This study explored the level of involvement of school social workers in the 504-Plan process as it relates to the administrative culture of school administrators, collaboration with school personnel, training on the 504-Plan process, and finally knowledge of Section 504. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder affects over six-million children in the world today that may benefit from the use of a 504-Plan. A total of 147 school social workers participated in this study. A self-administered survey was used, and data analysis was conducted on two levels: descriptive which employed frequency and percent distributions of respondents and analytical procedures. The Kruskal-Wallis H test utilized for this study which indicated a statistically significant relationship which rejected the null hypotheses of all four research questions. A second test was then performed, Mann Whitney U test, to determine where the significance of the hypotheses lied. Findings revealed that overall there is a low level of involvement of school social workers in the 504-Plan process of 64.8%. Twenty-nine and a third percent reported a moderate level of involvement. There was a low to moderate level of administrative culture, moderate level of collaboration, training and knowledge among the school social workers.

In Mainland China, a national education policy called ‘Learning in Regular Classrooms’ (LRC) has been implemented for over 25 years to support the inclusion of disabled children in regular schools. Although the LRC policy framework has been gradually adapted in response to the global movement for inclusive education, little is known about what is happening in classrooms and schools. In particular, disabled children’s views and experiences of their school lives remain unknown. Drawing on perspectives from inclusive education, pupil voice, disability studies and childhood studies, this research is driven by a theoretical stance that positions disabled children as active and competent social actors whose voices should be valued and heard. This exploratory inquiry adopted an ethnographic approach. I conducted the fieldwork in 4 state primary schools in Shanghai, with 11 disabled children (designated as LRC pupils and labelled as having Learning Difficulties), 10 class teachers and 3 resource teachers. The Framework for Participation (Florian & Black-Hawkins, 2011) was used to inform data collection and analysis. Multiple methods were utilised including participant observation, interviews and participatory activities. Rich, in-depth and contextual data were collected and thematically analysed. This research highlights several key findings. First, the necessity of listening to pupil voice is reaffirmed. Children’s views of schooling revealed hidden knowledge that had been unknown to teachers. The child participants were sensitive, observant and reflective, exercising their agency to negotiate the circumstances in which they were living. They offered informative comments on school practice and shared aspirations for improvement. Second, it was found that the meaning of inclusive education failed to be addressed in everyday schooling process, although there had been rhetorical change in LRC policy, and its implementation helped to secure disabled children’s access to regular schools. Disabled children were still facing forms of marginalisation and exclusion, such as limited participation in decision-making, restricted opportunities to access extra-curricular activities and spaces, lack of support for academic learning, and negative experiences of bullying from peers. The existing special educational provision such as the ‘resource classroom’ was found to interrupt children’s sense of togetherness and generate negative labelling effects for them. Third, facilitators of and barriers to disabled children’s learning and participation were identified. The exclusionary process affecting disabled children was strongly fortified by the introduction of special educational thinking and practice, which not only marked out these children as incompetent and in need of protection, but also underrated the existing inclusive practice in regular classrooms. The process was further reinforced by the charitable model of disability in Confucian society and the prevailing competitive and performative school culture. Nevertheless, teachers could play important roles in negotiating all pupils’ learning and participation. Among the insights gained into teachers’ practice, a connection between teachers’ attentiveness to children’s worlds and their demonstration of inclusive practice was noticed, on the basis of which I discussed the implications of pupil voice for developing inclusive practice, and explored a working model for moving towards inclusive education in China with pupil voice as a core starting point. In China, there is still a long way to go before realising all children’s learning and participation. This research calls for a paradigm shift within the country to encourage new ways of thinking and researching, in which children must be seen as essential partners in the process of transforming and imagining possibilities for inclusive education.

<p> The rate of the inclusion of students with high-incidence disabilities in general education classrooms are increasing across the nation. The perceptions of general education teachers on this inclusion have limited revelation within research. More specifically, the perceptions of urban elementary general education teachers on the inclusion of students with high- incidence disabilities is limited. Three significant problems contributed to the need of this dissertation research. The first problem is the limited research used to explore this concept. Most of the literature include methods that have been quantitative studies, which provides a range of responses with little depth to understand the perceptions of teachers. The second problem is the samples that are included in such studies. Samples often include teachers without differentiating between what kinds of teachers (high school, middle school, elementary school, etc.). These samples would provide little depth to understand the perceptions of how participants really feel about the inclusion of students with high-incidence disabilities in their classrooms. The third problem is the targeted population of teachers that are included in studies. Urban, rural and suburban school districts all have different needs and issues. There is limited research that differentiate between the areas of schools and its impact on the perceptions of teachers in these school districts. </p><p> The results of a basic qualitative study surrounding the perceptions of urban elementary general education teachers on the inclusion of students with high-incidence disabilities is presented. Twenty urban elementary general education teachers of students with high-incidence disabilities in the general education classroom setting from one school district in the mid-Atlantic region were interviewed to evaluate the perceptions of the inclusion of students with high-incidence disabilities in the general education classroom with their non-disabled peers. </p><p> The purposes of this study were to be able: 1) to investigate urban general education teachers&rsquo; perceptions and beliefs about the inclusion of students with high-incidence disabilities in their classrooms with their non-disabled peers; 2) to give these teachers an opportunity to share their perceptions on the supports received to meet the demands and challenges of their profession; and 3) to provide recommendations for policies and practices for the inclusion of students with high-incidence disabilities in general education classrooms that can contribute to the preparation and professional development for general education teachers. </p><p> The results of the interviews with study participants are outlined in this study. Themes answering three research questions were: described, defined, and supported using quotations from study participants to ensure that themes were grounded in the data. Eight themes emerged from the data that answered three research questions. These themes are: 1) &ldquo;It was a disservice;&rdquo; 2) being &ldquo;set up&rdquo; for failure both academically and socially; 3) impact of behavior; 4) issues of being stranded; 5) feeling inadequate; 6) reluctant acceptance; 7) flaws in identifying students who need help; and 8) issues of support. Two additional themes emerged from the data that did not answer a research question, but became salient across all participants. These theme addressed the issues and influence of race and socioeconomic status and its influence on perceptions. These two themes are 9) impact of socioeconomic status and privilege, and 10) impact of race. Findings are revealed and discussed. Recommendations for practice, policy, and future research are provided.</p><p>

Magister Artium - MA / There is a theoretical gap in scholarship pertaining to masculinity and disability in dance. Existing scholarship on masculinity, disability and dance respectively, seldom bring these three themes into conversation with each other, missing opportunities to examine the nuances of masculinity. Through an ethnographic study, I endeavoured to capture the narratives of three professional disabled male dancers from different contexts and backgrounds. The phenomenological approach was selected in order to enhance understanding of my participants’ experiences in an attempt to illuminate how these dancers negotiate and embody their masculinity in dance spaces. The nuances of masculinity, disability and dance are therefore interpreted through a phenomenological framework and seek to foreground the intricacies of negotiation and subjectivity. Through face-to-face in-depth interviews, watching performances and rehearsals as well as less formal conversations, this project aims to illuminate the lives of Marc Brew (Scotland), David Toole (England) and Zama Sonjica (South Africa) as disabled male dancers. I am particularly interested in disability’s ability to challenge normative ideas around dance, identity and masculinity. I argue the need to change limiting perceptions of hegemonic masculinity and the male dancer’s body to advance the artistic medium of dance and allow for constructive dialogue around issues of access and inclusivity. Furthermore, like Roebuck (2001), I am interested in the ways in which contemporary dance works "contributes to the development of a more sensitive understanding of the ways in which dance articulates masculine identity" (Roebuck, 2001: 1).

Masters of Science - Msc (Physiotherapy) / Rehabilitation services have been described as being necessary to maximize patient independence in order to enable them to participate fully in their communities. The Aim of the study was based on the problem statement and the research question, this study aims at exploring rehabilitation professionals' views on the experiences of patients with physical disabilities accessing CHCs in the Western. The objectives of the study were to explore the views of rehabilitation professionals regarding experiences by patients accessing rehabilitation services at the Community Health Centres (CHCs) in the Western Cape and to reach health experts consensus on how rehabilitation services should be provided at the CHCs based on the outcomes of objective 1. Methodology: This study used an exploratory design that used qualitative methods for data collection (workshops and focus group discussions (FGDs) and a Delphi study. The study was conducted at purposively selected CHCs in the Western Cape. The population in this study included all rehabilitation professionals who provide rehabilitation services in the CHCs, who were invited to participate in the study. Data collection: In the qualitative and the Delphi study, data was collected through workshops, focus group discussions and emails respectively. Data analysis: The workshops and the FGDs were audio recorded and then transcribed verbatim for content analysis.

<p> This dissertation examines the special issue of peer harassment of students with disabilities through a legal lens, exploring the legal standards used in cases involving three federal statutes&mdash;Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (&ldquo;Section 504&rdquo;), the Americans with Disabilities Act (&ldquo;ADA&rdquo;), and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"). Using legal research methods, litigation trends regarding the number of cases and the legal standard used and applied were explored. There has been no Supreme Court case on the legal standard to be used under Section 504, the ADA, or IDEA in peer harassment of students with disabilities, and circuit courts of appeals have not reached consensus on which legal standard should apply. Instead, courts have applied several different legal standards, including the Davis standard, a modified <i>Davis</i> standard, bad faith and gross misjudgment, deliberate indifference, disability discrimination, intentional discrimination, and denial of a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). This dissertation synthesizes the relevant legal standards used in each federal circuit and identifies trends that might guide the future of this type of litigation.</p><p>

This thesis brings together two fields of theological ideas. On the one hand, at the heart of Christian theology and faith are the person and work of Jesus Christ, centred on God's initiative of Atonement through the cross. Here God addresses the whole condition of creation and humanity, usually expressed in terms of dealing with sin. On the other hand, the growing field of Christian disability theology is seeking a positive theological account of disability, viewing it as an integral part of the variety of humanity, and resisting normate assumptions that cast what is regarded as disability in a wholly negative light. Drawing these fields together, does the way we think about the Atonement, and what God addresses and achieves through the Atonement, need to be disrupted and re-formed in light of the insights of disability theology? Conversely, if disability theology is to be distinctively Christian, should the Atonement play a far more foundational role within it than it has to date? If so, given the often negative juxtaposition of disability and sin within theology and in biblical texts, how is all this to come about? The approach taken is first to examine both of these fields and the extent of their current interaction. In particular, their use of ideas and metaphor are explored, to determine whether these provide the means for making that interaction more fruitful. However, the interaction is found to be partial at best, and the ideas and metaphors shared are not found to provide the means for the task at hand. Based on that work, however, a proposal is developed for reconsidering what sort of event the Atonement is, and the nature of God's presence within it. Building on insights from Frances Young, Jurgen Moltmann, Eberhard Jungel and Paul Fiddes, it is proposed that the Atonement should be understood as God's deepest, once for all participation in the risk (both moral and contingent) of creation, through which all that alienates us from God and each other is addressed. This opens up a theological space to talk of disability, sin and the cross together, one that does not require all aspects of what we identify as disability to fit into a binary sin/not sin analysis. This Atonement-as-participation also provides an account of the Atonement that is inherently inclusive of humanity in all its variety, where disability is not a special case. This enables God's initiative of the Atonement to function as a foundation for the various themes within disability theology as these continue to develop.

<p> The social behavior and stigma of epilepsy in Korean nationals and Korean Americans throughout California are studied. This study seeks to explore the cultural differences in the social behavior of participants, their thoughts about epilepsy, their familiarity, social order, stigma, and educational knowledge about epilepsy between the Korean national and Korean American society. It argues that Americanization has influenced a positive change in the portrayal of neurological disorder and disease. The method of data collections and analysis were done through convenience sampling with the use of mixed methods. 56 face to face semi-structured audio recorded interviews were done to collect data. The findings of my study came to be of little difference between the two cultures. My hypothesis of the more Americanized a person is the more understanding, less stigmatic with fair social behavior towards epilepsy was correct but only at a baseline level. The key findings that education, cultural outlook and time gap were the main reasons of these results. Link and Phelan&rsquo;s model of stigmatization holds strongly toward the outlook of stigmatism and Americanization in the Korean national and Korean American cultures. In this research paper my created hypothesis will be backed up by theories and history of epilepsy, the methods of how I approached the interviews, the questions asked, how the results came to be, and the conclusion of if my hypothesis was correct or incorrect.</p><p>

Intellectual disability (ID) is categorised by a significant reduction in cognitive function and adaptive abilities that begin in childhood. ID is part of a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental conditions associated with impairment in developmental domains and a cause of particularly adverse socioeconomic impact worldwide. There have been many recent advances in identifying causative genetic mutations in previously unexplained ID cases. With these advances comes an increasing demand for understanding mechanisms underpinning these pathogenic pathways. In this PhD thesis, I have studied rare monogenic novel neurodevelopmental disorders associated with ID. The objective of the thesis was to model a subset of mutations associated with novel neurodevelopmental disorders in mice to demonstrate a causal link between mutation and phenotype and to further understand the mechanisms by which these mutations result in human neurodevelopmental disorders. In order to achieve this, I adopted a multi-phase approach. Firstly, I designed a phenotyping platform, by combining behavioural and cognitive tests with morphometric brain analysis and genome-wide transcriptional analysis. I then used this approach to study KPTN-related syndrome, a novel developmental disorder that to date has not been characterised in mice, successfully recapitulating the main phenotypes described in the patients. Moreover, I gained further insight into the underlying pathogenic mechanisms associated with the disorder, opening the possibility of a therapy that could treat some aspects of cognitive and morphological impairments identified in the patients with KPTN-related syndrome. Lastly, I determined whether such an approach could be scaled-up to study multiple novel neurodevelopmental disorders, each with a mutation associated with a haploinsufficient novel neurodevelopmental disorder. I identified specific phenotypes for each of the four mouse lines under investigation, providing a platform for comparison between several developmental disorders. These refinements contributed to a larger five-year project starting at the Sanger Institute, aimed at characterising a wider diversity of human neurodevelopmental disorders.

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