Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1984. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-168).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2006. / Title from title screen (site viewed May 16, 2007). PDF text: vi, 113 p. ; 1.14Mb UMI publication number: AAT 3236904. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

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There is an ongoing trend in Western societies, including Australia, to move people with developmental disabilities out of institutions and into community based accommodation. When deinstitutionalisation occurs it impacts not only on the person with a disability but on their significant others and also on the organisation/s providing them with support. While government departments and support organisations say that they involve family members in deinstitutionalisation, little previous research has focussed on family members’ experiences of deinstitutionalisation to know if it is an engaging and empowering experience for them. Most previous studies of deinstitutionalisation, where they have spoken to significant others, have focussed on their perceptions of the benefits or disadvantages of deinstitutionalisation for their son or daughter with a disability directly rather than considering how it impacted upon the significant others. I identified this as a gap in our current knowledge and set out through this study to find out what deinstitutionalisation was like from the viewpoint of some significant others involved in it My research methodology was informed by a Symbolic Interactionist approach whereby I wished to investigate the meaning attached by significant others to the process and the outcomes of deinstitutionalisation through in depth interviews The application of selective coding procedures led to the development of the core category - for some significant others devolution is a disempowering process. This is a different viewpoint to that expressed in the majority of studies of devolution. In considering why this study revealed a different story, I identified through the data and from reviewing the available international literature, that deinstitutionalisation rekindles feelings of guilt regarding the decision to place their child in an out-of-home placement. Application of these principles might result in Empowering Partnerships which would in turn benefit all three players. I translated the three major categories and five principles into a Model of Empowering Partnerships in Devolution. / Master of Arts (Hons)

Previous research suggests that careproviders' attitudes and perceptions significantly influence the type and quality of services received by institutionalized adults with developmental disabilities (IADD). This study explored attitudes careproviders hold concerning training needs of the IADD and their service model orientation. It traced the history of training people with developmental disabilities and provided a brief review of the medical, developmental, and normalization models of service delivery. The conceptual framework upon which this study was based proposed that staff perceptions and orientation concerning service delivery to the IADD can be conceptually related to five factors in a research model. They were identified as: (a) careprovider's characteristics; (b) working environment; (c) previous careprovider experience; (d) developmental disability history within the careprovider's family; and (e) self-reporting of a service delivery orientation. This study examined only a portion of this model (factors a, b, and e). The response sample included 370 professionals and paraprofessionals, aged 17 to 72 years, who were employed at a large residential facility serving individuals with developmental disabilities in Denton, Texas. The respondents were predominantly female (76.5%), Caucasian (72.2%) with slightly less than 75% having more than a high school diploma. The instrument, a self-administered questionnaire, consisted of three parts; Careprovider's Service Model Orientation; Careprovider's Perception of Training Needs; and, Demographic Information. Data were analyzed through the use of regression, chi square, and analysis of variance tests. Findings revealed several significant relationships between: professional status and perceptions of training needs of the IADD; professional status and service model orientation; professional status and reported service model orientation; professional status and attitude toward the medical model; and, professional status and attitude toward the developmental model. Significant relationships were not found for four additional hypotheses that were included the study.

The purpose of this study was to determine if social interaction is associated with a higher work performance in developmentally disabled adults.

Individuals with developmental disabilities, especially those with high support needs, are less likely to obtain competitive employment through traditional means than their neurotypical peers. This qualitative phenomenological study explored the lived experience of seven familial entrepreneurs who responded to the lack of opportunities for their loved ones by creating a business to provide them a job. Findings from this study revealed that familial entrepreneurship is a hybrid-type of employment that has similar characteristics to traditional pathways of employment, but is distinct. It offers a post-secondary option in an environment where individuals with developmental disabilities can develop work skills, have social relationships, interact with members of the community, and in some situations, earn income. The businesses also provide training programs, settings for evaluations and assessments, and become vendors of government-supported employment programs, expanding their impact from the person they are designed to support, to the broader community. Employees and participants at the businesses experience an improvement in quality of life, access to a supportive community, and belonging. For the familial entrepreneurs, the study found that they encounter an immense learning curve in the areas of industry knowledge; business practice; supervising, employing and training individuals with developmental disabilities; and how to gather resources and support. This study also revealed that more clarity is needed to determine if this pathway can provide long-term sustainable employment outcomes. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

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This thesis explores the experiences of parents who have children with significant developmental disabilities. A dissatisfaction with the interpretive power of dominant paradigms regarding parents' responses to their children with disabilities resulted in a study in which an interpretive methodology, informed by phenomenology, was used. The voices of six parents paint a picture which is at odds with prevalent assumptions of parental crisis and maladjustment. Whilst being conscious of their anguish and sorrow, these parents speak of hope, love, strength and joy. An interpretation of the parents' experience is presented in light of the themes of 'between joy and sorrow', 'hope and no hope' and 'defiance and despair'. This phenomenological interpretation provides insight and understanding and has implications for nursing practice, education and research / Master of Nursing (Hons)