This paper is concerned with the developed area of Kurdistan, the Iraqi Kurdistan, and this paper will try to underline the situation of persons with disabilities living standards in Kurdistan. The research problem concerned with this topic is, what is being done by the different actors who have the power to influence the living standards of persons with disabilities in the region of Kurdistan. The purpose and aims of this paper is to highlight the importance of these living standards for these persons and how they feel they are being treated by the society as whole, both from the society (the people around them), and also the government, authorities and organizations at place for aid and assistance to those people. The main course of this paper has been laid on interviews with official persons from government and associations in Kurdistan. On the authorities and similar side, Salah Yousif Mohammed, the directorate of Disabled Care Duhok has been interviewed, together with Nassrat Mohammed Salem, the director of ZheenHandi Capped Association, Wahid Saeed Chicho, the director of Little People of Kurdistan Association and Khabat Islam Muhamad, Dohuk Program Manager for the Voice of Older People (VOP). These interviews together with interviews with persons with disabilities have laid forward a comprehensive matter of facts at hand to study. Social Constructivism, Human Security and Disability have been chosen as theoretical framework of this paper to help for better understanding of the purpose of this paper. Both Social Constructivism and Human Security help to define and better understand the concept of Disability in Kurdistan. The Social Model of Disability in Sweden has also been included in Disability for better understanding of a successful example.

<b>Background:</b> Individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) have a higher prevalence of comorbid psychiatric disorders and challenging behaviours compared to the general population. Though less common, one area of concern among those with ID is pica (the ingestion of inedible substances). To date, there is little knowledge of pica, particularly with respect to its risk factors and social consequences. The closure of Ontario's three remaining facilities by 2009 underscores the importance of having knowledge of complex behaviours such as pica for improving supports and services in the community for these individuals. The aim of this study is to better understand the characteristics and support needs of adults with ID and pica. This study is comprised of a quantitative and qualitative component. <b>QUANTITATIVE STUDY</b> <b>Objectives:</b> To investigate the prevalence, risk factors, social and medical characteristics of pica. To determine how pica is managed in terms of hours of supervision, receipt of interventions, and psychotropic medication. <b>Methods:</b> Secondary data analysis was performed on two samples as part of cross-sectional study: 1008 persons with ID from Ontario's facilities and 420 community-dwelling adults with ID from southwestern Ontario. All persons had been assessed using the interRAI Intellectual Disability (interRAI ID)?a comprehensive and standardized instrument that measures a variety of domains for support planning. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were restricted to the facility sample due to the small size of persons with pica in the community. <b>Results:</b>The overall prevalence of pica was 22. 0% and 3. 3% in the facilities and the community, respectively. Logistic regression analysis showed that being male, cognitive functioning, autism, and being non-verbal were associated with a higher odds of having pica, whereas activities of daily living (ADL) was a protective factor. A quadratic relationship was observed between cognitive function and pica: the risk of pica increased with severity of cognitive impairment up to moderate to severe levels of impairment and then diminished among those with very severe cognitive impairment. Behaviour management, self-care skills, and 8 hours or more of one-to-one supervision were more likely to be provided to persons with pica. Compared to persons without pica, persons with pica had higher rates of being prescribed antipsychotic medication. Surprisingly, pica was not associated with higher rates of gastrointestinal health problems, with the exception of acid reflux. The negative social outcomes of pica, however, were many: pica was associated with higher odds of not having a strong and supportive relationship with family, lack of contact with family or other close relations, and absence of participation in social and recreational activities. <b>QUALITATIVE STUDY</b> <b>Objective:</b> To determine the support needs of adults with ID and pica from the perspective of direct-care staff of facility and community settings. <b>Methods</b>: Through two focus groups, the perspectives of four staff from Huronia Regional Centre (HRC), and six staff from community agencies from southwestern Ontario were examined. Transcripts were analyzed thematically for factors that facilitated or hindered the management of pica. <b>Results:</b> Qualitative data revealed three categories that underpinned reduction in pica: preventative measures (environmental controls, close supervision, and the provision of alternative activities), formal supports, and familiarity with the individual. On the other hand, inadequate staff support, lower functioning level of the individual, and lack of knowledge acted as barriers to managing and reducing pica. These barriers were associated with persons participating in fewer recreational activities and community outings, and in some cases the use of mechanical restraints. Barriers specific to each setting in the management of pica were also illuminated. Staff in both settings tended to be self-sufficient and isolated in managing this complex behaviour. <b>Conclusions:</b> Results suggest that attention should be equally paid to the potential social consequences of pica rather than solely to its health risks. Higher staff to client ratios, and training and education for staff to provide more active support to promote individuals' engagement in recreational activity and community integration is needed. Key recommendations also focus on educating and training staff on the risk factors and appropriate management of pica. Improving the collaboration and knowledge exchange among developmental service agencies is also recommended to enhance the management of pica among caregivers. Lastly, the community at large needs education on pica to foster more inclusive community living for those with ID.

The MMPI-2 is the most commonly used self-report measure for the assessment of psychopathology in forensic and psychiatric disability assessments (Bacchiochi & Bagby, 2006; Bagby, Marshall, & Bacchiochi, 2005). The MMPI-2 includes a variety of validity scales designed to detect content responsive faking (e.g., faking good or faking bad) as well as content nonresponsivity (randomly responding). The present study was conducted to determine whether a combination of validity scales to detect malingering of a psychotic disorder in a non-compensatory model would be more or less effective than using only a select few of the validity scales in a compensatory model. The results supported the use of the specified validity scales (F, Fb, Fp, F – K, and FBS) in a non-compensatory model to identify correctly whether test takers faked their profiles. The results also supported the use of a smaller subset of the validity scales (Fp, F – K, and FBS) in a non-compensatory model to identify correctly whether test takers faked their profiles. The results, limitations of the current study, and future research considerations are then discussed.

Self-advocates and professionals in the field agree on the critical importance of providing self-advocacy and leadership training to youth with disabilities. Youth Leadership Forum (YLF) programs have been developed and implemented nationwide to provide a training venue for youth with disabilities to gain self-advocacy and leadership skills. The problem is the lack of empirical evidence validating the effectiveness of self-advocacy training provided through the YLF training format. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the Texas Statewide Youth Leadership Forum (TXYLF) summer training event on the self-advocacy abilities of high school students with disabilities, and to examine the interaction effect of disability type and gender on the improvement of self-advocacy abilities. To accomplish this purpose, a Non-Equivalent Groups Design (NEGD) was selected and used. The target population for this study was high school youth with disabilities in the state of Texas. The final sample included 68 youth. The TXYLF Pre/Post Questionnaire was the instrument used to measure the participants? self-advocacy abilities. The pretest was administered the week prior to the training event. The posttest was administered to the treatment group immediately following the training event and to the control group in the two weeks following the training event. Descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted to answer the primary and the exploratory questions. The inferential analyses included an ANCOVA and two factorial ANOVAS. Results indicated that the training had a positive effect on the selfadvocacy abilities of the participants. The results of the ANOVAs indicated (a) type of disability did not interact with treatment to affect the self-advocacy abilities of these participants, and (b) gender did not interact with treatment to affect the self-advocacy abilities of these participants. A descriptive and inferential post hoc examination of the treatment group data yielded an interaction by treatment effect for disability type indicating the treatment was more effective for participants with Developmental Disabilities. Future research studies should focus on replication of the current study results and examination of the long term effects of the self-advocacy training for youth with disabilities. In designing these studies, group designs should be considered and used.

In 2006, I began working collaboratively with People First members to use video as a means of telling experience-based stories. Although, I found little information that would help prepare me to work collaboratively with people who have been labeled with an intellectual disability. I was acquainted with participatory approaches to making video and with inclusive research methods with people with learning disabilities. After working for over two years and facing a variety of hurdles and barriers, The Freedom Tour documentary was released in DVD in 2008, and a year later, short video stories were published on the Internet as part of the Label Free Zone web-based project. After having worked intensely and with great urgency to “get these stories out,” I felt the need to pause. To reflect upon my experiences and to ask questions about the work I was doing, I chose to write stories adopting an auto-ethnographic approach. Experimenting with auto-ethnography as a method of inquiry and storytelling as a form of representation, gave me the opportunity to experience a process I had encouraged so many others to do: telling experience-based stories. I hope this study will increase our knowledge and understanding of collaborative video storytelling projects involving people who have been labelled. I also hope that by delving into and speaking from my experiences as filmmaker/facilitator, sibling and now auto-ethnographer I have contributed, if ever so slightly, to shifting our thinking about intellectual disability from a deficit perspective to an assumption of competence. / May 2013

In this cross-sectional study, the sensibility, reliability, and validity of the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire were assessed in patients who underwent neck dissection for head and neck cancer. A sensibility questionnaire was used to assess face and content validity. Test-retest reliability was tested by re-mailing the questionnaire; validity, by evaluating differences in scores between patients undergoing different types of neck dissections and by correlating DASH scores with Neck Dissection Impairment Index (NDII) scores. The DASH was considered sensible by both patients and surgeons. The DASH was reliable with an intraclass coefficient of 0.91. The DASH showed differences between patients who underwent accessory nerve-sacrifice and nerve-sparing neck dissection. DASH scores strongly correlated with NDII scores. Thus, the DASH is a sensible, reliable, and valid instrument for assessing shoulder impairments and activity limitations following neck dissection.

Teorinė neįgaliųjų socialinės integracijos analizė parodė, kad neįgalių asmenų socialinis negalės vaizdinys priklauso ir jį formuoja visuomenės nuostatos ir ideologija. Neįgaliųjų socialinės reabilitacijos procesas mokslo šaltiniuose traktuojamas kaip nuolatinis, nenutrūkstamas ir kompleksinis, kurio metu įgyjami ir tobulinami žmonių su negale savarankiško gyvenimo ugdymo įgūdžiai. Neįgalių asmenų socialinės reabilitacijos procesas turi būti vientisas, o medicininės reabilitacijos ir nevyriausybinės organizacijos darbas - komandinis, suteikiant neįgaliesiems būtinas teorines (medicininės, socialinės, teisinės ir kt.) ir praktines (apsitarnavimo, vežimėlio valdymo, ugdymo, mokymosi, profesinio parengimo, darbinės veiklos ir kt.) žinias, taip formuojant fizinės negalės vaizdinį visuomenėje. Magistro darbe iškelta hipotezė, kad skirtingų socialinę neįgaliųjų reabilitaciją vykdančių specialistų fizinės negalės vaizdinys turi svarbą bendradarbiavimo efektyvumui. Anketinės apklausos metodu buvo atliktas tyrimas, atskleidžiantis žmonių po nugaros smegenų pažeidimo, judančių vežimėliuose vaizdinio formavimosi ypatumus bei sąveikas tarp socialinę reabilitaciją vykdančių institucijų. Atskleisti skirtingų socialinės reabilitacijos grandžių specialistų ir neįgaliųjų bendradarbiavimo komponentai, svarbūs fizinės negalės vaizdinio formavimuisi. Tyrimo duomenys apibendrinti, taikant aprašomuosius statistinius metodus, faktorinę ir koreliacinę (Pearson (r) koeficiento skaičiavimai) duomenų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / A theoretical analysis of the social integration of the disabled revealed that the image of social disability of disabled people depends on and is formed by the society’s mass ideology. It has been also noticed that scientific literature considers the social rehabilitation process of the disabled to be a constant, uninterrupted and complex process during which disabled people acquire and develop skills of independent life education. The social rehabilitation process of the disabled has to be integral, meanwhile medical rehabilitation and nongovernmental organization must promote teamwork while providing the disabled with necessary theoretical and practical knowledge which, in turn, forms the image of physical disability in society. A hypothesis was raised that the image of physical disability that specialists providing the disabled with social rehabilitation have affects the effectiveness of cooperation. The research conducted with a help of a questionnaire survey aimed at the following tasks: to examine the peculiarities of the formation of the image of people with spinal cord injuries in wheelchairs in the institutions of social rehabilitation; reveal the importance of different social rehabilitation specialists and the disabled to the formation of the image of physical disability and the effectiveness of cooperation; identify effective components of the interaction with the disabled. The data of the research are summarized by applying statistical methods, factorial and... [to full text]

Having done analytical generalization of scientific research „The situation of parents‘ preparation to develop teenagers with medium mental disability“, it became clear that there are no consistent systematic works which thoroughly disclosed the situation of parents‘ preparation to develop teenagers with medium mental disability. In majority of cases only episodic details of the main topic – separate ingredients – were found. The object of research - education of parents, as mentors, having children with medium mental disability. The problem of research – The ability of parents self-preparation to develop teenagers with medium mental disability. The objective of research - To disclose the situation of parents‘ self-preparation to develop teenagers with medium mental disability and describe the process of this self-preparation. The aims of research:1. To make psycho pedagogical generalization of literature on the works of Lithuanian and foreign scientists about parents‘ self-preparation to develop teenagers with medium mental disability. 2. To compare results of teachers, tutors and parents research about education of teenagers with medium mental disability. 3. To make evaluation of teachers’, mentors’ and parents’ as educators’ different opinions about themselves. Methods of research: analytical generalization of psychological, pedagogical, special education literature on the subject of Master‘s final work, Q type diagnostic data... [to full text]

Despite broader trends toward the deinstitutionalization of people with intellectual disabilities and evidence that they have a higher quality of life in the community, many in Nova Scotia remain segregated in institutional settings. In response, this thesis examines the reasons why people with intellectual disabilities are institutionalized in the province, and the barriers that exist to embracing policies of deinstitutionalization. Through participant observation, document analysis, and qualitative interview research, several themes emerged regarding the social, economic, and political factors, as well as the conflicting beliefs among implicated community members, contributing to the continued existence of institutions. Drawing on an institutional ethnography approach, this thesis examines how these factors and beliefs are related to neo-liberal philosophies and broader ideological beliefs about disability.

Research has typically addressed a specific emotional component of having a Learning Disability (LD), and thus has failed to capture the complete picture of what it is like to experience a LD. The current study asked university students to describe without any prompts or cues how it feels to have a LD, both retrospectively in high school and currently in university. We were interested in seeing how individuals with LDs describe their LD experience in their own words through free association. Information was collected from eight different cohorts throughout the past 11 years who were enrolled in a course on LDs for students diagnosed with LDs. All descriptors were coded into 17 different theme categories and further sorted by valence into positive, neutral, and negative categories. Participants reported more negative descriptors than positive ones, which interacted with the context in which they were reported. More negative descriptors were reported in high school compared to university and more positive descriptors were reported in university than high school. We failed to find any differences in emotional valence across the different cohorts. Latent class analyses revealed that reports of high school experiences consisted of two different LD profiles: extremely negative and negative. University experiences consisted of three different LD profiles: predominately positive, mixed emotional valence, and predominately negative. These results suggest that the experience of a LD can improve in university but that approximately 23% continue to find having LD a highly negative experience even though they are receiving support. / Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council: Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Master’s Scholarship