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Many learners with intellectual disabilities in mainstream schools are awaiting possible placements in special schools. In some instances, when placement becomes unsuccessful learners remain in mainstream schools which becomes the schools’ responsibility to find ways to support them in a manner that maximises their learning potential and provides direction regarding career development. This study explored parents, teachers and principals’ perceptions about intellectual disability and its influence on career development. The Critical Disability Theory guided this study as it was aimed at discovering the factors which influence the implementation of career development in schools. A qualitative approach was followed to collect data from 25 participants consisting of 2 principals, 14 teachers and 9 parents. Data was collected in the form of interviews, focus group discussions, and demographic questionnaires. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings indicated that stakeholders had limited knowledge about career development services. Parents concluded that schools could put more effort into supporting learners with intellectual disabilities, and that teachers could put more effort to academically support learners. Stakeholders were optimistic that learners with intellectual disabilities would be able to participate in the labour market, provided that they are taught work related skills at an early age. It was recommended that stakeholders make efforts to obtain knowledge about the career development services available and provide information to learners in that regard; make career development services accessible, and to teach learners with disabilities practical work skills enabling them to participate in the labour force post-school. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Educational Psychology / MEd / Unrestricted

This research is inspired by Albert Memmi’s paradox of the colonizer who refuses, yet remains the colonizer, complicit in colonial structures. It is explorative, qualitative, speculative and possibility orientated. It utilizes a Critical Disability Theory (CDT) lens to seek out confluences with Indigenous Resurgence, decolonial actions and reconciliation praxis. It explores the concept of Everyday Acts as being applicable for resurgence projects and non-indigenous solidarity and reconciliation practices that center Indigenous self-determination and land and water based lifeways as paramount to ecological justice. The research design is phenomenological, embodied and transformative. It endeavours to explore some of the more nuanced pockets of possibility for emergent ally-ship, and solidarity within the context of the settler who refuses through engaging with Access Intimacy, symbiosis/solidarity, gifting economy, failure as praxis, and relationship building. It does this through a thematic literature review, an interview and the idea of email essays as Life Writing. Interview and Email essays are offered as phenomenological life writings from four Collaborators, that share personal insights and stories conveying everyday experiences of accountability, responsibility, community care, community engagement, intergenerationality, embodiment, disability, collaboration, friendship and everyday acts. In concentrating on the smaller felt spaces of engagement, this modest research project hopes to bring insight and awareness to how small conscientious intergenerational everyday acts of solidarity can catalyze meaningful change and the possibility of transformation. To conclude, the research offers a discussion and some recommendations for future research. / Graduate / 2023-04-14

For approximately the last 45 years, researchers have examined a standardized pathway for an individual’s life course, involving leaving the parents’ home, building a stable career, getting married, having children, followed by retirement and death. Contrary to what was been previously discovered, the life course is no longer considered as linear as it was once thought to be. This statement has been further investigated and proven more specifically among families of children with special needs. This Master’s thesis reviews the perspective of 11 (eleven) fathers of children with cerebral palsy located in Canada and in the United States. Fathers voluntarily participated in a qualitative 90-minute qualitative structured interview, followed by the construction of a historical timeline of key events pertaining to their journey to becoming a father. Qualitative analyses consisted of a content analysis to investigate how fatherhood is constructed and the experiences of being a father to a child with cerebral palsy consist of. In essence, becoming a father to a child with cerebral palsy is an extremely emotional experience as complex and continuous feelings emerge in those transitioning into fatherhood.

This study will unpack and deconstruct the normative view of ability within Swedish school libraries. The theoretical framework for the study comprises Critical Disability Theory which is being applied to examine and describe how language, actions, and understanding strengthen and contribute to maintain power structures. The research questions of the study firstly consider how local school library policies are defined to ensure equal opportunities for all pupils and their needs and rights. Secondly, how these policies are interpreted and applied in practice. Lastly, what strategies, methods and approaches are used to accomplish this. By making the structures within the policies, interpretations, and practical applications visible the study aims to enrich and evolve the discourse on disability in Swedish school libraries as well as highlight the effect power structures have on inclusion, accessibility, and equal opportunities. The study was carried out by collecting data through existing school library policies as well as by conducting semi structured interviews with six school librarians. Both the policies and the interviews were analysed by qualitative content analysis where themes were generated from the empirical evidence collected and from previous research.  The results show that there is a normative view of ability as well as a normative view of disability. An aspiration for equality and accessibility permeates the school library practice with a focus on physical and compensatory education. Varying ability is part of human variation and focus must lie on needs, and not specific ability.

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University / BACKGROUNDS: Adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) face important health disparities, and are underrepresented in research. There is a particular lack of research from the perspective of members of this population. However, adults with ID are living longer than ever before, and, after a long history of institutionalization, are aging in the community. Aging adults with ID face important support gaps and challenges as pioneers in aging in the community. Aging women with ID are further marginalized by gender and age. This qualitative, participatory study explores lived experiences of aging and elderly women with intellectual disabilities. METHODS: In order to maximize voice for participants with ID, this study used qualitative, participatory methods including individual interviewing and Photo Voice, a participatory technique where participants are given cameras and become co-researchers on the project as they document their worlds. RESULTS: Important themes emerged including: The experience of aging with ID is a gendered phenomenon, anticipation of increased independence and community participation as a result of aging, community inclusion and the importance of relationships and belonging. Discussion: While further research is needed to quantify the experiences described by participants, the importance of community inclusion and relationships suggests that policy level supports for aging in place and individualized planning with be important for this generation of adults with ID. This thesis concludes with recommendations as to how adults with ID can best be supported in achieving healthy aging from a systems perspective.

The purpose of this study is to examine how high school students labeled with autism make meaning of their label and how, for them, the label functions in their day-to-day lives. Being diagnosed with autism can have many implications for an individual and his or her family and how a label is understood is very much connected to the impact that it has. A label can be instrumental in accessing resources and supports that enable a person to thrive, but it can also conjure stereotypes which may categorize a person or limit them in particular ways. Using critical theory and phenomenological analysis, short semi-structured interviews were conducted with high school aged participants prior to their attending a full day workshop. The workshop included half-day art creation and a half-day focus group which sought to understand participants’ experiences through their descriptions of their art and through collaborative discussion about their experience living labeled. The findings suggest that while their experiences are as diverse as the individuals who have them, there are similarities in how the label functions which may be more universal. Participants in this study discussed how the label of autism assigns positive or (more often) negative value to a person; how their label linked them with certain resources (and not others), and how they experienced and understood these resources; and the way labels can both protect and confine a person. Consideration of how high school students understand of their label of autism can prompt us all to think more critically about how labels, and the meanings we assign to them, affect and shape experience for those who live labeled. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

<p>The social inclusion of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities remains an elusive goal for many adults, their families, and allies. Many of the typical relational human interactions people without intellectual and developmental disabilities enjoy and take for granted, have been denied to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, largely because of harmful conceptualizations of what it means to live with a disability. These conceptualizations have not only influenced the development of public policy but they have also shaped the interactions and relationships between professionals and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Equipped with the historical knowledge of how public policy was used to cultivate and maintain the mass institutionalization of adults living with intellectual and developmental disabilities – and then subsequently used to lead to it’s demise – this study set out investigate if and how public policy might influence the nature of professional relationships between service users with intellectual and developmental disabilities and service providers. Using qualitative methods guided by critical disability theory, this study looked specifically at how <em>Ontario Regulation 299/10</em> has already, and/or may in the future, change the interpersonal relationships that exist between adults living with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their care-givers at L’Arche Hamilton. Research methods included working with the policy document and also conducting face-to-face interviews with adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their caregivers. It was important for this study to include the voices of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and to examine the research question from their perspective because without their input it would not be possible to really understand the regulation’s impact.</p> <p>This study focused on the current experiences of three residents (core members) and three care-givers (assistants) at L’Arche. It was found that there exist genuine and caring relationships between the two; relationships shaped by the understanding of the assistants that adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities have something of value – a “gift” – to contribute to what they define as a mutual relationship. In addition, both core members and assistants point to the importance of human touch in care-giving interactions – touch that moves beyond the functional (e.g., assistance with personal care) to also include expressive touch (e.g., hugs) that conveys affection and love. However, the findings further suggest that <em>Ontario Regulation 299/10</em> threatens the ability of care-givers to engage in the intentional form of relationship which currently exists within the L’Arche service model. This form of relationship is understood to be restricted by the regulation under the guise of “protection” and as being “best practice”. The legislation recognizes that people living with disabilities have higher rates of abuse then those living without disabilities; in response to this reality the legislation attempts to reduce opportunity for such abuses to occur and, as a result, articulates clear boundaries around the type of relationships that are permissible. The assistants interviewed for this study also recognize these concerns but they also worry that these concerns overlook the reality of the limited opportunities for genuine relationships between adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and those without. Further research, directed by adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, is needed to unpack how this relationship is understood and experienced by both parties, and how each feels it should be maintained, especially in regards to the use of physical touch as an expression of relationship. Research which engages the core members in dialogue on what “safety” and “relationship” mean and looks like for them is needed in order to truly understand the potential impact limiting the professional relationship may have.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

<p>This study explores people’s life experiences when they are diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as an adult, the impact of this diagnosis and how they experience living with ADHD. ADHD is often missed as a diagnosis in children whom have inattentive type ADHD, as “characteristic” symptoms such as hyperactivity and impulsiveness are not as prominent and therefore the child does not typically stand out in a school setting as having problematic or challenging behaviours. Consequently many children may navigate through their childhood and teen years not receiving a diagnosis until sometime into their adult years. In an attempt to give this group a voice I have created an opportunity for a small group of adults diagnosed with ADHD as adults to share their experiences in this qualitative research study. Discussions and findings from my research include the participants’ experiences of feeling relieved after being diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, their resulting responses of thinking about things differently, changing expectations and seeking more information. Participants shared everyday challenges of living with ADHD including physical and cognitive, challenges of daily living and challenges in the school environment. Participants also talked about the emotional impact when relating their experiences of living with ADHD, including having low self esteem, ongoing struggles with feelings of failure, not fitting in and self blame. The purpose of my research was to inform helping professions, and specifically the social work profession, about the experience of receiving a diagnosis of ADHD in adulthood and the realities of living with ADHD. The last area of my findings and discussion fulfills this purpose as it focuses on professional support.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

Relying on the perspectives of critical disability studies and mad studies, this graduate thesis seeks to uncover the experiences of youth with undiagnosed mental health issues who have been streamed into alternative education. Guided by methodological principles of interpretive phenomenological analysis and arts-informed inquiry, the 5 participants in this study were invited to a focus group where they could engage in an arts-based activity, meant to provide the opportunity to reflect on their experience, build rapport with the researcher, express themselves through alternative means, and connect with peers who have shared experience. Participants were then invited to discuss their experiences with the topic in a one-on-one, semi-structured interview. This study reveals the ways in which the system of education, school communities, teachers, and social workers can support youth who are not diagnosed with a mental illness but still experience mental health challenges that impede on their school experience. Supported by mad studies, this study reveals how peer support has become the method of mental health response and treatment through which students feel is most effective. This study also challenges medical hegemony and the ways in which access to services is dependent on medical diagnoses. Finally, this study reminds stakeholders of the value of building trusting and empathic relationships between school staff and students. School communities and school boards are challenged to think about the structuring of their systems, and the ways in which they may present barriers to the success of all students regardless of ability and/or need. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)