Mothers with intellectual disabilities (ID) have been for a long time a marginalised population, both from a research perspective, as well as from the everyday practice of social workers and medical personnel. The first aim of the research presented in this thesis was to analyse how women with intellectual disabilities expereinece their motherhood and what are their experiences with formal and informal support. The second aim of this thesis was to explore how professionals (i.e., social workers and medical personnel), accept women with intellectual disabilities and how they perceive support they provide to these women. The author used mixed method approach, specifically interview and survey approaches. There were 19 women with intellectual disabilities and 504 professionals (175 medical workers and 329 social workers) who took part in this study. The author also developed four case studies which illustrate the development of mother's identity across divere contexts. This research concluded that women with intellectual disabilities experience their mother's role in the same way as their peers without disabilities, however they need adequate support for performing their role of a mother and for daily tasks. This research also found that professionalism and support offered by social workers and...

There is a limited body of research about formal support for parents with intellectual disabilities in the context of the Czech Republic. As the process of deinstitutionalization continues, people with intellectual disabilities have more opportunities to make decisions about the ways they want to live in society and establish partner relationships. It is therefore appropriate to look at whether the available formal support adequately responds to the needs of families with intellectual disabilities. Therefore, the aim of this research was to analyze the existing system of formal support for parents with intellectual disabilities. The author also examined how social workers are prepared to work with this group of parents. Last but not least, the aim of this research study was to analyze the experience of parents with intellectual disabilities with formal support. In order to conduct such a comprehensive research study, the author used a mixed method research approach. Specifically, interviews, vignettes and the Support Interview Guide were used with parents with intellectual disabilities, as well as a survey and focus groups with social workers. The participants in this study were 18 parents with intellectual disabilities, 294 social workers who completed the survey, and 39 social workers who took...

This research explores final year dental students’ knowledge and attitudes towards the treatment and management of patients with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) as related to variations in the dental practices in Special Health Care Needs (SHCN) training they received. A quantitative, non-experimental study was conducted, employing survey data collection methods, to address descriptive, comparative, and correlational questions. One cohort, Class 2020, attended extramural rotations in specialized clinics for patients with I/DD and in-person lecture concerning this topic. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its health-related restrictions, another cohort, Class 2021, did not have the same opportunity as rotations were cancelled and the lecture was prerecorded and viewed online. Responses from a 35-item survey, distributed through an online platform, were obtained from both cohorts (n= 14 for Class 2020; n= 19 for Class 2021), addressing descriptive, comparative, and correlational research questions. Results revealed higher levels of knowledge and more positive perceptions of the program from Class 2020, the group that received clinical guidance, than Class of 2021. Analysis revealed positive relationships between students’ confidence levels and whether they had examined, assisted, or treated patients with I/DD. Associations were also found between students’ confidence and willingness to treat patients with I/DD. Although only correlational, this study’s findings suggest ways to foster students’ confidence and induce positive attitudes in dental school graduates that are likely to improve equitable access to healthcare for those with I/DD.

Endast 10% av föräldrar med en intellektuell funktionsnedsättning uppger att de får det stöd de är i behov av i sitt föräldraskap. Det har skett ett skifte i synen på individer med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning vilket inkluderar möjligheter till föräldraskap. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur professionella inom socialt arbete upplever det givna stödet till föräldrar med intellektuell funktions-nedsättning. Studien har haft en kvalitativ ansats där sju semistrukturerade inter-vjuer har utförts med socionomer som kommer i kontakt med familjerna i sitt arbete. Resultatet visar på att det blir den professionellas egna förmåga och handlingsutrymme att forma och utföra arbetet, samt hur organisationen påverkar utformningen av arbetet. Även om det har skett en förändring kring synen på föräldrar med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning visar studien att arbetet behöver utvecklas för att möjliggöra ett tillräckligt stöd kring föräldraskapet. / Only 10% of parents with an intellectual disability state that they get the support they are in need of. There has been a shift in the view of people with intellectual disabilities, which includes the right of parenthood. The aim of this study is to investigate how social workers experience the given support to parents with an intellectual disability. The study has been conducted using a qualitative approach in which seven semi-structured interviews were held with social workers who come in contact with the families in their work. The results show that it is the professionals’ own ability and discretion to design the work and how the organ-ization affects the work. Even though there has been a shift in the view of parents with intellectual disabilities rights the study shows that there is more work to be done to give enough support to the parents.

November 2010. "Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Occupational Therapy Department, College of Allied Health and Nursing, Nova Southeastern University." This study explored the lived experiences of older mothers who continue to be the primary care providers for their adult children who have intellectual disabilities. This research study used the Person-Occupation-Environment model (Law et al., 1996) from occupational therapy and occupational science as the orienting framework. The broad question this study sought to answer was: What are the lived experiences of perpetual mothers who live with their adult child with intellectual disabilities? Other related questions were: How have mothers created and adapted daily routines and occupations for themselves and their children? What meaning and purpose evolves for perpetual mothers from their lifelong caregiver role? How do they describe this sense of meaning and purpose? The grounding of this study within occupational therapy and occupational science combined with the research questions led to implementation of a phenomenological research approach for this research. Specifically, the structure inherent in Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, Larkin, & Flowers, 2009) was adopted as the guide to methodology. Participants were identified using purposive and snowball sampling and were interviewed using Seidman's (2006) three-interview structure. The five women who participated in this study ranged from 68 to 83 years old. The themes that emerged represent structures that articulate the core of their lived experiences as primary caregiving mothers of adults who have intellectual disabilities. The essential structures or themes of these women's lived experiences are mothers' actions to structure daily life for their sons, mothers' routines--engaged lives, mothers' expertise, and mothers' reflections on mothering a son with intellectual disabilities. The results of this study contribute a focus on maternal experiences to the body of literature about, and practice with, adults who have intellectual disabilities and their families. In addition, this study contributes to the body of literature about mothering occupations found in occupational therapy and occupational science. This dissertation discussed implications for occupational therapy practice and research.

The aim with this study was to examine how care staff in 9 § 9 p LSS residence with special services experienced and worked with challenging behaviour based on a low arousal approach. The study was conducted by qualitative research through semi-structured interviews in a bigger municipality in southern Sweden. A total of seven care staff were interviewed. The results showed that the informants agreed that challenging behaviour is considered threat and violence in various forms, both physically and mentally. It is important to have knowledge of challenging behaviour in order to prevent potentially dangerous situations that could lead to harm for those involved. In nine out of ten cases, it is the staff’s fault that a behaviour occurs. This may be due to communications difficulties or the working group not working uniformly with the user. The informants agree that a low arousal approach is a good method for working with challenging behaviours. The informants work with it by following routines, evaluating events, adapting requirements to individuals and working uniformly. Most of the informants have worked with both low arousal approach and physical restraint measures, whereby they agree that the user responds better to the first-mentioned method. By the staff acting calmly, the user will be calm.

No description available.

Syftet med denna studie är att synliggöra hur studenter, i speciallärarutbildningen med inriktning utvecklingsstörning, upplever handledningen under sin VFU. Dessutom syftar studien till att få en bild av hur yrkesverksamma speciallärare, i särskolan, ser på samarbetet med högskolan samt få deras syn på handledning av blivande speciallärare. Som metod har en enkätstudie med blivande speciallärare och en intervjustudie med fem verksamma speciallärare på särskolan genomförts. Analysförfarandet utgår från hermeneutisk fenomenologisk ansats med fokus på relationell pedagogik. Analysen utgår från frågorna hur och vad studenterna och intervjupersonerna säger om handledning och samarbete.Resultatet visar att tid till reflektion och bemötande är två viktiga faktorer i handledning. Det har också framkommit att samarbetet kan utvecklas genom att högskolan ger tydligare direktiv gällande mål för studenters VFU och att högskolan får tillgång att forska i skolans verksamhet. Speciallärarna i verksamheten vill få ta del av ny forskning och fortbildning i ett samarbete. Kunskap om speciallärarprofessionen är viktig och när det gäller studenter som läser till speciallärare med inriktning utvecklingsstörning är fördjupade kunskaper om barn på tidig utvecklingsnivå något som behöver utvecklas. En ny yrkesprofession, nämligen förstelärare, är en grupp som eventuellt skulle kunna ha handledning som del i uppdraget, eftersom tre av fem intervjupersoner redan har det uppdraget och är dessutom intresserade av att handleda studenter.Det finns potentiella utvecklingsområden inom VFU i speciallärarutbildningen, inriktning utvecklingsstörning, där kunskap från denna studie kan bidra med att höja kvalitén på VFU:n i speciallärarutbildningen samt att utveckla och sprida kunskap om handledning i VFU, det vill säga hur yrkesteoretisk handledning som studenten möter på sin VFU bör se ut, såväl som vikten av samarbete mellan högskola och särskola. Mer forskning behövs. / The purpose of this study is to make visible how the students, in the special education teacher training program, focusing on intellectual disability, and experience supervision during their “working integration learning” (WIL). In addition, the study aims to get a picture of cooperation between the University and supervising teachers in school for children with intellectual disabilities as well as their views on the supervising of students. The methods employed were a questionnaire with the preparing special education teachers and interviews with five special education teachers at the school who took responsibility for supervision. The analysis upon the theoretical traditions of hermeneutist phenomenology with focus on relational pedagogy with an emphasis on what students and interviewed teachers say about supervision and cooperation.The results show that more time for reflection and a good treatment from the supervisor are two important factors in supervising preparing special educators. It also emerged that cooperation can be improved if the university provides clearer direction regarding goals for the students during WIL and the university provides access for prospective teachers to do research for science lessons. Special education teachers in the school for children with intellectual disabilities want to explore new research and training in a new partnership. Knowledge of the special education teaching profession is important and when it comes to students studying special education with an emphasis in intellectual disabilities, they need to acquire a deeper knowledge of children at early stages of development. An emerging position in schools is the head teacher or “first” teacher who might have supervision of preparing teachers assigned as a part of their job description. Three of the five teachers interviewed have supervision as a part of their work assignment and are interested in supervising preparing students.There are potential growth areas within the special education teachers regarding WIL, focusing children with intellectual disabilities, where the knowledge from this study may help to raise the quality of the WIL, and to develop and disseminate knowledge about supervision in the WIL as well as the importance of cooperation between universities and special schools. More research needs.

Per the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities are eligible to receive transition services beyond twelfth grade, if they have not met the requirements for a high school diploma. There is not a formal model for how transition services should be implemented and there a number of factors in play when considering instruction for students in transition classrooms. Thus, the following questions arise: what does teaching and learning look like in such a classroom? How do teachers of CBT programs explain and understand their curriculum decision-making processes? This study employed the methods of basic interpretative qualitative inquiry to explore the ways in which teachers of community-based transition programs develop and engage students with instruction . The research questions were as follows: In what ways do teachers in community-based programs perceive and understand their curriculum decision-making processes? What factors play a role in curriculum decision-making for this population of students? In what ways do teachers of community-based transition programs design and implement instruction? Findings from the data analysis consisted of three themes: determine what students need to learn how to do, let students make instructional decisions, and meet instructional needs using available materials and opportunities.

Syftet med vår undersökning var att undersöka vilka kompetenser som finns hos förskollärare inom förskolans verksamhet för att bemöta och inkludera barn med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning i vardagssituationer. En kvalitativ studie med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes för att få information och kunskap om förskollärares syn på kompetenser, bemötande och inkludering kring arbete med barn med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning. Intervjuerna utfördes med sju legitimerade förskollärare. Det insamlade materialet analyserade med hjälp av en tematisk analysmetod för att få fram teman och underteman. Resultatet visade att förskollärarna arbetar för inkludering genom att skapa en plats för alla barn genom att erbjuda aktiviteter som kan passa alla, samt användning av olika kommunikativa hjälpmedel för att stödja barnen i deras kommunikation. Vidare ansåg förskollärarna att det är svårt att hitta ett arbetssätt för att arbeta inkluderande med barn som har en intellektuell funktionsnedsättning. Resultatet visade att det inte finns något färdigt arbetssätt och arbetslaget bör arbeta för att kunna anpassa utbildning utefter barnens behov och önskningar. De beskrev dilemmat om att små barn sällan får en formell diagnos. Vilket i sin tur leder till svårigheter att få tillgång till de stöd och resurser som barnet är i behov av. Resultatet visade att förskollärare anser att de generellt sätt har en god kunskap om barn som har intellektuell funktionsnedsättning (IF), men att det ändå krävs en fortbildning och djupare kunskap om funktionsnedsättningen. Några förskollärare uttryckte även vikten av en god relation till vårdnadshavare för att få mer information och kunskap om barnets situation både hemma och på förskolan.