation would be located. The purpose of this study was to investigate if adolescents with intellectual disabilities use a phonological memory strategy, controlled by the phonological loop, at a visually presented memory span test. Word length effect, span level on pictures, speech rate and the correlation between the latter two was investigated. The results were compared to a control group, matched for mental age. None of the groups showed any word length effect at their working memory capacity level but the control group showed a word length effect at capacity level plus one unit. Both of the groups showed a positive correlation between speech rate and span. It can be discussed whether speech rate or naming speed is tested. Owing to that it is difficult to draw any conclusions from the results. Regardless of what we have tested the results could indicate that the adolescents with intellectual disability use a different memory strategy than the children with typical development. One possible conclusion is that the adolescents with intellectual disability apply a phonological memory strategy but speculations about the use of long-term memory and a visual strategy are also discussed. One explanation could be that adolescents with intellectual disability have a structural deficiency in the phonological loop.

The understandings and treatments of the sexual rights of people with intellectual and psychological disabilities vary in different societies. However, one issue that is common in most societies is that this group of people experiences the highest rates of sexual violence and is regularly a-sexualized. Much attention has been paid to the increasingly visible issues of sexual violence in Latin America in a gendered and racial context, however recent scholarship has neglected to look at sexual violence in the context of people with disabilities. In this text, I aim to uncover how the human rights, and more specifically, sexual rights, are understood and treated for this highly marginalized group of people in Guatemala, a country that has endured heavy amounts of violence and trauma both contemporarily and historically. Through ethnographic fieldwork conducted at institutions for disability services in urban Guatemala, I paint a picture of how the contemporary social and political climate involving violence, nearly complete impunity for crimes, culturally engrained patriarchal norms and neoliberal policies affect this group of people who are often depoliticized through patronizing portrayals in media and the public arena. Using in depth investigations of Guatemalan law and observational work and interviews conducted in public government-funded institutions, NGOs and non-profit organizations and human rights organizations, I seek to reveal the paradigms within the disparate types of institutions for understanding and treating people with disabilities. By questioning the institutional perceptions and treatments of the sexuality and sexual abuse of people with intellectual and psychological disabilities, I seek to examine the different ways cognitive disability has been socially constructed in Guatemala and the different reasons behind this group's social abandonment and high rates of sexual violence towards them. This work problematizes medical and charity models utilized for understanding disability that have been implemented through law, institutional and public policies, and societal misconceptions. This research also challenges Western disability policies and conceptions that have been imposed in developing countries like Guatemala, and questions the possibility to create spaces of local disability rights activism in spite of high risk factors for violence and neoliberal policies that limit political protest. / text

Syftet med studien är att beskriva erfarenheter elever i gymnasiesärskolan har av ämnet matematik. Den teoretiska ansatsen utgår från grunderna i konstruktionismen och Berger och Luckmann's (2008) kunskapssociologiska förhållningssätt. Jag analyserar mina resultat utifrån Hacking (2000) och ett socialkonstruktionistiskt perspektiv. Studien är kvalitativ och gruppintervju används som metod. I gruppintervjun deltog sju elever som går i olika årskurser på gymnasiesärskolan. Eleverna går i Handelsprogrammet, Hotel och Restaurangprogrammet och Naturbruksprogrammet. Fokus i analysen är på vilka konstruktioner av skolämnet matematik, sig själva som matematikelever och nyttan med matematikkunskaper som eleverna gör. Resultatet visar att matematik som skolämne ses som ett nödvändigt ont och något som upplevs som svårt men viktigt. Det upplevs också som onödigt av vissa elever. Men även om relationen till matematik och rollen som matematikelev uppvisar kluvenhet, så var eleverna överens om att matematik var nyttigt att kunna i vardagslivet. Det fanns en stor samstämmighet bland de intervjuade eleverna om att man klarar sig bättre som vuxen om man kan matematik. / The purpose of the study is to describe the experiences students in Upper Secondary Special School have from the subject mathematics. The theoretical approach is based on the fundamentals of constructionism and Berger and Luckmann's (2008) approach to sociological knowledge. I analyse my results through Hacking (2000) and a social constructionistic perspective. The study is qualitative and a qualitative group interview is used as method. In the group interview, seven students in different levels on Upper Secondary Special School, participated. The students attend the Tradeprogram, Hotel and Restaurantprogram and Natural Resources Program. The focus of the analyse is which different constructions of the school matemathic, themselves as mathlearners and the usefulness of mathematics knowledge, that the students do. The result shows that mathematics as a school subject is seen as a necessary trouble and something that is perceived as difficult but important. It is also perceived as unnecessary by some students. But even if the relation to mathematics and the role of mathematics student exhibits ambivalence, the students were agreed that mathematics is useful to everyday life. There was a broad consensus among the interviewed students that you are doing better as an adult if you know mathematics.

The ability to perform everyday life occupations is a critical component in both evaluation and intervention for persons with mental retardation (MR). While the ability to perform personal and instrumental activities of daily living (ADL) has always been important for occupational therapy (OT) practice, there is an absence in OT literature and research with a focus on ADL and persons with MR. The overall aim of this thesis was to evaluate the validity of the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS) for evaluation and intervention of ADL ability for persons with MR. In order to evaluate the evidence of validity of the AMPS ability measures based on relation to level of MR, two groups of participants with MR were evaluated with the AMPS (,#=22; #= 39). The results indicated expected moderate relationships between ADL motor and ADL process ability measures and level of MR, despite different methods used for evaluating level of MR. The results also indicated that the results of the AMPS evaluation could be used to directly describe and measure the consequences in performance of ADL tasks for persons with different levels of MR. The evidence of validity of the AMPS was further examined in a study including participants with different types of developmental disabilities (e.g., MR, cerebral palsy, spina bifida) (#=1724). An application of many-faceted Rasch analysis was used to examine goodness-of-fit of the responses for the tasks, skill items, and participants included in the study. All tasks and all items except one demonstrated acceptable goodness-of-fit to the model on the ADL motor and ADL process scales. An expected proportion of participants demonstrated acceptable goodness-of-fit on the ADL motor scale. On the ADL process scale, a slightly lower proportion of participants than expected demonstrated acceptable goodness-of-fit. The results indicated further that persons with more severe levels of MR and persons with more limited ADL process abilities demonstrated different response patterns across tasks and possibly items. The evidence of validity of the internal structure of the AMPS scales was also evaluated between persons with mild and moderate MR (#=178; #=170). Group specific ADL motor and ADL process skill item hierarchies were generated using many-faceted Rasch analyses and compared. The hierarchies of ADL motor and ADL process skill items remained stable across groups, indicating evidence of validity of the AMPS scales when used to evaluate persons with MR. The results also indicated that although participants with moderate MR demonstrated overall lower mean ADL motor and ADL process ability, they did perform some specific ADL motor and ADL process skills at a similar level as persons with mild MR. Finally, the utility of the AMPS ability measures for detecting change were examined in an intervention study including three female participants with moderate MR. The study was based on a single case design and evaluated the effectiveness of a structured occupational therapy intervention program. Improvements were found for the participants in relation to the implementation of the program, but the pattern of changes were different between the participants and across the dependent variables. ADL process ability was the only variable that improved across all participants. The results supported the ADL process abilities as sensitive measures for detecting changes in ADL ability of persons with MR. In conclusion, the results of these studies contribute to the evidence of validity of the AMPS ability measures and scales, specifically in relation to the evaluation of persons with MR. The finding that an OT program resulted in improved ADL process ability also suggest that the results of the AMPS can be used to plan as well as evaluate outcomes of OT practice. Further research is also suggested in order to improve validity evidence and utility of the AMPS when used with persons with MR. / <p>Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Umeå universitet, 2003</p>

Sport is a cultural phenomenon that has spread throughout the world (Harvey & Houle, 1994). For youth, sport is perceived as a context that can play a major role in person’s psychosocial development across their life-span (Danish, Petitpas, & Hale, 2007). However, despite the increase in research in this field, very little work has examined how sport may play a role in the psychosocial development of youth with intellectual disabilities (ID). Moreover, an area of study that has also grown related to the lived experiences of individuals living with a disability including ID is social inclusion (SI). Similar to research related to psychosocial development, very little research has been conducted to examine whether the context of sport can foster social inclusion for youth with ID. Special Olympics Canada (SOC) is an organization “dedicated to enriching the lives of Canadians with an intellectual disability through sport” (SOC, 2010, “SOC Mission Statement”, para.1) and may be an organization that has the potential to positively impact the lives of its youth participants. Thus, the purpose of this research was to examine whether stakeholders perceived SO as impacting the psychosocial development and social inclusion. The results indicated that SO, by all stakeholders, is perceived as an organization that is facilitating the psychosocial development of its athletes through the incorporation of strong social support networks and the development of life skills. In addition, SO was perceived as facilitating social inclusion for youth, particularly in the context of school and their surrounding community.

This study examines how the staff at a serviced housing for persons with developmental disabilities understands and manage their professional roles, and how they interact with the users. The material consists mainly of participant observation and interviews with duty personnel. The study has an existentialist/phenomenological framework and describes how personnel perceived their work situation as problematic and how this affected the staff's way of relating to and interact with the users. There was instances in which the staff exercised power over the users. The thesis also shows how the staff's jointly designed practical routine had compromising effects on the ethical principles they highlighted as important to follow in the interviews. The study shows that it is possible to understand the gap between the staff's ideals and practices based on their efforts to establish security, continuity and predictability in a situation that was perceived as unsafe.

Picturebooks with characters that have an intellectual disability provides an opportunity for children with and without disabilities of their own to identify with the story. The study examines a selection of five contemporary Swedish picturebooks for children that features characters with an intellectual disability. This study explores how ideologies of normalisation and inclusion influence the way these characters are presented and represented in text and imagery. Drawing from critical discourse analysis the aim of this text is to show if power relations in the story can provide different subject positions for the reading child to take. The results of the analysis show authentic and varied portrayals of characters with intellectual disability. There were two different kind of discourses on normality evident in the picture books: A child like everyone else and different like everyone else. The discourse of a child like everyone else means a perspective where the character with an intellectual disability is portrayed without a focus on the disability. This results in a normalization of the presence of a person with an intellectual disability but neglects to portray the specific experiences that character may have when it comes to their disability. The discourse of being different like everyone else gives a perspective on intellectual disability where difference is normal and part of everyday life. This perspective portrays disability and diversity as part of a normality.

Abstract Globalization and transition from an industrial society to an information society have contributed to change the labour market. This means that other skills are required from employees and citizens, more than ever before, which explains the challenge that upper secondary school teachers are facing, trying to define what skills and abilities students with intellectual disability will need in the future. Entrepreneurship in education has been displayed by several participants in the education system, in response to how students can be prepared to match the demands of globalization and a changeable environment. However, it seems complicated to get a consensus about the concept and even the teaching methods, as entrepreneurship in education can be interpreted in different ways. The overall aim of the study is to explore the meanings of the concepts of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial competences, based on some teachers' perspectives, in upper secondary education for pupils with intellectual disability.  A further aim is to illustrate what opportunities and challenges that upper secondary school teachers describe, that work with entrepreneurship in education for pupils with intellectual disability, can imply. The study is qualitative, with didactics and entrepreneurship as theoretical starting points. Data has been collected through semi structured interviews and analyzed using content analysis. The result shows that the teachers mainly work on the basis of a broad definition of entrepreneurship, and confirm that there seems to be a confusion, about what entrepreneurship in education can mean. Entrepreneurship in education for pupils with intellectual disability appears as a relatively unexplored phenomenon, which highlights a need, as entrepreneurship is one of five perspectives that education in upper secondary school will be penetrated by.  My study increases the knowledge, of how some teachers, perceive entrepreneurship in upper secondary education for pupils with intellectual disability and can be seen as a contribution of knowledge, to participants in the same area of context.   Keywords Entrepreneurship, Broad perspective, upper secondary education for pupils with intellectual disability, interview study / Sammanfattning Globalisering och övergången från ett industrisamhälle till ett informationssamhälle, har bidragit till att arbetsmarknaden har förändras. Detta innebär att det krävs andra kompetenser, av arbetstagare och samhällsmedborgare nu, än det gjorde förr. Föregående aktualiserar den utmaning, som speciallärare/lärare på gymnasiesärskolan, ställs inför med hänsyn till att definiera vilka kunskaper och förmågor elever kommer att behöva i framtiden. Entreprenörskap i utbildning lyfts fram, av flera aktörer inom utbildningsväsendet, som svaret på hur elever kan förberedas för att matcha de krav som globalisering och en ombytlig miljö innebär. Dock, så verkar det komplicerat att få en samsyn kring begreppet och tillika då undervisningsmetoder, eftersom entreprenörskap i utbildning går att tolka på olika sätt. Det övergripande syftet med studien är att utforska innebörder av begreppen entreprenörskap och entreprenöriella kompetenser utifrån några lärares perspektiv på gymnasiesärskolans nationella program. Ytterligare ett syfte är att åskådliggöra de möjligheter och utmaningar, som gymnasiesärskolelärarna beskriver att arbete med entreprenörskap i utbildning kan innebära.  Studien är kvalitativ, med didaktik och entreprenörskap som teoretiska utgångspunkter. Data har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer och analyserats med hjälp av innehållsanalys. Resultatet visar, att lärarna främst arbetar utifrån en bred definition av entreprenörskap, samt bekräftar att det verkar råda en begreppsförvirring kring vad entreprenörskap i utbildning kan innebära. Entreprenörskap i utbildning, utifrån kontexten gymnasiesärskola, framstår som ett relativt obeforskat fenomen, vilket aktualiserar ett behov, eftersom entreprenörskap är ett av fem perspektiv som utbildningen i gymnasiesärskolan ska genomsyras av. Studien bidrar med kunskap, utifrån hur några lärare i gymnasiesärskolan, uppfattar entreprenörskap i utbildning, vilket kan ses som ett kunskapsbidrag till aktörer inom kontexten gymnasiesärskola.   Nyckelord Entreprenörskap, Bred definition, gymnasiesärskola, intervjustudie