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.

The introduction of newborn screening for hearing has refocussed attention on the information and support needs of families with deaf children. The Internet is providing an additional resource for families to access timely and relevant information and advice. However, the experiences and attributes of parents of deaf children who search the Internet for information and support remain largely anecdotal. This study aims to bridge some of this knowledge gap. Parents of deaf children were recruited to complete two online surveys. The Parent Survey sought to establish the demographic details and Internet use patterns of parents who use the Internet to search for information about deafness. The online Support Group Survey asked parents about their experience of participating in online support groups. One hundred and sixty-three respondents completed the Parent Survey. Analysis of the data found Internet use is unrelated to the age of the parent, the age of their child, where they live or their employment status. Their use of the Internet is also unrelated to the type of hearing loss of their child, if their child has a cochlear implant or an additional disability or medical condition, or the method of communication used by the child. Education level of the parent, however, does influence the level of Internet use. Qualitative data indicates the need for unbiased information that is evidence-based on a range of issues that are important for families to make informed decisions regarding raising a deaf child. Twenty parents responded to the Online Support Group Survey. They participate in online support groups for the wealth of information and the support and understanding they receive from other parents. All respondents would recommend an online support group to other parents. The respondents indicated that the benefits significantly outweighed the limitations. The two major issues this study has highlighted is the need for parents of deaf children to receive unbiased and evidence-based information from a variety of sources, including the Internet and online support groups, and the need to ensure that parents have access to timely and reliable information irrespective of education level, socio-economic status and ethnicity. This study provides a foundation of knowledge for service providers and hearing professionals developing Internet resources for parents of deaf children in Australia.

Studies of Individual traits perceived as necessary to achieve managerial effectiveness, while multitudinous in the world of commerce, have yet to be undertaken as they apply to managers in residential facilities serving mentally retarded individuals. The problem of this study was to identify a group of individual traits perceived as characteristic of effective managers in residential facilities for the mentally retarded. Projectively, the identified traits could constitute valid criterion for consideration in the selection process utilized in employing managers for both public and private facilities. The primary purpose of this study was to develop an instrument which would enable the interviewer to secure information regarding specific individual traits. An informed predictive decision regarding the effective management potential, of the individual, for a residential facility for mentally retarded individuals would be greatly enhanced. The secondary purpose of the study was to focus on a comparison between group responses for each of the 25 trait items. The study will identify significant differences and relationships between the responses of State Directors of Mental Retardation Programs, Assistants to Texas Deputy Commissioner for Mental Retardation, Superintendents of Texas State Schools for the Mentally Retarded and a select group of managerial personnel within Texas State Schools for the Mentally Retarded. Comparison of response profiles contribute to an index of preferential traits for each of the managerial groups by contrasting patterns of preferences between all managerial groups and delineating traits which were common in preference among all groups. The tertiary purpose of the study was to identify patterns of personal traits which should constitute valid criterion for consideration in the selection process utilized in employing managers for both public and private facilities. Specific attention was given to the managerial trait preferences of each group of managers included in the study.

Orientador: José Antonio Siqueira Dias / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica e de Computação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-23T17:53:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Reis_SergioValle_M.pdf: 20392311 bytes, checksum: 62cdc355d5bf767387c03e9fed6e3725 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: O acesso a material de leitura didático (e mesmo para lazer) em braille é muito restrito e representa uma grande dificuldade para aquelas pessoas com deficiência de visão grave. Os lançamentos pelas editoras de títulos em braille são quase inexistentes, já que este tipo de produção é trabalhosa e cara. No Brasil, apenas algumas instituições oferecem estes produtos. Uma alternativa para sanar este problema é a utilização de dispositivos chamados "displays braille" que, acoplados a um computador, permitem a apresentação de um texto em braille. Estes dispositivos são caros (custam na faixa de 3000 dólares) e não são fabricados no Brasil. Neste trabalho, propomos uma nova abordagem para a produção de um dispositivo dinâmico e interativo de leitura em braille. A abordagem proposta permitirá a produção de um "Painel Braille" com custo aproximado de um décimo do valor dos atuais dispositivos existentes no mercado. É apresentado o desenho de um display braille com a utilização de peças octogonais giratórias com os pontos braille, estas peças giram em torno de um eixo e são movimentadas através da utilização de dois motores de passo. Descrevemos a construção de um protótipo e os testes realizados / Abstract: The access to didactic and leisure reading material in braille is very restricted and it represents a huge difficulty for those with severe vision impairment. Publishers rarely launch braille versions of its books, because this kind of production is very laborious and expensive. An alternative to solve this issue is the use of braille displays, which when connected to a computer allows the presentation of text in braille dynamically. These devices are expensive (circa 3 thousand dollars) and aren't produced in Brazil. In this work, we propose a new approach to the production of a dynamic and interactive braille display device. This suggested approach will enable the production of a cheaper device, with cost close to about ten percent of the full value of current devices on the market. This work devises a design of a braille display device using spinning octognal pieces with braille marks, these pieces spin around a screw axis driven by two stepper motors. It reports the construction of a prototype and the tests made with it / Mestrado / Energia Eletrica / Mestre em Engenharia Elétrica

M.A. (Social Work) / In South Africa no scientific research has been carried out on the functions of national councils for disabled persons from a management orientated point of view. This dissertation deals with the functions of the five national councils for disabled persons, namely the councils for the blind, the deaf, the mentally handicapped, the physically handicapped and persons suffering from epilepsy. More specifically, the objectives of the research which preceded the writing of the dissertation were the following: to explore the functions of the five national councils for disabled persons. to construe the functions of the five national councils for disabled persons as management functions. to use Zetterberg's conceptual framework for scientific theorizing in an analysis of the functions. to determine how the status, objectives and functions of the aforementioned national councils may be made more purposeful. A literature study was undertaken to determine to what extent organisational and management theories are relevant to the national councils.

M.A. (Social Science) / The aim of this study was to gain specific and further knowledge of disability so that people living with disability can be empowered and barriers can be challenged and removed. This would enable the researcher to understand the different barriers of disability and how people with disability cope. Barriers of disability are still a problem affecting people worldwide. People with disability suffer environmental barriers, economic barriers, political barriers, educational barriers, social barriers, cultural barriers and sports barriers, which all have a significant impact on them. They suffer barriers on a daily basis. For people with disability to become central and more functional, there is a need to remove these barriers. The orientation to the study in Chapter 1 gives an introductory overview of the background to the study, the aims and objectives, research methods and design, limitations, operational definitions of concepts and division of the study. Chapter 2 outlines the literature review and theoretical explanation, which is tabled to give an understanding of the different types of barriers and how to rise above these challenges, l.e. labelling, stereotypes and stigmatisation. Research design and methodology in Chapter 3 describes the population and location of the study, the sampling methods applied and the manner in which data was collected and analysed, ethical consideration and limitations. Chapter 4 outlines and evaluates the data collected. Results and interpretations are provided. The presentation includes the participants' biographic barriers they experience, the consequences people with disability suffer and how they cope with them. Chapter 5 highlights the conclusions drawn, as well as recommendations for people with disability, their families, societies, future researchers and social work as a profession and policy.

The Community Response Network in Kelowna was formed from the policydriven elder abuse committee and as a response to the Adult Guardianship Act of British Columbia enacted in 2000. After the inception of the act that addresses abuse, neglect and self-neglect of adults, the Community Response Network - a community development initiative that was implemented from social policy - was unsure of its role in the community. The purpose of this qualitative research is to assist the network in defining its role in supporting adults who may be vulnerable to harm. What is the role of the Community Response Network? What did the network do in the past? How effective was it? Who should be involved? It was thought that the network would continue to offer education and awareness to community members. Through a purposeful convenience sample of participants in both a focus group and individual interviews, various themes such as structure, values, context and tasks were evident through verbatim analysis. As well, through a feminist analysis, several dichotomies and inconsistencies were interpreted. Recommendations for the network include continuing education and awareness workshops, strengthening linkages in the community, and inviting a diverse group of people to become involved in the committee. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to explore the nature and content of the social policy of "normalization" in community based services which have been used to meet the needs of deinstitutionalized mentally retarded adults. In the process it was hoped that data would be obtained to aid decision makers in planning community services for retarded adults. The study was directed to examine the relationship between the levels of normalization in services which had been provided for retarded adults who were discharged from the Provincial institution for mental retardation - Woodlands - under the medical administration of retardation services as well as after the assumption of same responsibility by the Ministry of Human Resources. These administrations represented the medical and the social systems of service delivery. "Normalization" had been adopted as "policy" soon after the transfer of responsibilities by the Ministries. Three areas of concern were examined: Levels of normalization of services; needs of subjects; and normalization as policy. These areas had been central to public discussion of retardation issues in British Columbia. In order to examine the three areas, normalization was defined in the Greater Vancouver Area of study using the explicit judgement of citizens and the implicit judgement of professionals. From their judgements, a criteria for measuring normalization was developed and used in scoring individual services according to the special features of those services. A total of seven service areas were scored: Residential, Social, Medical, Recreational, Educational, Psychological and Vocational. The needs of subjects were identified from institutional records and scored. Five service characteristics were further examined for normalization. These were the nature, type, name, location and degree of integration. An integrated framework for policy analysis as well as empirical results were then used to analyse findings. The study showed that community services were essentially deviant in orientation; that level of normalization were about the same for each five year period of study; that services were inadequate in meeting needs; that there was lack of coordination in delivery of services] and that "normalization" was a principle rather than a policy of the Provincial Government. Implications for policy development as well as areas for further research have been suggested. / Medicine, Faculty of / Population and Public Health (SPPH), School of / Graduate

This project encompasses program evaluations of infant massage intervention and its impact in the overall development of infants and children born with disabilities or babies born at risk for developmental delays.

The purpose of this study is to examine improved life quality indicators of older adults with developmental disabilties who are actively participating in the Senior Facilitation Program, a program designed for seniors with developmental disabilities which allows them to make individual choices about their leisure pursuits.