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The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between early and late age of seizure onset with the level of academic achievement for two groups of primary generalized epileptic children who were enrolled in the regular classroom setting, Furthermore, the study sought to determine if intelligence, spatial organization ability and sequencing ability influenced the level of achievement of these two groups.As per definition, the primary generalized epileptic children chosen for this study evidenced no focal electroencephalographic abnormality. The electroencephalographic patterns were bilateral, synchronous symmetrical spike and wave activity varying in frequency from two to six cycles per second. Subject selection was based primarily upon a neurologist's interpretation of the subject's electroencephalographic record.Subject selection was made from either a survey of 85 epileptic children within two Indiana school systems or from approximately 1,000 patients of an outpatient epileptic clinic. All subjects demonstrated right hand dominance and no one manifested any form of physical handicap or was diagnosed as having a primary emotional disturbance, The chronological age at time of testing ranged from nine years to 16 years 11 months, Also required was a Full Scale IQ greater than 70, as measured by standardized instruments of intelligence.The 61 subjects were divided into groups based upon the age of seizure onset, Group I consisted of 30 subjects whose age of seizure onset was birth to four years 11 months, inclusively and Group II consisted of 31 subjects whose age of seizure onset was six years to 15 years 11 months, inclusively. The age span specified for early age of seizure onset corresponded to interruption within the first half of the perceptual maturation span and the age span designated for late age of seizure onset involved interruption within the latter half of the perceptual maturation span and beyond.All subjects were administered equivalent test batteries. Achievement was determined by grade level scores obtained in reading recognition and arithmetic. The reading recognition grade level scores were obtained from either the Wide Range Achievement Test r Reading Subtest or the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests - Word Identification Subtest. The arithmetic grade level scores were obtained from the Wide Range Achievement Test Arithmetic Subtest. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children or the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale were used in assessing Full Scale IQ, Spatial organization was defined by the location scoreobtained from the Tactile Performance Test divided by the total number of stimulus blocks on the form-board. The difference i_n time scores obtained from Part B minus Part A of the Trail Making Test defined the sequencing ability score.In order to determine statistical significance between the dependent and independent variables simultaneously, a multivariate discriminant analysis of variance or analysis of covariance was applied, A .05 level of significance was set in testing the statistical significance of each null hypothesis.No significant differences were found between the two primary generalized epileptic groups for any of the hypotheses tested. Consequently, this research did not support the notion that primary generalized epileptics of early seizure onset perform significantly lower academically when compared with primary generalized epileptics of late seizure onset.. Even when Full Scale IQ, spatial organization ability and sequencing ability were assigned as covariates, no significant differences were found.From inspection of coefficients of the multiple correlation squared, results indicated that academic achievement was predicted as accurately from Full Scale IQ alone as when spatial organization ability and/or sequencing ability were used as additional predictors.

This research focuses on pupils with special needs in mainstream schools. It is concerned with how their identities and experiences are constructed at a formal level, within official documents, and informally, in the way the pupils are talked about. A Foucauldian perspective provided the framework for analysing formal and informal discourses and the power/knowledge relations these contain. Formal SEN discourses were examined by analysing the Warnock and HMI reports and earlier official documents. At an informal level, accounts were obtained from eleven pupils with a range of special educational needs and their peers. The pupils were also observed within mainstream classrooms and playgrounds. The pupils' accounts challenged the appropriateness of conventional binary divisions, for example disabled/able-bodied; integrated/segregated, for understanding the identities and experiences of pupils with SEN. The data suggest a much more continuous process of construction, characterised by oscillations, uncertainties and ambivalences and by resistance from the pupils with SEN. A number of implications for the placement of pupils with special educational needs in mainstream schools are considered. These relate to how schools might build on mainstream pupils' existing understanding of disability and ensure that integration is a positive experience for all.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1973. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Frances Connor. Dissertation Committee: Thurston A. Atkins. Includes tables. Includes bibliographical references.

Research paper (M.A.) -- Cardinal Stritch College -- Milwaukee, 1980. / A research paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Education (Special Education). Includes bibliographical references (p. 22-25).

The 11 experiments reported in this thesis are concerned with 3 main areas of investigation addressing cognitive processes in children with reading and spelling difficulties. These are 4 main experiments which utilise a variety of reading tasks designed to address the nature of the poor reader groups' approach to single word identification. Evidence of intact phonological reading strategies were found on certain reading tasks, but not on others. Thus support was found both for the hypothesis that poor readers can employ a non-lexical strategy effectively, and for the hypothesis that they are impaired at relying upon this strategy. Two experiments explore the poor readers spelling strategies in terms of their phonological demands. Phonemic segmentation difficulties were found and it was argued that such difficulties may be causally related to the spelling retardation. Four experiments also examined the memory codes used by these groups; evidence of normal phonological coding in working memory, but not longer-term recognition memory was found. Finally, 2 case studies were conducted dealing with reading, spelling and orthographic segmentation ability. Both cases were found to exhibit very clear signs of phonological impairments across a wide range of tasks, and were to different extents less capable than controls at orthographic segmentation. It is concluded that most poor readers suffer from a mild phonological deficit, and that a much smaller proportion have more severe phonological dysfunctions. However, whether such difficulties are detected will partly depend upon the nature of the task used to interrogate the efficiency of the underlying mechanisms.

M.Ed. / In response to South African policies, including White Paper No 6 on Inclusion of differently-abled learners, most regular schools have opened their doors to all learners in particular, learners who could have been previously placed in special schools are increasingly included in regular schools where they can experience quality education alongside their peers at schools located in their own neighborhoods. [For this study differently-abled learners will refer to those learners who are intellectually challenged]. They are to be provided with appropriate support necessary for enabling them to experience success. Despite this noble action, differently-abled learners continue to drop out of school before they reach Grade 10. Due to limited job opportunities; some of them resort to roaming in the streets, engaging in inappropriate and/or illegal activities in the community. Some fall victims to early pregnancy. These problems raise a concern with regard to differently-abled learner`s engagement in inclusive schools, in particular, whether these learners are engaged fully in inclusive schools or are they just there for window dressing? This paper reports on the findings of a qualitative case study for my Master’s degree in Inclusive Education. The research was undertaken in one of the school which is considered a model of inclusion, in District 3, Gauteng province, South Africa. A qualitative research design was adopted for the study so as to gain thick descriptions from teachers, differently-abled learners and their parent(s) or guardian(s). Data were collected by means of observations and two forms of interviews, namely individual and focus groups with learners and educators. An additional method of collecting data using diaries was also used with learners only. Ten [10] teachers were interviewed in groups of two and individually following observations on how they engage their differently-abled learners in the classroom. Ten [10] learners were interviewed individually and asked to complete diaries about four weeks. Data was coded and analysed using Creswell`s spiral method of analysing data and presented against a backdrop of literature and ecosystemic perspective of Bronfenbrenner.which guided the study. The findings are discussed under two broad headings, which are academic engagement and non-academic engagement. The findings revealed that through their frustations, teachers are trying hrd to come to terms with inclusion of differently-abled learners in inclusive schools and they do support them. Findings also revealed that teachers employ different strategies to engage in academic and non-academic situations inclusive schools. For this study, differently-abled learners will refer to learners who are intellectaully challenged only.

M.Ed. / Owing to South Africa’s changing socio-political climate post 1994, the educational environment has adapted its policies so as to mirror the nature of society, as reflected in the Constitution. Thus children with disabilities have been included into the mainstream education environment, through the introduction of policies such as The South African Schools Act of 1996 and the Education White Paper 6 of 2001. This paradigm shift within education has been further promoted through inclusion trends throughout the world, which are promoted by way of the Salamanca Statement and similar documents. Inclusive education research has primarily focused on the perceptions of the child with a disability, as well as his or her parents and teachers. Relatively little has focused on the sibling, potentially the only family member to share both the home and school environment with the child with a disability. The purpose of this research is therefore to explore the experiences of the siblings who share the mainstream education environment with a brother or sister with a disability. A qualitative research design was adopted so as to gain thick descriptions from the siblings of children with disabilities. Siblings were asked to take photographs which illustrated activities performed by them and the child with a disability. These were to act as a catalyst for conversation and form the basis of semi-structured interviews. In addition to these primary sources of data, a researcher journal also provided secondary data. Together all sources of data were combined in the constant comparative method of analysis. Through analysis, the data revealed the following: These siblings see the child with a disability for the person they are and not for the disability they experience, however they do not have the same level of acceptance for all children with disabilities. They believe that their sibling with a disability is accepted by peers within the mainstream school environment because of their positive attitude and determined effort made in integrating themselves whole-heartedly within the school environment. Despite this positive experience of their sibling with a disability, like other siblings, they have separate lives at school and thus the child with a disability is dependent upon alternative support provision. Lastly, many of the siblings lacked in-depth information regarding their brother or sister’s disability and often responded to questions with, “I don’t know.”

"This study is a report of the Exceptional Children's Unit in Lake Placid, Florida. The purposes of this report are as follows: 1. To clarify the thoughts of the writer on what the Exceptional Children's Unit has accomplished. 2. To arrive at conclusions on the contributions the Lake Placid Exceptional Children's Unit has made to children and to teachers of other grades. 3. To clarify the values and techniques of case histories in teaching exceptional children. 4. To compare the curricula and program which have been used in the exceptional unit with that reported in well-known schools. This study will attempt to trace the development of the mental pattern of two mentally defective children and a borderline subnormal boy over a period of three years in a public school"--Introduction. / "August, 1954." / Typescript. / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." / Advisor: R. L. Witherspoon, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 53).

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