The purpose of this study was to determine if an autistic child who had been nonverbal, and who had a history of failure to make auditory discriminations, would rely on visual cues rather than auditory cues in making speech discriminations. It was hypothesized that she would learn to articulate more correctly those words presented with concomitant visual cues than the ones with visual cues absent.

No description available.

No description available.

All branches of the military service have humanitarian transfer policies which require that consideration be given to the special educational and medical needs of dependent family members during the reassignment process. These policies may result in certain school districts serving a disproportionate number of military-connected handicapped children. Despite the federal financial assistance received by LEAs under P.L. 94-142 (Education for All Handicapped Children Act) and P.L. 81-874 (School Assistance for Federally Affected Areas) the presence of these children may create a fiscal burden on the LEAs. This study sought to determine if seven school districts in the Tidewater area of Virginia served a disproportionate number of military connected handicapped children, what the additional costs were to the LEAs to educate these children, and what percentage of military parents of handicapped children were assigned to the Tidewater area due to the special educational needs of their children. Analysis of the data indicated that 7.7% of the total military enrollment (40,824) of the seven school districts were enrolled in special education programs. This percentage is not considered disproportionate when compared with the 10.3% of the nonmilitary population enrolled in special education programs. A number of possible explanations were offered for these inconsistencies. Per pupil costs were calculated for four self-contained programs in the Newport News School Division. Analysis of the data indicated that additional costs were incurred by the LEA to educate students in these high cost programs. These additional costs varied due to differing amounts of revenue received under P.L. 81-874 and the state reimbursement formula. It was concluded that the findings_of this study would be applicable only to the Newport News School Division and to the programs and settings that were investigated. Nineteen percent of the parents of military-connected handicapped children from five school districts were surveyed. Analysis of the data indicated that 55% of those parents were familiar with the armed forces' humanitarian reassignment programs. Forty-one percent of those familiar with the humanitarian reassignment programs had requested a transfer to the Tidewater area on the basis of their child's special educational needs. A growing awareness of reassignment policies has implications for certain school divisions. These implications were presented and discussed. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to verify factors which are related to the provision of special education services in Virginia school divisions and to compare obtained results with similar research completed in the era of permissive legislation by Chalfant in 1965 in Illinois. A diagnostic technique was developed to indicate the proportions of children identified as handicapped expected to be found in a school division. Indicator variables selected for inclusion in the study were average daily membership, population per square mile, median school years completed, percentage of total civilian labor force unemployed, true value of property, percent black, median household income, percentage of families in urban residence, and the Composite Index. Criteria measures included the proportion of students identified as mentally retarded, learning disabled, speech impaired, emotionally disturbed, and total proportion of all handicapped students. Indicator variables found significant to the proportion of learning disabled students were median school years completed, percent of the total civilian labor force unemployed, percent black, percent urban, population per square mile, and median household income. Median school years completed, median household income, percent black, and population per square mile were found to be significant in predicting to the proportion of students identified as mentally retarded. Indicator variables related to the proportion of students identified as emotionally disturbed included average daily memh·.~rship, percent urban, median income, and percent of total civilian labor force unemployed. A low correlation was found between proportion of speech impaired students and percentage of families in urban residence, true value of property, and average daily membership. The total proportion of students identified as handicapped was best predicted by the percent of total civilian labor force ·unemployed, percent urban and population per square mile. A special education Expectancy Index was developed to provide a comparative measure for each school division on each criteria measure. The atypical school divisions were diagnosed as having overidentified or underidentified proportions of each criteria measure. The study confirmed the methodology utilized by Chalfant and yielded an operational model for predicting certain special education services. / Ed. D.

Thesis (M Social Work (Social Work))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Disability can be physical or mental and have different causes, which determine how it is classified. This study will concentrate on physical disability. In the past, the causes of disability were associated with many beliefs of which most perceived disability as something bad. In Botswana, even though people now understand the causes of disability, they still associate it with something bad or have not fully accepted disabled people. The beliefs surrounding physical disability are worse due to the fact that the disability is visible. The way people perceive physical disability does not only affect the disabled person, but also their families. As the causes of disability vary and can develop prior to birth or be acquired later in life, they affect the different age groups in different ways. This study will focus on physical disability in school children and will explore the impact it has on their mother’s psychosocial needs. The physical disability of school children has different challenges depending on the type of disability. The challenges can be physical, social, economic and psychological. Due to these challenges these children are considered to have special needs and require special care. The special care involves providing for their special basic needs and their medical, social and psychological needs at home and at school. The physically disabled school children also use special equipment which helps them with their daily actives. This equipment needs special care and these children therefore need to go for regular checkups. They also need to be assisted with how to use this equipment at home and school. The challenges of physically disabled school going children are administered by social workers under the Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) Programme. The CBR must assist with improving the lives of disabled children and their families. When the social workers attend to the disabled school going child, they concentrate on the medical part of the child’s disability, often forgetting other needs. They also do not attend to the mother and her needs, as she is the primary carer. This study was conducted in Letlhakeng village in Botswana. Twenty (20) biological mothers of physically disabled school going children were interviewed using a semi structured questionnaire. The sampling was a non probability purposive sample and the study used both quantitative and qualitative methods of research. The quantitative study has shown that the mothers in the area have limited education and are non-skilled. They are still active and most of them are single parents engaged in low income economic activities or not doing anything and they have a reasonable number of children. Their housing structures are poor and not accessible for the disabled children. The results indicated that mothers know about disability, but the causes have not been fully communicated to them. Even though they consider physical disability to have a natural cause, they still associate it with other beliefs according to which the disability could have happened at birth or after birth. This indicates that cultural beliefs still have an impact. The mothers send their children to school but their schooling is not taken seriously as the mothers do not know about programmes like special education that can help their children. They still have negative feelings when the child is at school. In addition the mothers are not comfortable with the school environment and still believe a disabled child does not have the capacity to learn. The qualitative study showed that mothers have psychosocial needs which are not provided for, as they feel that CBR does not involve them and assist them accordingly. This therefore deprives them of the information and confidence to provide for their disabled children. The mothers do not interact well with their relatives and the community due to the negative attitudes they have towards the disabled. They also lack support from them and from the social workers, because at the time of this study there was no social worker in the area. The mothers showed that they have the burden of caring for their disabled children and this is affecting them physically, economically, socially and psychologically. The role of social work in rehabilitation is still not taken seriously as indicated by the fact that the post at the rehabilitation office has remained vacant for so long. Overall, mothers have psychosocial needs and experience difficulties in coping with the burden of providing for their physically disabled school going children and the social workers are not playing their role in this regard to assist them. The recommendation is made for advocacy to assist the physically disabled children and their families especially the mothers as the primary caregivers and to improve the role of the social worker. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Gestremdheid kan liggaamlik of geestelik wees en het verskillende oorsake waarvolgens dit geklassifiseer kan word. Hierdie studie fokus op liggaamlike gestremdheid. In die verlede is die oorsake van gestremdheid met allerlei gelowe vebind, wat meestal as negatief beskou is. Selfs al is die oorsake van gestremdheid vandag bekend, is daar steeds mense in Botswana wat gestremdheid as iets boos beskou of diegene met gestremdhede nie ten volle aanvaar nie. Die gelowe rondom liggaamlike gestremdheid is selfs eger omdat die gestremdheid sigbaar is. Die manier waarop mense liggaamlike gestremdheid beskou, beïnvloed nie net die gestremde persone nie, maar ook hulle gesinne. Aangesien die oorsake van gestremdheid verskil en dit by geboorte of later opgedoen kan word, beïnvloed dit verskillende ouderdomsgroepe op verskillende maniere. Hierdie studie fokus op liggaamlike gestremdheid by skoolkinders en ondersoek die impak daarvan op hulle moeders se psigososiale behoeftes. Die liggaamlike gestremdheid van skoolkinders bied verskillende uitdagings na gelang van die soort gestremdheid. Die uitdagings kan liggaamlik, maatskaplik, ekonomies en sielkundig wees. Hierdie uitdagings beteken dat die kinders beskou word as kinders met spesiale behoeftes wat spesiale sorg nodig het. Die spesiale sorg behels dat voorsiening gemaak moet word vir hulle spesiale basiese behoeftes, asook hulle mediese, maatskaplike en sielkundige behoeftes tuis en by die skool. Liggaamlik gestremde skoolkinders gebruik ook spesiale toerusting wat hulle in staat stel om hulle daaglikse aktiwiteite te kan uitvoer. Aangesien hierdie toerusting deel uitmaak van spesiale sorg, word die kinders gereeld medies ondersoek. Hulle moet ook hulp kry om die toerusting tuis en by die skool te gebruik. Die uitdagings wat die skoling van liggaamlik gestremde kinders bied word ooreenkomstig die Gemeenskapsgebaseerde Rehabilitasieprogram (GBRP) deur maatskaplike werkers aangebied. Die GBRP is gemik daarop om kinders met gestremdhede én hulle ouers se omstandighede te verbeter. Wanneer die maatskaplike werkers met skoolgestremde kinders werk, fokus hulle op die mediese sy van die kind se gestremdheid en vergeet dikwels van die ander behoeftes. Hulle sien ook nie om na die moeder – wat die hoofversorger is – en háár behoeftes nie. Die studie is uitgevoer in die dorpie Letlhakeng in Botswana. Onderhoude is gevoer met twintig biologiese moeders van skoolgaande liggaamlik gestremde kinders deur gebruik te maak van ʼn halfgestruktureerde vraelys. Die steekproefneming behels ʼn doelgerigte niewaarskynlikheidsteekproef en die studie gebruik kwantitatiewe sowel as kwalitatiewe navorsingsme. Die kwantitatiewe studie dui daarop dat die moeders in die gebied oor ʼn lae opvoedingsvlak beskik en weinig vaardighede het. Ofskoon hulle nog aktief is en die meeste van hulle die hoof van die huishouding is, is hulle betrokke by ekonomiese aktiwiteite wat lae inkomste bied. Ander beskik oor geen inkomste nie, terwyl die getal kinders binne die nasionale gemiddeld is. Die huisstruktuur is swak en ontoeganklik vir kinders met gestremdhede. Die resultate dui daarop dat die moeders vertroud is met gestremdheid, maar dat die oorsake daarvan nie volledig aan hulle oorgedra is nie. Selfs al besef hulle dat liggaamlike gestremdheid wel ʼn natuurlike oorsaak het, assosieer hulle dit steeds met ander gelowe wat by geboorte of na geboorte ʼn rol kon speel. Dit dui daarop dat kulturele gelowe wel ʼn impak op hulle het. Alhoewel die moeders hulle kinders laat skoolgaan, word die skoling nie in ʼn ernstige lig beskou nie, aangesien die moeders onbewus is van spesialeonderrigprogramme wat hulle kan help. Hulle bly dus negatief oor hulle kinders se skoolbywoning. Verder het die moeders nie vertroue in die skoolomgewing nie en meen gestremde kinders se leervermoë is ontoereikend. Die kwalitatiewe studie wys dat moeders psigososiale behoeftes het waarin daar nie voorsien word nie. Hulle meen die GBRP betrek hulle nie en staan hulle nie dienooreenkomstig by nie. Dít ontneem hulle dus die inligting en selfvertroue om vir hulle gestremde kinders te kan voorsien. Die moeders kommunikeer nie juis met familielede en die gemeenskap nie weens die familielede en gemeenskap se ingesteldheid. Die moeders kry nie bystand van hulle óf van maatskaplike werkers nie. Met die studie is daar vasgestel dat daar geen maatskaplike werkers in die omgewing is nie. Dit was duidelik dat die moeders gebuk gaan onder die las om hulle gestremde kinders te versorg en dat dit hulle liggaamlik, ekonomies, sosiaal en sielkundig beïnvloed. Die rol van maatskaplike werk in rehabilitasie word steeds nie ernstig opgeneem nie en daarom staan die rehabilitasiekantoor dikwels vir lang tye leeg. Oor die algemeen het moeders psigososiale behoeftes en hulle vind dit moeilik om die las te hanteer wat die skoling van hulle liggaamlik gestremde kinders op hulle plaas, terwyl daar onvoldoende maatskaplike werkers is om bystand hiermee te verleen. Daar word vervolgens aanbevelings gedoen en voorspraak gelewer om die gesinne en families van liggaamlik gestremde kinders te help, veral betreffende die rol van die moeders as versorgers en om maatskaplike werkers se betrokkenheid te verbeter.

This study investigated the experiences of caregivers regarding their participation in community-based rehabilitation for children with physical disabilities in two selected communities in Botswana. The experiences included the impact of disability on the immediate family, coping strategies, enabling factors and barriers to participation in community-based rehabilitation.

Thesis (M. A. (Social Work)) --University of Limpopo, 2017. / This study investigates experiences of parents of children living with physical and intellectual disabilities in South Africa’s Limpopo province. The study utilized a sample of 14 participants drawn using purposive sampling. An interview schedule with a set of questions was used to collect data. The results suggest that both positive and negative experiences are encountered by parents of children living with disabilities. Problems which children encounter on a daily basis have got also similar implications on their parents or guardians. This study has revealed that parents face many challenges ranging from personal, social, economic and financial. The study found out that it is actually more expensive, mental draining for parents of children living with disabilities to look after them. It emerged in the study that community negative attitudes on children with disabilities hinders their progress and results in social exclusion. The study also revealed that the majority of the parents believe that witchcraft had a hand in disabling their children. It also emerged that most of the parents of children living with disabilities hoped for a cure of the disabilities medically, traditionally and spiritually. However the study confirms that parents of children living with disabilities go through a cycle of denial fear, guilty, depression and acceptance after discovering that their child is disabled.

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This study investigated the experiences of caregivers regarding their participation in community-based rehabilitation for children with physical disabilities in two selected communities in Botswana. The experiences included the impact of disability on the immediate family, coping strategies, enabling factors and barriers to participation in community-based rehabilitation.