The structure of phonological processing for typically developing children has been debated over the past two decades. Recent research has indicated that phonological processing is best explained by a single underlying phonological ability (e.g., Anthony and Lonigan, 2004). The current study had two goals. The first goal was to determine the structure of phonological processing for school-age children with mild intellectual disabilities (MID). The second goal was to determine the relationship between the components of phonological processing and expressive and receptive language ability. The participants were 222 school-age children identified by their schools as having MID. Confirmatory factor analysis was utilized to determine the structure of phonological processing. The results indicated that a model with one phonological awareness factor and one naming speed factor explained the data better than competing models with a single latent factor or more than two latent factors. There was a negative significant relationship between phonological processing and naming speed. There were positive bivariate relationships between phonological processing and expressive and receptive language. There were negative bivariate relationships between naming speed and expressive and receptive language. These results are consistent with other research findings with typically developing children, indicating a similarity in the relationships between phonological process and language for children with MID. Theoretical and instructional implications are discussed.

It has been assumed that mathematics testing indicates the development of mathematics concepts, but the linguistic demands of assessment have not been evaluated, especially for children with mild intellectual disabilities. 244 children (grades 2 – 5) were recruited from a larger reading intervention study. Using a multilevel longitudinal SEM model, baseline and post-intervention time points were examined for the contribution of item linguistic complexity, child language skills, and their potential interaction in predicting item level mathematics assessment performance. Item linguistic complexity was an important, stable, and negative predictor of mathematics achievement with children’s language skills significantly and positively predicting mathematics achievement. The interaction between item linguistic complexity and language skills was significant though not stable across time. Following intervention, children with higher language skills performed better on linguistically complex mathematics items. Mathematics achievement may be related to an interaction between children’s language skills and the linguistic demands of the tests themselves.

Denna studie bygger på empiri från två genomförda fokusgrupper med syftet att undersöka hur elever med lindrig utvecklingsstörning på gymnasiesärskolan upplever termen särskola. Den teoretiska referensram som använts är ett socialkonstruktionistiskt perspektiv med sär-skild fördjupning på teorier om kategorisering. Studiens resultat analyserades genom tematisk innehållsanalys och resultatet visade att samtliga elever som deltog i fokusgrupperna upplevde termen särskola negativ och att de önskade att termen togs bort. Termen särskola bidrog till tankar och känslor av att vara mindre värd och att vara avvikande. De nackdelar eleverna lyfte med termen och skolformen var att det bidrar till begränsningar, mobbing och stämpling. Ena fokusgruppen upplevde att skolformen som sådan är positiv, medan den andra fokusgruppen upplevde att den är negativ. I båda fokusgrupperna lyftes att vilken annan term som helst vore bättre än termen särskola, men att det inte borde finnas en särskilt term överhuvudtaget. I ena fokusgruppen lyftes oro kring att en förändrad term inte skulle göra någon skillnad. Studiens slutsatser är att terminologin och samhällets attityder bör förändras. Särskild vikt bör läggas vid att informera professionella, som har kontakt med elever på särskolan, om elevernas upp-levelser av termen. Vidare bör termen särskola studeras ytterligare, särskilt ur ett elevperspek-tiv. / This study is based on empirical data from two completed focus groups that explore how stu-dents with mild intellectual disabilities in special secondary schools perceive the term “sär-skola”. A social constructionist perspective is used with particular specialization in theories of categorization. Study results were analyzed trough thematic content analysis and the result showed all participating students experienced disadvantages of the term “särskola”, which they wanted removed. The term contributed to thoughts and feelings of being inferior and deviant. The disadvantages students raised with the term were that it contributes to limits, bullying and stamping. One focus group felt that the school form as such is positive, while the other focus group felt that it is negative. Both groups highlighted that any other term than the existing would be better, but they preferred no special term at all. Concerns were raised that a changed terminology would not make any long-term difference. The study’s conclusions are that the terminology and society's attitudes should change. Particular attention should be paid to inform the professionals, who have contact with students in special curriculum, of students’ experiences of the term. Furthermore, the term should be studied further, particularly from a student perspective.

The shadow of stigma theory typically surrounds the research investigation of the lives of individuals with mild intellectual disabilities. McAdams’ life story theory and methodology provide a human development framework as an alternative to the prevailing framework in the field of disability. This study moves out of the shadow of otherness and examines the personal identity making process of twelve individuals with mild intellectual disabilities in the light of human development theory. Findings dispel the assumption that individuals with mild intellectual disabilities construct their lives solely through their disability. Rather, the identity making process includes the influences of socio-cultural events, religion, mentoring, advocacy, and the lived experience of disability. In this study, twelve adults with mild intellectual disabilities completed adapted life story interviews and four quantitative measures to explore the themes and patterns of agency, communion, redemption, contamination and generativity. Additional qualitative analysis expanded the range of discovery for influences in the identity making process. Following analysis of the quantitative scores, interviewees were placed in either the Higher Generativity Group or Lower Generativity Group. Analysis occurred at three levels: within case, within group and between group. Differences between the groups emerged, such as, involvement in human rights advocacy, presence of mentors and spiritual guides, and religious beliefs. Human rights advocacy provided a rich source of generativity and meaningful connection to others, politically, socially and emotionally. Turning point narratives often contained religious and redemptive content themes. While interviewees did not narrate the majority of scenes with disability centric content, one-half of the interviewees narrated disability content in their high point scenes, suggesting the positive internalization of their disability into their personal identity. The major findings confirm the importance of studying the life stories of this population from the perspective of human development theory. This study presents conclusions that impact research methodology for this population, as well as, social work research, policy development, practice and education.

Imagine that in city “U” there is a one-hour drive from the west side to the east side. Ten sixth-grade students live around a certain park on the west side of “U”. The nearest public primary school “V” is across the street from the park. Admittance to the nearest public primary school “V” is not based on achievement. Students do not have to repeat a subject and they are not expelled from the school if they fail subjects. Several of the sixth-grade students who live around the park are failing some of their subjects for some reason or other. Several will not qualify for admittance to high school. Among the students who are failing subjects, one is diagnosed with a mild intellectual disability. That student is reassigned on the basis of the diagnosis to special school “C” on the east of town. That student (and that student only) loses the right to attend their nearest public primary school “V”. In PART ONE of my paper, I introduce the notion of “demeaning institution” in relation to an argument made by the philosopher Sophia Isako Wong. Wong argues that aborting fetuses on the basis of a diagnosis of Down syndrome in an ableist society is analogous to aborting fetuses on the basis of a diagnosis of female in a very sexist society. Wong argues that in both cases (1) difference from a norm and (2) the effects of social barriers to participation are (mistakenly) presumed by medical doctors to indicate inferiority. I do not argue for or against Wong’s argument that it is impermissible to abort fetuses on the basis of a diagnosis of Down syndrome. I am interested in a related, but different, notion: that it is impermissible for institutions (like the medical profession and the public primary school) to demean. In PART TWO of my paper, I argue that denying students with mild intellectual disability the right to attend their nearest public primary school is analogous to racial school segregation in the U.S. South prior to the enforcement of Brown v,. Board of Education (1954). If attendance at the nearest public primary school is not based on achievement (i.e. there is no achievement test for admittance, and students that fail subjects do not lose their place in the class), it is demeaning when the school denies a place in the regular class to students because of mild intellectual disability. In that case, I argue, the school is a “demeaning institution”.

This thesis focuses on service utilisation among children with mild ID and their families, their needs for support and their experiences of support. Aims The overall aim of the thesis was to explore and describe service utilisation patterns among families of children with mild ID from a systems perspective. Methods A cross-sectional, descriptive and comparative quantitative design was used to describe the extent of service utilisation among 84 children with mild ID and their families (paper I and II). The types and number of services utilised were investigated in relation to the child’s age, gender and school setting. Data concerning the services utilised were collected from the organisational records of social services and paediatric habilitation units. In paper III, a descriptive questionnaire design was used to describe the support needs of families of 38 children with mild ID. A confirmatory design was used to examine the relation between family needs for support and (a) parental self-efficacy and (b) parents’ control over services. A confirmatory design was also used to examine the relation between parents’ experiences of the helpfulness of the support and (a) parental self-efficacy and (b) parents’ control over services. In paper IV a longitudinal, comparative and confirmatory design was used to investigate whether social service utilisation patterns differ over time when children with mild ID in self-contained classes are compared with those integrated into mainstream classes (n=405). Results In total, 60% of the families utilised paediatric habilitation services, and 40% of the families used disability-related services provided by social services. The most commonly utilised services were services concerned support outside of the home, such as respite care and services to improve children’s participation in society. Approximately 25% of the families utilised social problems-related services provided by social services. The most commonly utilised services concerned those to support parents in their parenting roles and financial assistance. In contrast to older children, younger children were more likely to utilise paediatric habilitation services. Older children utilised a higher number of disability-related service types provided by social services. Few differences were found between males and females. The majority of families did not utilise such services that are provided by social services. It was rare for families to use both disability-related services and those that address social problems during the same year. Commonly reported family needs concerned information about what services are available for their child, their child's impairment, how to respond to their child's behaviour and how to teach their child skills. Other common needs included access to parent support networks, to find suitable leisure activities for the child, and more alone time for parents. In contrast to families with mothers who did not participate in paid work, families with mothers who were employed expressed a lower requirement for support such as counselling, contact with other parents of children with impairments, more friends and more alone time for parents. Similar results werefound for families with mothers with higher levels of education. Parents with higher levels of perceived self-efficacy reported a lower need for information, as did also parents with higher levels of control over services. Parents with higher levels of control over services experienced the support as being more helpful. Children with mild ID who attended self-contained classes were more likely to utilise paediatric habilitation services than children integrated in mainstream classes. The same pattern was found for utilisation of disability-related services provided by social services. Integrated children who changed school setting to attend self-contained classes were more likely to begin to utilise disability-related services in comparison with those children who continued to be integrated. The former also had a higher likelihood of increasing the number of disability-related service types utilised. Conclusions In addition to disability-related problems, families of children with mild ID may also be at a higher risk of experiencing social problems when compared with the general population. Furthermore, very few families utilised both disability-related services and services addressing social problems. This implies that collaboration flaws exist between those professionals concerned with child welfare services and those concerned with disability-related services. A strong predictor of service utilisation was the type of school setting: children attending self-contained classes had a higher rate of service utilisation than those attending mainstream classes. This indicates that service systems outside of school are designed to collaborate with groups of pupils in special classes rather than individual children in mainstream classes. The strong need for information by families indicates that an ecological framework should be used to identify those factors that affect information availability and effectiveness. To increase parents’ perceived level of control over services, HSO professionals need to work in a capacity building manner with the explicit goal to enhance parental self-efficacy.

Tidigare studier har visat att individer med lindrig intellektuell funktionsnedsättning uppvisar en generellt lägre läsförmåga än individer med typisk utveckling. Vad detta bottnar i är oklart men mycket forskning tyder på att språkliga förmågor har en inverkan på läsförmågan. Föreliggande studie syftar till att undersöka eventuella samband mellan läsförmåga och språkliga förmågor hos barn och unga vuxna med lindrig intellektuell funktionsnedsättning i åldrarna 12 till 25 år.  De språkliga förmågor som undersöktes var fonologisk medvetenhet, snabb benämning (RAN), ordförråd, grammatisk förståelse samt språkförståelse. Testningarna genomfördes på deltagarnas respektive skolor utspridda i mellersta och södra Sverige. Råpoängen från respektive test användes i korrelations- och regressionsanalys för att kartlägga eventuella samband. I studien medverkade totalt 27 barn och unga vuxna i åldrarna 13;06–25;09 år. Resultaten visar att RAN och fonologisk medvetenhet har starka signifikanta samband med avkodning som helhet vilka tillsammans förklarar 72,3 % av variansen. Läsförståelse har starka signifikanta samband med fonologisk medvetenhet, grammatisk förståelse, avkodning som helhet och språkförståelse, där avkodning som helhet, språkförståelse och ordförråd förklarar 62,4 % av variansen. Ortografisk avkodning uppvisar ett starkare samband med läsförståelse än fonologisk avkodning. Resultaten i studien överensstämmer med tidigare forskning som menar att fonologisk medvetenhet och RAN är av vikt för alla typer av avkodning och att avkodning i sig påverkar läsförståelsen hos individer med såväl typisk utveckling som med lindrig intellektuell funktionsnedsättning. Däremot går resultaten i föreliggande studie emot tidigare forskning som inte kunnat visa att ordförrådet har signifikant påverkan på läsförståelsen hos individer med lindrig intellektuell funktionsnedsättning. Sammanfattningsvis visar resultaten av föreliggande studie att flertalet språkliga förmågor kan förklara variansen av såväl de olika typerna av avkodning som läsförståelse. Resultatet kan bidra till ökad kunskap kring bakomliggande faktorer till den nedsatta läsförmåga som observeras hos individer med lindrig intellektuell funktionsnedsättning. Resultaten tyder dock på att vidare forskning behövs för att fastställa vilka övriga faktorer som kan förklara resterande varians samt att stärka fynden i föreliggande studie. / Previous studies have shown that individuals exhibiting mild intellectual disability show a lower reading ability than individuals with typical development. The reasons behind these differences are unclear. However, research shows that specific language abilities affect reading ability. The present study aims to investigate any possible correlations between language ability and reading ability in young people with mild intellectual disability, aged 12 to 25 years. The examined linguistic abilities were phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN), vocabulary, grammatical comprehension and language comprehension. Testing was held at the participants’ schools in various parts of central and southern Sweden. The raw scores were used in correlation and regression analyses to map out any correlations. A total of 27 participants with ages ranging between 13;06 years and 25;09 years were included in the study. The results showed that RAN and phonological awareness had strong significant correlations to decoding and that they together can account for 72.3 % of its variance. Reading comprehension showed strong significant correlations to phonological awareness, grammatical comprehension, decoding, and language comprehension. Language comprehension and vocabulary explained 62.4 % of the variance in reading comprehension. Word decoding showed a stronger correlation to reading comprehension than phonological decoding. The results of the present study are in large parts compatible with previous research, which supports the findings that phonological awareness and RAN are of importance to decoding ability, and that decoding in turn has an impact on reading comprehension in individuals with both typical development and intellectual disability. However, the results in the present study are at odds with previous research, which has not found significant correlations between vocabulary and reading comprehension in individuals with mild intellectual disability. In summation, results of the present study show that a number of linguistic abilities can explain the variance of both decoding and reading comprehension. Hopes are that the results from the present study can contribute to furthering knowledge of the underlying factors which explain why individuals with mild intellectual disabilities generally are poor readers. More research is needed to confirm which other factors can explain the remaining variance and to strengthen the results of the present study.

Introduktion: Personer med funktionsnedsättning betraktas ofta som vård och omsorgstagare och inte som medborgare med samma rättigheter som alla andra. Bemötandet mot personer med funktionsnedsättning beskrivs ofta vara bristfälligt och de tillfrågas sällan om vad de själva vill. Att ha ett arbete är en viktig del av livet och för personer som på grund av funktionsnedsättning ej klarar av arbete inom den öppna arbetsmarknaden, finns daglig verksamhet. Syfte: Att beskriva unga vuxna personer med lindrig intellektuell funktionsnedsättnings erfarenheter och uppfattningar om bemötande och delaktighet, när det gäller övergång till samt första åren av daglig verksamhet. Metod: Data samlades in utifrån intervjuer med 14 personer med lindrig intellektuell funktionsnedsättning mellan 21 och 23 år och som befann sig inom olika typer av daglig verksamhet. Kvalitativ innehållsanalys användes för att analysera data. Resultat: Deltagarnas erfarenheter och uppfattningar om bemötande visade sig innehålla både bra och mindre bra aspekter. Delaktighet önskas men förutsättningarna är få. Den psykosociala arbetsmiljön framkom som betydelsefull för upplevelsen av sin dagliga verksamhet. I studien framkom också en oro inför framtiden hos flertalet deltagare. Konklusion: Deltagarna i denna studie uppgav att de vill bli lyssnade på utifrån den vuxna människan som de är. De vill bli bemötta och accepterade utifrån sin person och inte utifrån sin funktionsnedsättning. De vill vara delaktiga och behöver en tillåtande miljö för att få den möjligheten. Det framkommer att personer med intellektuella funktionsnedsättningar har begränsade utvecklingsmöjligheter. / Introduction: People with disabilities are often regarded as nursing and care recipients and not as citizens with the same rights as everyone else. The way persons with disabilities are treated is often described as inadequate, and they are rarely consulted about what they want. Having a job is an important part of life and for those who, because of disability, cannot manage the work in the open labour market, there are daily activities. Purpose: To describe how young adults with mild intellectual disabilities experiences and perceive the way others treat them and how much say they have in the context of transition to, and the early years of, daily activities. Method: Data were collected from interviews with 14 people with mild intellectual disabilities between 21 and 23 years old who were in various types of daily activities. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the data. Results: The participants' experiences and perceptions of how they are treated were found to contain both good and less good aspects. Participation is considered desirable, but there are few opportunities to exercise it. The psychosocial work environment emerged as important for the experience of their daily activities. The study also revealed a feeling of uncertainty about the future in the majority of participants. Conclusion: Participants in this study stated that they want to be listened to as the adults they are. They want to be treated and accepted as a person and not based on their disabilities. They want to participate and require an accepting environment in order to have the opportunity. It appears that people with intellectual disabilities have limited opportunities for development.

The aim of this thesis is to describe and analyse the moral reasoning of people with mild intellectual disability, as well as to find out their understanding of more abstract terms of the moral domain, what the principle of their deciding is, and which values are important for them. In the first part, the thesis concentrates on the influence of the intellectual disability on the cognitive, emotional and personality aspects of the subjects. It also introduces several theories of the moral development, moral structure and values, and finally, the thesis presents the outcomes of the foreign research focused on the moral reasoning of people with intellectual disability. In six case studies in the empirical part, the thesis demonstrates the moral reasoning of people with mild intellectual disability, who have been respondents of exploratory interviews. In the concluding part, the thesis attempts to find some identical significant moments which might be characteristic of moral reasoning of people with mild intellectual disability, and put them into the context of other research and theories.

Syftet med studien är att beskriva erfarenheter elever i gymnasiesärskolan har av ämnet matematik. Den teoretiska ansatsen utgår från grunderna i konstruktionismen och Berger och Luckmann's (2008) kunskapssociologiska förhållningssätt. Jag analyserar mina resultat utifrån Hacking (2000) och ett socialkonstruktionistiskt perspektiv. Studien är kvalitativ och gruppintervju används som metod. I gruppintervjun deltog sju elever som går i olika årskurser på gymnasiesärskolan. Eleverna går i Handelsprogrammet, Hotel och Restaurangprogrammet och Naturbruksprogrammet. Fokus i analysen är på vilka konstruktioner av skolämnet matematik, sig själva som matematikelever och nyttan med matematikkunskaper som eleverna gör. Resultatet visar att matematik som skolämne ses som ett nödvändigt ont och något som upplevs som svårt men viktigt. Det upplevs också som onödigt av vissa elever. Men även om relationen till matematik och rollen som matematikelev uppvisar kluvenhet, så var eleverna överens om att matematik var nyttigt att kunna i vardagslivet. Det fanns en stor samstämmighet bland de intervjuade eleverna om att man klarar sig bättre som vuxen om man kan matematik. / The purpose of the study is to describe the experiences students in Upper Secondary Special School have from the subject mathematics. The theoretical approach is based on the fundamentals of constructionism and Berger and Luckmann's (2008) approach to sociological knowledge. I analyse my results through Hacking (2000) and a social constructionistic perspective. The study is qualitative and a qualitative group interview is used as method. In the group interview, seven students in different levels on Upper Secondary Special School, participated. The students attend the Tradeprogram, Hotel and Restaurantprogram and Natural Resources Program. The focus of the analyse is which different constructions of the school matemathic, themselves as mathlearners and the usefulness of mathematics knowledge, that the students do. The result shows that mathematics as a school subject is seen as a necessary trouble and something that is perceived as difficult but important. It is also perceived as unnecessary by some students. But even if the relation to mathematics and the role of mathematics student exhibits ambivalence, the students were agreed that mathematics is useful to everyday life. There was a broad consensus among the interviewed students that you are doing better as an adult if you know mathematics.