The diploma thesis focuses on the quality of life of seniors with hearing impairment. The thesis involves introduction into hearing impairment as well as its definition, occurrence and classification of hearing disorders. The etiology, diagnostics and hearing prosthetics are also included. The thesis also includes the issue of aging and the aging process, including social services and facilities for the elderly. The last chapter of the theoretical part deals with the quality of life, explains the established approaches, current models and methods of measurement. In the practical part of the thesis, a combined research was carried out. Data collection was carried out through semi-structured interviews with hearing impaired seniors as well as through questionnaires with experts in the field of ENT and phoniatrics. The aim of this research was to find out in which specific areas of the quality of life have the seniors recognized the largest decrease. Research questions were focused, for example, on the ways elderly people with hearing impairment deal with this disorder, on the choice of compensatory aids and on the degree of integration into society in dependence on the hearing impairment. KEYWORDS senior, retirement home, aging, hearing impairment, compensatory aid, quality of life, communication

The education in Swedish schools today should be for all children. This means that even if a pupil has reading and writing disabilities the education should be in the classroom with the rest of the pupils. The education should include every one. The aim of my study was to investigate the education with pupils that have reading and writing disabilities. I wanted to get a deeper knowledge about working methods that are used for pupils with these problems. In my study I have used qualitative research methods. I have used group interviews and observational studies. In addition to this I have also used informal interviews during the observational studies. One class teacher and one special teacher was interviewed and observed in the study. My results showed that pupils with reading and writing disabilities often were excluded from the classroom during a few lessons per week. The results also showed that the working methods that the class teacher and the special teacher use are different. The class teacher worked with the same working methods for all the children in the class while the special teacher was using the computer as a compensatory aid. For pupils with reading and writing disabilities the work with a computer as a compensatory aid is a motivating working method. The result also showed that cooperation between the class teacher and the special teacher is of great importance.

Sammanfattning Dagens samhälle ställer stora krav på läsförmåga för att vara en del av samhället. Förutsättning för inlärning bottnar i en god läsundervisning. Läsprocessen innehåller flera faktorer såsom språkförståelse, avkodning och motivation. Tidigare forskning beskriver pedagogisk tjänstehund som en möjlig och tänkbar motivator för ökad läslust hos elever.    Studiens fokusområde har varit att undersöka speciallärare/specialpedagogers erfarenheter beträffande pedagogisk tjänstehund som ett externt kompensatoriskt verktyg i skolsam­manhang. Syftet med studien är att öka kunskapen om pedagogiska tjänstehundens betydelse för att öka elevens motivation i samband med läsinlärning. Relevanta centrala begrepp i studien är motivation och självkänsla. En kvalitativ metod med intervju som datainsamlings instrument har använts. Ett induktivt arbetssätt har varit aktuellt eftersom vi valt att utforska i empirin. Studiens resultat har tolkats utifrån tematisk analys och sex steg har presenterats, vilket resulterat i olika teman. De teman som identifierats och finns med i uppsatsen är; erfarenheter från specialpedagoger/lärare som gör att pedagogisk tjänstehund rekommenderas i undervisningen, den pedagogiska tjänstehundens roll i samband med elevens läsutveckling, ledningsansvar, speciallärare/pedagogers erfarenheter av resultat beträffande hundassisterad pedagogik och vikten av en välorganiserad verksamhetsplan.   Studien visar att hunden kan vara ett möjligt externt kompensatoriskt verktyg i interventioner, då man arbetar utifrån uppställda mål och kontinuerlig utvärdering, för att skapa läslust och ökat läsflyt. Beroende på aktivitet eller intervention kan man se skillnad på elevens progression. Tidiga insatser för att främja lust och bibehålla elevens självkänsla är viktiga förutsättningar för att undvika en beteendeproblematik och i värsta fall utanförskap för den enskilda eleven.

This study aims to examine the regard paid to the use of Assistive Technology (AT) when assessing the knowledge of Year 9 pupils with dyslexia in the subject Swedish. A starting point was to examine the knowledge of a group of teachers in the areas of dyslexia and AT. The issues then developed as to which AT a dyslexic pupil is allowed to use in an assessment situation and how the use of these tools affects the assessment. There was an examination of the guidelines that the teacher group can use as support when assessing the knowledge of dyslexic pupils on the basis of AT. The method used was qualitative semi-structured interviews. The group examined was made up of four subject teachers in Swedish. The results showed that the teacher group had limited knowledge of both dyslexia and AT. It also emerged that computers were the most common form of compensatory aid in assessment situations. The use of AT did not affect the assessments. The curriculum contained no guidelines for assessing knowledge on the basis of AT and left a lot of room for interpretation by individual teachers. The conclusions drawn were that there is a need for teacher training to include courses on dyslexia and the areas of application of AT. Greater knowledge would better ensure that the correct compensatory aid is chosen for each pupil in each assessment situation. Clear guidelines are also needed so that assessments can be regarded as fair and of equivalent value.

Abstract The aim of this study is to investigate some uses of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a pedagogical aid for supporting students with difficulties in reaching the curricular goals in the school subject English. Special focus is on students with reading and writing difficulties and on students with a foreign background in the ninth grade of the compulsory school and in upper secondary school. The method of investigation consisted of two parts: (a) interviews with eleven regular English teachers and with four remedial teachers about their experiences of using ICT as a pedagogical aid, and (b) an action study in which ICT-based activities were tested in a group of six students with difficulties in English. The results of the interviews showed that in the remedial classes ICT-based support was rather limited. The exceptions were students with severe reading and writing difficulties and other grave learning disabilities. These students were offered greater access to various technical aids and systematic support. For dyslexic students various ICT tools often proved to be an effective and indispensable support in their learning. In non-remedial English lessons, the use of ICT was somewhat greater. Here teachers used ICT as a pedagogical aid for the benefit of all students. The computer was considered to be a good support for project writing as it provided the students with a huge database, with online dictionaries and with a spell checker. The results of the action research showed that students were positive about communicating in English via ICT and they showed great interest in other activities facilitated by technology, such as training grammar, vocabulary, and reading. In conclusion, these surveys generated results similar to those of other studies, showing that although ICT can be an effective pedagogical aid in supporting students with difficulties learning English, it is not presently being used to its full potential.

<p><strong>Abstract </strong></p><p>The aim of this study is to investigate some uses of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a pedagogical aid for supporting students with difficulties in reaching the curricular goals in the school subject English. Special focus is on students with reading and writing difficulties and on students with a foreign background in the ninth grade of the compulsory school and in upper secondary school. The method of investigation consisted of two parts: (a) interviews with eleven regular English teachers and with four remedial teachers about their experiences of using ICT as a pedagogical aid, and (b) an action study in which ICT-based activities were tested in a group of six students with difficulties in English. The results of the interviews showed that in the remedial classes ICT-based support was rather limited. The exceptions were students with severe reading and writing difficulties and other grave learning disabilities. These students were offered greater access to various technical aids and systematic support. For dyslexic students various ICT tools often proved to be an effective and indispensable support in their learning. In non-remedial English lessons, the use of ICT was somewhat greater. Here teachers used ICT as a pedagogical aid for the benefit of all students. The computer was considered to be a good support for project writing as it provided the students with a huge database, with online dictionaries and with a spell checker. The results of the action research showed that students were positive about communicating in English via ICT and they showed great interest in other activities facilitated by technology, such as training grammar, vocabulary, and reading. In conclusion, these surveys generated results similar to those of other studies, showing that although ICT can be an effective pedagogical aid in supporting students with difficulties learning English, it is not presently being used to its full potential.</p>

Title: Influence of guide dog ownership on physical activity and quality of life of people with visual impairments Objectives: The main objective of the thesis was to examine differences in quality of life and volume of physical activity in persons with visual impairments who own/do not own a guide dog. Methods: It is theoretically empirical work. A quantitative form of questioning was used for the research part of this thesis. The method chosen for data collection was the standardised IPAQ questionnaire and the revised SF-36 questionnaire. The research group consisted of people with visual impairments who own/do not own guide dogs. The survey involved 15 people with visual impairments (7 women, 8 men), out of this number 8 respondents own a guide dog (5 women, 3 men) and 7 respondents do not own a guide dog (3 women, 4 men). The average age of respondents with a guide dog was - women 32 years, men 31 years. In respondents without a dog - women 32 years, males 38 years. Results: The results showed up to twice the time devoted to regular physical activity in a group of visually impaired individuals who own a guide dog, compared to individuals without a dog. Individuals with dogs were measured at 17995 MET-min/week, compared to individuals without a dog who had 5368 MET-min/week. Necessary walking...