This is a study of an implementation process, which means it is a study of the gray area somewhere between policy and program. The policy created in 1983 opened the door of the college to non-traditional learners. Sweeping changes in the social discourse of disability supported the development of the 1983 policy. A review of the literature revealed four factors that were likely to influence the process: the policy, the implementing agency, external influences and power, politics and negotiation. The purpose of the study was to compare a framework, established from the literature, to a framework that evolved from the research. The project concluded that the four factors were adequate to describe the situation however, the preconceived framework was inadequate to describe the relationship among the factors for this site. Data collected from documents and interviews revealed that some factors have a stronger influence on the process than others. In this case, power, politics and negotiation and the implementing agency are strong considerations, while the policy and external factors play a weaker role. The result was a reconstructed framework that portrayed the implementation process for this site. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

Although other forms of learning support such as remedial education and occupational therapy are available to assist a child with a learning barrier or developmental delay, this study set out to explore therapeutic horse riding as an alternative learning support strategy. The motivation was to support and develop the core skills of Amy, a preschool child who is physically disabled. The researcher’s premise was that owing to the limitations in Amy’s movement ability, certain developmental areas required for school readiness would be impacted. The aim of this case study was to describe the development of core skills such as perceptual-motor, socio-emotional and language and how these underlying abilities could develop through the movement modality of the horse. A therapeutic horse riding program was implemented over a period of time with the specific goal to stimulate certain core skills by encompassing mind and body. The horse, with its distinctive three-dimensional movement, facilitated this unique form of learning. Although European countries have made great progress in this area, South Africa is steadily following suit. Therefore, the researcher hoped to contribute to the body of existing knowledge within this field. Data were collected from different sources to substantiate the findings. Findings have revealed an improvement in many areas of Amy’s core skills, in particular her balance and posture, and the crossing of her midline. Further findings were that Amy’s concentration and listening skills improved and she became more even-tempered, confident and innovative during therapeutic horse riding (THR). The researcher recommends therapeutic horse riding as a supplementary learning support strategy within a school for special educational needs although it can also be implemented in the mainstream context. In this regard, the therapeutic horse riding therapist becomes a valued member of the support team in a collaborative endeavour to contribute to the holistic development of a child like Amy or any child with learning, emotional or behavioural needs. Although THR is considered a new field of therapy results have shown that it provides great benefits to those who experience it. / Mrs. J.V. Fourie

An analysis of interrater agreement across multiple respondents on anecdotal assessments and correspondence between functional analysis outcomes was completed. Experiment I evaluated overall agreement among multiple respondents (direct-care staff) on the hypothesized function of each residents (28 adults with mental retardation) problematic behavior using the Motivational Assessment Scale (MAS) and the Functional Analysis Screening Tool (FAST). Results of the questionnaires indicated that respondents agreed on the function of the problematic behavior for 10 of the 28 residents. Experiment II examined whether, for selected cases in which 4 out of 5 respondents agreed on the function of the problematic behavior, correspondence occurred between functional analyses and anecdotal assessments outcomes. Two of the 6 functional analyses did not evoke the problematic behavior. However, 4 functional analyses did produce corresponding outcomes suggesting that, when the functional analyses produced interpretable data, the results of the functional analyses corresponded with those of the anecdotal assessments.

Childhood obesity and resulting secondary complications in youth with disabilities are occurring in epidemic proportions, due in part to a trend of physical inactivity. The purpose of this study is to report the prevalence of overweight, the leisure time activity patterns, and the association between frequency of physically active leisure participation and body mass index for age, in a sample of 50 youth with spina bifida, ages 4.5 to 17.9 years. Results indicate that 52% of the sample are classified as at risk of overweight or overweight; 36% were male and 16% were female. The top five leisure time activities and team sport participation are identified. Subjects who did not use a wheelchair for ambulation participated significantly more in physically active leisure than subjects who used a wheelchair. Future research and rationale for physically active leisure as an intervention for youth with spina bifida are discussed.

Segundo dados oficiais, há no Brasil 45 milhões de pessoas com alguma deficiência, o que corresponde a 23,5 por cento da população, este número tem crescido devido a diversos fatores, entre eles ao aumento da morbidade que acarretam deficiências motoras e cognitivas. À luz deste quadro abordam-se as possibilidades de recursos e serviços desenvolvidos para proporcionar ou aumentar habilidades funcionais de indivíduos com deficiência, com o objetivo de promover a vida independente e a inclusão, definidos como Tecnologia Assistiva. Espera-se que estes novos aplicativos contribuam na desestigmatização da deficiência no âmbito da sociedade, contribuindo para que a coletividade perceba o deficiente em toda sua potencialidade. Objetivo: analisar a aderência de crianças e adolescentes com deficiências físicas em relação a personagem virtual com deficiência física. Método: trata-se de um estudo transversal aninhado ao desenvolvimento e utilização de um aplicativo na forma de jogo eletrônico a ser instalado em plataforma IOS para telefones celulares. População: 29 crianças e adolescentes entre seis e dezoito anos de idade, cadeirantes devido a lesões dos sistemas músculo-esquelético, portadores da Distrofia Muscular de Duchenne (DMD), que possuam cognição para a compreensão e capacidade motora para a utilização do aplicativo, em seguimento no Ambulatório de Distrofia Muscular do Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade de São Paulo. Coleta de dados: o aplicativo desenvolvido prevê a exposição aleatória de 3 avatares como personagens principais do jogo, sendo a disposição dos personagens em tela, personagem escolhido, tempo de decisão, número de escolhas e tempo de permanência no jogo automaticamente registrados pelo programa. Paralelamente às informações coletadas automaticamente, cada criança, junto ao cuidador responde a 2 formulários (antes e depois) com informações sócio-demográficas, clínicas e sobre suas impressões sobre o jogo. Análise dos dados: médias e medianas dos dados são apresentados em tabelas simples de frequência e analisados segundo técnicas estatísticas para dados contínuos e categóricos. O nível de significância alfa foi definido como <= 0,05 e o poder do teste em 20 por cento . Aspectos éticos: este projeto de pesquisa foi submetido e aprovado no Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa da Faculdade de Saúde Pública da Universidade de São Paulo. Resultados: pelos achados da presente dissertação a escolha do avatar cadeirante é mais frequente que a dos demais avatares disponíveis para seleção, com 43,5 por cento das escolhas nos 269 processos de seleção analisados; é também o mais frequentemente escolhido quando analisado pelo critério de maior número de escolhas por participante (44,8 por cento das escolhas frente a 17,2 por cento do avatar motociclista e 13,8 por cento do avatar ciclista); e o com maior frequência de escolha quando os indivíduos participantes foram agrupados por condições sociais e demográficas. Conclusões: 1) existe aderência de crianças e adolescentes que vivem com deficiências físicas em relação ao personagem virtual com deficiência física; 2) indivíduos com deficiência física não rejeitam aplicativos computacionais onde esteja presente um personagem com deficiência física; 3) a opção do avatar cadeirante como personagem principal do aplicativo é superior a dos demais avatares; 4) a visão do avatar com deficiência física distancia-se de ser compreendida como elemento indutor de tristeza. / According to official data, in Brazil 45 million people live with disabilities, which corresponds to 23.5 per cent of the population, this number has grown due to several factors, including the increased morbidity that cause motor and cognitive disabilities. This framework address the possibilities of resources and services designed to provide or enhance functional abilities of individuals with disabilities in order to promote independent living and inclusion, defined as Assistive Technology. Expected that new applications can contribute to the end of stigmatization of disability within society, contributing for the community perceives all potentials existing in people with disabilities. Objective: To analyze the adherence of children and adolescents with physical disabilities regarding to an avatar with physical disabilities. Method: it is a cross-sectional study with a development and use of an application f electronic game to be installed on iOS platform for mobile phones. Population: 29 children and adolescents between six and eighteen years old, wheelchair due the muscular systems injuries, patients with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), with cognition for understanding and motor ability to use the application, supported at Muscular Dystrophy Ambulatory of Hospital das Clinicas da Universidade de São Paulo. Data collection: the developed application provides random display of 3 avatars as main characters of the game, the chosen avatar, the decision time and the number of choices was automatically recorded. Before and after the game, each participant answer questions about socio-demographic, clinical, and game impressions. Data analysis: mean and median of the data are presented in simple frequency tables and analyzed using statistical techniques for continuous and categorical data. The level of significance was set at alpha <= 0.05 and power of the test by 20 per cent . Ethical considerations: This research project was approved in the School of Public Health, University of São Paulo Research Ethics Committee. Results: Of the findings of this dissertation, the choice of a wheelchair avatar was more frequent than the other avatars available for selection, with 43.5 per cent of 269 analyzed selection processes, it is also the most often chosen, when analyzed by the of most choices per participant (44.8 per cent compared with 17 per cent of the biker avatar and 13.8 per cent of cyclist avatar choices), and it\'s was more frequently choice, when participants were grouped by many social and demographic conditions. Conclusions: 1) there is adherence of children and adolescents living with disabilities regarding to an avatar with physical disabilities, 2) children and adolescents with physical disabilities do not reject computing applications where is present an avatar with physical disabilities., 3) The option for wheelchair avatar for main character of the application was bigger as the other avatars; 4) the vision of avatar with physical disabilities was not understood as an inductive of sadness element.

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The purpose of this study is to explore the social and dating attitudes of university students who are able-bodied towards students with physical disabilities at California State University, San Bernardino.

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