Magister Artium - MA / Background: Spina Bifida (SB) is one of the leading causes of disability in children globally. Its management in Sub-Saharan countries is quite challenging and has shown to be an expensive public health problem. A recent study on SB has shown that physiotherapy is poorly utilised in Zambia. Although it is very cardinal in the rehabilitation of children right from birth, very little is known on the role of physiotherapy in the management of children with SB. Aim: To investigate the role of physiotherapy in the management of SB patients both at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) and Beit Cure International Hospital (BCIH) during the period: January 2010 to December 2014. Study design: A sequential explanatory mixed study design was used for this study. An adapted validated data extraction form was used to capture quantitative data from hospital records, while an interview guide was used in in-depth interviews and Focus Group Discussion (FGDs) with specialist physiotherapists. Data analysis: Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS version 23 and descriptive statistics represented on graphs, charts and tables in form of percentages and frequency distributions. Qualitative data was audiotaped during the focus group discussion and in-depth interviews, transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis was used. Results: A total number of 207 children with SB were managed during the period under review at the two hospitals with the most prevalent type of SB being myelomeningocele and hydrocephalus at 69.4%, commonly located in the lumbar region 53.3%, prone in female patients 55.6%. A total of 38% had an increased tone while 2% had low tone indicating the need for physiotherapy. Through purposive sampling, a total of eight physiotherapists took part in the qualitative study. Results showed that there are poor referral systems for physiotherapy at the two hospitals making follow up quite difficult at times. Information on physiotherapy sessions was not included in patient files but only indicated in the physiotherapy departmental registers. Some physiotherapists felt that their role in the rehabilitation process was not known amongst team members such as surgeons. However, the availability of assistive devices at the hospitals helped provide better services which in turn promoted improvement in patients and also contributed to motivation. Conclusion: Having undergone some training as rehabilitation team members, all the physiotherapists noted that training helped to empower them, gain experience and changed attitudes of some rehabilitation team towards them. It is therefore recommended that the referral system and documentation be improved upon in order to effectively work together as a rehabilitation team with common goals.

Cerebral palsy is a neurodevelopmental condition that severely impedes a child?s development. Many children with this developmental disorder may have complex limitations in self-care functions which renders them completely reliant on their caregivers. This study explores the experiences of kinship caregivers of children with cerebral palsy. The study has been based on the concern that despite extensive research on the experiences of caregivers caring for children with cerebral palsy, little research has been conducted about the experiences of kinship caregivers who care for children with this developmental disorder in a Botswana context. The aim of this research has been to understand the experiences of kinship carers who care for children with cerebral palsy in Mahalapye, Botswana. The researcher had adopted a qualitative exploratory approach. Non-probability purposive sampling and volunteer sampling had been utilised to select the research participants. Qualitative data had been collected by utilising one-to-one semi-structured interviews. A total sample of 12 participants had been drawn from the pool of caregivers of children between the ages of six and twelve who have been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and who reside in the Mahalapye Village. The study findings show that caring for a child with cerebral palsy exposes kinship caregivers to many challenges such as burden of care, impaired health, poverty and stigmatisation. Some of these challenges are attributed to the child?s disability while some are due to insufficient services provided to caregivers. However, acceptance of the child, religious beliefs and the supportive role played by family members enable the caregivers to adapt to life with a child diagnosed with cerebral palsy. The study concludes that challenges faced by kinship caregivers raising children with cerebral palsy in Botswana is aggravated by inadequate intervention programmes and services that could assist caregivers and disabled children, despite a firm and comprehensive national policy on care for people with disabilities. The intervention care programme should bestow more focus on recognising caregivers? challenges and removing such obstacles by providing effective services. A support programme that could ensure continuity of care will benefit caregivers by assisting them in adapting. The study suggests that programmes that have been designed to enhance identified family resilience quality, which help families to adapt following the diagnosis of cerebral palsy of a child, should be implemented. / Mini Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Social Work and Criminology / MSW / Unrestricted

A disabled taxpayer, or a taxpayer caring for a disabled spouse or child, may deduct 100% of disability expenses from taxable income (section 18(2)(b) of the Income Tax Act No. 58 of 1962). For a 2010 year of assessment, disability expenses must meet the following three requirements to be deductible:  The expense should appear on the prescribed list.  It should have been necessarily incurred and paid for (and not recoverable) by the taxpayer.  It should have been incurred in consequence of any physical disability suffered by the taxpayer, his or her spouse or child, or any dependant of the taxpayer. If compared to a 2009 year of assessment, the second and third requirements remained the same. However, the prescribed list only became effective as from 1 March 2009 (i.e. as from the 2010 year of assessment). According to the discussion paper issued by SARS, the prescribed list was introduced to bring clarity as to the type of expenses that qualify and not to add another requirement. The expectation therefore arises that ALL expenses that meet the second and third requirements will appear on the prescribed list. The study explored the possible existence of an expense which had been necessarily incurred and paid by a South African taxpayer during his or her 2010 tax year in consequence of his or her disabled child, but which does not appear on the prescribed list. Data was collected by the researcher by using a questionnaire when having semistructured telephonic interviews with parents of severely disabled children. The results of the study indicate that there were indeed legitimate expenses incurred by the respondents during their 2010 year of assessment that did not appear on the prescribed list. The prescribed list therefore does not cater for all the possible legitimate expenses incurred by the parent of a severely disabled child. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Taxation / Unrestricted

Narratives help individuals to make sense of their lives and their everyday worlds. Within these narratives, individuals make sense of identities. Historically, people with disabilities have been depicted as helpless victims of their own bodies. However, during the twentieth century, disability rights social movements constructed a counter-narrative, stating that society’s reactions to different bodies was the real source of disability. While this was a positive status change for people with disabilities, it did not do enough to shed the status as victim. Yet many students with disabilities do not see themselves as victims. Therefore, I used narrative analysis to answer the question: “How do university students with disabilities make sense of their identities as adults with agency through narratives?” Furthermore, these narratives are not created in a vacuum. Many stories of identity-making surrounded narratives of being included or excluded from various social situations, leading to my second research question: To what extent have students with disabilities felt included/excluded in aspects of university life including clubs, organizations, sporting events, and other social aspects of the university in which other students participate? I am focusing on people with disabilities who seek accommodations, as they are acknowledging that they need help, which goes against the narrative of rugged individualism found in the United States of America. However, my research found that university students who seek accommodations do not construct themselves as victims. On the contrary, many students receiving accommodations construct narratives in which they are more hard working and more moral than other students.

<p> Students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have challenges with communication, social interactions, and behavior, which can limit their functioning in school settings. They need to have functional communication skills to access the curriculum and have their needs met across all social environments. Special education teachers often experience barriers to successful implementation of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions appropriate for these students. The purpose of this case study was to understand how special education teachers experience AAC intervention processes, and illuminate the conditions for effective AAC implementation. A qualitative case study was conducted using interviews from 6 credentialed special education teachers who worked with ASD students for a minimum of 2 years in a school district in a western state. Coding and thematic analysis of data from interviews and work journals was conducted using Ely&rsquo;s condition of change theory as a framework. Findings for teachers&rsquo; perspectives of conditions needed to successfully implement an AAC intervention reflected the need for more time, resources, knowledge and skills, and investment from stakeholders. Recommendations included provision of resources to special education teachers for autism specific materials, on-going autism specific training and assistance, additional time for preparation and related duties necessary for working with these students. Future research on overall strengthening of AAC interventions and overcoming challenges for change is needed. Results of this study might assist schools in empowering ASD students by facilitating their functional communication skills, involvement, learning and academic opportunities across social environments. </p><p>

<p> Elementary music teachers often have students who are hard-of-hearing participating in their classes. Teachers need to be aware of what hearing impairments are and how these hard-of-hearing students have entered the music classroom. The present text explores assistive hearing technology, general music education for students with hearing loss, adaptations for the general music classroom, instrumental music for students with hearing loss and a brief explanation of song signing. The author attempts to better understand which strategies can be used to improve the music education of hard-of-hearing students. </p><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 thesis focuses on citizenship education, disability and d/Deafness at the Ontario Institution for the Education of the Deaf (OIED), 1870-1914. It employs a critical reading of school related documents, including the school newspaper, The Canadian Mute, to examine how citizenship education evolved at the OIED and contributed to a (re)construction of the d/Deaf citizenship ideal. This (re)construction took place over two distinct periods: 1870 to1906, the “new” d/Deaf citizenship; and, 1907 to 1914, the “spoken” d/Deaf citizenship. During this timeframe, the OIED undertook a deliberate, structured program to rescue the educated d/Deaf student out from under an expansive disability label that characterized “disabled” persons as lazy, immoral, criminal, insane, unintelligent, and financial burdens. Through the OIED’s three pronged education program – d/Deaf pedagogy (teaching communication), academic and vocational curricula – the “good” d/Deaf citizen evolved as an intelligent, active, financially independent person who was cognisant of how her/his d/Deafness reflected on the broader d/Deaf community.

L'étude du dispositif législatif reconnaissant des droits aux personnes handicapées nous révèle que le droit appréhende le handicap à travers, d'une part, un droit de protection, et d'autre part, un droit de compensation. Le législateur organise un droit de protection limité à l'égard des personnes handicapées. D'une part, le législateur a mis en place des mesures visant à assurer la protection des personnes handicapées vulnérables et de leurs biens, conditionnant ainsi la protection à un état de vulnérabilité. D'autre part, le législateur a mis en place une protection spécifique des personnes handicapées mentales par un régime de responsabilité adaptée, conditionnant la protection à l'incapacité totale ou partielle de discernement. Contrairement au régime de responsabilité pénale qui organise une protection effective des personnes atteintes d'un trouble mental, le régime de responsabilité civile néglige désormais cette protection au profit de l'indemnisation des victimes.Parallèlement à ce droit de protection limité, le législateur a mis en place un véritable droit à compensation des conséquences du handicap adapté au besoin de chaque personne handicapée, à ses attentes et ses choix de vie. La loi n° 2005-102 du 11 février 2005 pour l'égalité des droits et des chances, la participation et la citoyenneté des personnes handicapées, permet incontestablement une réelle avancée en matière de compensation des conséquences du handicap, toutefois le dispositif législatif renforcé et sa mise en œuvre présentent encore certaines lacunes qu'il est nécessaire de combler. / The study of the legislative package admitting rights to disabled persons shows that law comprehends the disability through, on the one hand, a right of protection and on the other hand, a right of set off. The legislator organizes a right of protection limited to the disabled persons. On the one hand, the legislator has put in place actions to ensure the protection of vulnerable disabled persons and their assets, thus setting the conditions of the protection as a position of vulnerability. On the other hand, the legislator has put in place a specific protection for mentally disabled persons with a liability regime adapted, setting the conditions of the protection as full or partial discernment disability. Unlike the criminal liability regime that organizes an effective protection for persons with mental disorders, the civil liability regime neglects henceforth this protection in favor of compensation paid to victims. In parallel to this limited protection right, the legislator has put in place an actual right of setoff for disabled persons adapted to the need, the expectations and the choices of life of each disabled person. The law n° 2005-102 of February 11th, 2005 for the equality of the rights and the chances, the participation and the citizenship of the disabled persons, clearly allows a real way forward as regards to the compensation of consequences due to disabilities, however the reinforced legislation and its implementation stills show some gaps that must be filled.

The graduation thesis addresses the questions of disability pensions and survivor benefits in Czech Republic. The first chapter handles the definitions of the concepts used in terms of pension insurance, the characteristic of pension system generally and the legal regulations of the contemporary system. The second chapter analyses the full and the partial disability pensions. The third chapter describes the widow's, the widower's and the orphan's pensions. The fourth chapter contains the analysis of the contemporary pension system since the implementation of the present valid legal regulation until the year 2007, with focus on disability pensions and survivor benefits. Sub chapter 4.1 contains analytical forecast of the amount spent on pensions and of the number of each type of pensioners. The fifth chapter targets the forecasting of the demographic development of the population in Czech Republic, the problems of contemporary pension system and the proposed modifications within the new reform of the pension system.