An interest in the development of alternative instructional methods for learning disabled adolescents has emerged within the last few years. Intervention studies examining the effects of cognitive or learning strategies have been proposed as viable alternatives for facilitating the learning of learning disabled youth. This study addressed a specific cognitive or learning strategy entitled "mapping" for improving text recall. Subjects were four diagnosed learning disabled adolescents receiving support services within a high school resource classroom. The design for the study was the A-B-A-B-C design utilized in single subject research. The study consisted of administration of daily text passages and corresponding text passage exams. Each subject was individually trained to utilize the mapping strategy which required the students to take the key concepts presented in the text and develop a diagrammatic representation of these concepts. A self-graphing procedure was utilized to maintain the use of the trained strategy. The results concerning the effectiveness of the mapping strategy indicate that the utilization of the strategy will increase recall of text information among learning disabled adolescents. Maintenance of the trained strategy was demonstrated by two of the four subjects. The two remaining subjects who failed to demonstrate maintenance of the strategy were introduced to the self-graphing procedure. These subjects indicated that a graphic display of exam scores may not be sufficient to develop strategy maintenance. Educational and research implications were discussed.

While research on barriers to full participation for those with learning and other disabilities has focused largely on structural and institutional obstacles to work and education (Swain, French, & Cameron, 2005; Jones, 1996; Watson, 2002), the recognition of disability as a social justice issue is gaining currency (Kraus, 2008). Expensive, bureaucratic, and protracted procedures for reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities in colleges and universities may serve as institutional obstacles that can challenge notions of social justice. This study examined academic policy implementation surrounding foreign language substitution procedures and practices in five institutions of higher education. Nineteen academic administrators were interviewed to examine how and when policies are implemented, and how those responsible for decision-making around student requests for foreign language substitutions as a reasonable accommodation approach their decision-making. Additionally, content analysis of institutional material listed on websites and in documents available to students was conducted to understand in what model(s) of disability substitution requests are rooted. Finally, four students from one of the five institutions were interviewed to contextualize the findings from the institutional administrator interviews and content analysis. The framework of Strategic Ambiguity is utilized to examine how ambiguity in policy creation and implementation can negatively impact the experiences of some students with disabilities in higher education, even as it benefits administrators who can capitalize on ambiguity to align their policy decisions with individual interpretations of fairness. The framework of Universal Design is utilized to examine how diverse perspectives on the comparative importance of language and cultural study may legitimize the expansion of curricular options for all students.

Clinical teaching is a diagnostic/prescriptive model to teach and students with learning problems. It is a teaching cycle which allows the teacher to manipulate variables affecting learning in order to devise appropriate instructional programs. Reading, spelling, and arithmetic tasks were developed to furnish the in-service teacher with a starting point to begin clinical teaching.This creative project has developed the informal diagnostic tasks in clinical teaching for reading, spelling, and arithmetic. The tasks are at the readiness and first grade levels. Learning style has been assessed simultaneously with the skills assessment.Reading skills were obtained from the Barbe Reading Checklist. General reading skills include structural analysis, word analysis, and comprehension. Spelling words were obtained from the Dolch Basic Sight Word List. Arithmetic skills were obtained from the Mann-Suiter Arithmetic Skills Checklist. General arithmetic skills include prenumber skills, numerical operations, money, and fractions.

Introduction: Children with a learning disability (LD) and/or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are known to suffer from significantly more sleep problems, anxiety and challenging behaviour (CB) than typically developing children, yet little is known about the relationships between these factors in the child LD/ASD population. Aims and Hypotheses: The aim of the current study was to examine the relationships between sleep problems, anxiety and CB in children with LD and/or ASD. It was hypothesised that there would be differences between levels of sleep problems, anxiety and CB in children with LD alone, LD and ASD, and ASD alone. It was further hypothesised that there would be significant positive correlations between the three factors and that sleep problems and anxiety would predict a significant amount of the variance in levels of CB. Method: Postal questionnaires were returned by parents of one hundred and sixty seven parents of children with LD and/or ASD. Questionnaires consisted of parental report measures of sleep problems, anxiety and CB, in addition to general demographic variables. Results and Discussion: Statistical analysis revealed no difference between groups (LD, LD+ASD, ASD) in relation to sleep problems, however, some differences were found between the groups in relation to anxiety and CB. Correlational analysis revealed significant positive associations between the three factors. A hierarchical multiple regression showed that medication, sleep problems and anxiety accounted for 42% of the variance in CB, with a large effect size. These findings suggest that the relationships between sleep, anxiety and CB found in the TD child and adult LD/ASD populations are also evident in the child LD/ASD population and that these relationships should be considered during clinical practice, particularly in the case of CB interventions where sleep problems and/or anxiety are also present.

Introduction: There is growing evidence that many parents with learning disabilities, when given adequate support, can parent successfully. Childbirth is a significant life event that marks a woman's transition to motherhood and is a time when parents first learn to nurture their children. Postnatal care aims to facilitate this learning experience as well as promote the emotional and physical well-being of both infant and mother. To date, no research has explored the support mothers with learning disabilities receive during the postnatal period. To fill this gap in the research and help inform service provision, this study aims to explore how mothers with learning disabilities experience postnatal care. Method: Semi-structured interviews were carried out with six mothers with learning disabilities. The data were collected and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Results: Mothers experiences of postnatal care were conceptualised within four superordinate themes: challenges of providing support, how support was delivered , learning to cope and challenges to building trust. All of these had accompanying subthemes. Discussion: The results are discussed in the context of relevant literature. Consistent with previous research which has been carried out with parents with learning disabilities, participants were found to be highly dependent on informal support. The participants acknowledged the value of professional input and their perceptions of how this support was delivered had important implications. Learning how to cope with the demands of their new role raised issues not dissimilar to those of parents without learning disabilities. Challenges, however, were faced in establishing trusting relationships with professionals. The findings were found to have implications for clinical practice which are described and suggestions for future research made. Conclusion: The findings suggest that participant informal supports play a key role during the initial stages of parenthood particularly with providing practical support in areas which present challenges. Professional input was valued when delivered according to the typical pathway of care post-birth. It is recommended that consideration is given to how the support is delivered to participants. This should essentially seek to empower parents rather than undermine them as how support was perceived by parents impacted on their subsequent engagement with professionals.

People with learning disabilities constitute about 2% of the general population. Epilepsy is more prevalent among people with learning disabilities compared with the general population. Effective communication is central to the management of people with learning disabilities and epilepsy. It has both therapeutic and health promotion functions including psycho-social benefits to the individual and their carers. Carers play vital roles in supporting individuals who live in the community to manage their conditions and the need for effective communication between service users and health care professionals is crucially important. Effective communication may not only lead to improved quality of life but may reduce mortality through the promotion of better understanding of seizures and encouraging efficient use of medication. Despite this communication regarding community-based adults with mild learning disabilities has not been fully studied, in particular the service users‘ views and experiences regarding communication has been a neglected area. Yet, the service users‘ views may be the best source for the definition of effective communication. This study was triggered by the paucity of research that investigated service users‘ views and experiences regarding communication. Furthermore, numerous health policies have been formulated that emphasise the involvement of patients as consumers in the provision and delivery of health services. This study is purported to bridge this communication gap by offering service users a rare opportunity for them to express their views and experiences regarding communication to inform health policies and clinical practice. This study adopts a naturalistic qualitative approach and employs in-depth semi-structured interviews to solicit service users‘ and their carers‘ views and experiences regarding communication. The interviews also investigated service users‘ and carers‘ perspectives in regard to communication with health care professionals‘. Carer communication diaries were used to supplement the carers‘ interview data and also to endorse the credibility of the study findings. Six main findings emerged from this study that described service users‘ and carers‘ views and experiences regarding communication: communication needs and expectations; ‗engagement‘ as a predictor of effective communication; strategies of communication; facilitating factors of communication; methods of communication; barriers to communication. This study suggests that effective communication with people with learning disabilities and epilepsy requires a reflective model that incorporates self-assessment and awareness of the individual‘s communication needs and expectations. The model and recommendations that emerged from this study may be a useful resource for health and social care professionals.

Over the past twenty years the number of children identified with learning disabilities has risen drastically. In addition, 26 - 40% of these children also experience depression. While cognitive functioning has been demonstrated to be associated with depression, it is unclear whether the mood, vegetative, or cognitive symptoms of depression predict particular cognitive processes and vice versa. The purpose of this study was to determine which particular cognitive processes were associated with specific depressive symptoms and depression as a whole. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to test a model which examined how three cognitive processing factors (verbal & visual reasoning, and attention/working memory) were associated with three depressive symptom factors (disturbances in mood, vegetative, and cognitive functioning). The data for SEM came from a large data set of children with learning disabilities (n=227). Model fit results supported the proposed model, and a significant association was found between the attention/working memory factor and the depression symptom factor reflecting disturbances in cognitive functioning. Less robust relationships were observed between verbal reasoning and cognitive depressive symptoms and an approach toward the conventional level of significance was noted between visual reasoning and cognitive depressive symptoms. Using a sub-sample of original participants who were re-evaluated 20-25 years later (n=40), longitudinal analyses were conducted to determine the predictive power of cognitive functioning and depression over time. There was some indication for the predictive power of visual reasoning performance in childhood on mood symptoms of depression in adulthood. The most robust association at both time 1 and time 2 was between attention/working memory performance and cognitive symptoms of depression. However, the association appeared to be time specific and not predictive.

Syftet med studien var att beskriva särskolepersonalens erfarenheter av tillgänglighet på särskolors lekplatser. För att besvara syftet genomfördes intervjuer på särskolor i fyra kommuner i Stockholms läns landsting. Material analyserades och ur det framkom följande tre kategorier: ”Brister på flera nivåer”, ”Lekplatsen kan bidra till social interaktion” samt ”Ett tungt arbete att vara på lekplatsen”. I analysen framkom att tillgängligheten på särskolors lekplats är undermålig och att redskap på lekplatsen inte är anpassade. Det framkom också att personalen har svårt att kunna lämna barnen själva på lekplatsen eftersom de flesta barn behöver stöd och guidning för att de ska kunna leka på lekplatsen. Vidare framkom det att personalen behöver hjälpa barnen vid lekredskapen vilket var ett fysiskt tungt arbete och ledde till att personalen ibland valde bort aktiviteter. Interaktion mellan barnen är bra på grund av att personalen finns tillgänglig hela tiden och att ett bra samarbete mellan personalen finns. / The purpose of the study was to describe the staff's experience of accessibility at special school’s playgrounds. In response to the purpose, interviews were conducted on special schools in four municipalities in Stockholm County Council. Materials were analyzed and the following three categories emerged: "Lack on several levels", "The playground can contribute to social interaction" and "A heavy work to support at the playground". The analysis revealed that accessibility to the school's playground is inadequate and that tools in the playground is not adapted. It was also found that staff have difficulty in leaving children alone in the playground because most children need support and guidance to play in the playground. Furthermore, it emerged that the staff needed to help the children at the play equipment, which was a physically demanding work and led to the staff sometimes opting activities. Interaction between the children is good because staff are available all the time and that there is good cooperation between the staff.

The purpose of this study is to compare black children with white children to determine if a significant difference exists between their scores on the subtests of the ITPA.

The purpose of this study was to describe the extent and quality of prior knowledge, transactional nature, and social context of literacy knowledge demonstrated by young mildly handicapped learners. The study was based on current theories of literacy which view literacy growth as part of the total language system development, and ethnographic methods were used to gather and analyze qualitative data. Language and literacy events were observed in three special education classrooms including 43 students ranging in age from 4 years 1 month to 9 years 11 months. Major findings of the study included: (a) The children in this study demonstrated prior literacy knowledge much like that of non-handicapped peers, (b) Demonstrations of oral and written language system transactions decreased after students received formal instruction in reading and writing. And (c) children's ability to interpret print depended greatly on the presence or absence of context with the print.