Search results for "disability"

The Role of Reading Disability Risk and Environmental Protective Factors in Students' Reading Fluency in Grade 4

2013

This study examined the role of reading disability (RD) risk and environmental protective factors in reading fluency in grade 4. The sample consisted of 538 Finnish-speaking students. Kindergarten measures included the students' risk for RD based on poor achievement in phonological awareness and letter knowledge as well as information on the three control variables: nonverbal ability, level of parental education, and gender. Measures in grades 1–3 included environmental protective factors: classmate reports of peer acceptance; teacher reports of positive affect for the student; and mother, father, and teacher reports of partnership between the home and the school. The students were also tes…

Does Childhood Reading Disability or Its Continuance Into Adulthood Underlie Problems in Adult-Age Psychosocial Well-Being? A Follow-Up Study

2019

This follow-up study aimed at a better understanding of the associations of reading disability (RD) with adult-age psychosocial well-being. We compared adult-age psychosocial well-being in 48 individuals (20–39 years) with documented childhood RD but without comorbid disabilities to 37 matched controls. The associations of psychosocial well-being with childhood and adult-age reading fluency were studied in the RD group, controlling for IQ, gender and unemployment. Psychosocial well-being was assessed with commonly used self-report questionnaires. No group differences were found in psychosocial well-being. In the RD group, lower adult-age reading fluency was associated with symptoms of depre…

Manipulation in late life

2019

AbstractWhile youth language constitutes a well-researched field of study, the linguistic manipulations of old people remain understudied. In an innovative approach, the present paper therefore looks at confusing and allegedly unintelligible narratives and conscious linguistic manipulations, silliness and concealing strategies in language as employed by elderly speakers of Kinyabwisha, Kinande, Kihunde and Kiswahili in Eastern DR Congo. A secret cursing register among Banyabwisha, often accompanied by practices of spitting, is analyzed; I also discuss elderly speakers’ confusing stories narrated to younger people, the use of secret modal particles that are restricted to people of old age, a…

Hyperglycemia at admission, comorbidities, and in-hospital mortality in elderly patients hospitalized in internal medicine wards: data from the RePoS…

2021

Abstract Aims The association between hyperglycemia at hospital admission and relevant short- and long-term outcomes in elderly population is known. We assessed the effects on mortality of hyperglycemia, disability, and multimorbidity at admission in internal medicine ward in patients aged ≥ 65 years. Methods Data were collected from an active register of 102 internal medicine and geriatric wards in Italy (RePoSi project). Patients were recruited during four index weeks of a year. Socio-demographic data, reason for hospitalization, diagnoses, treatment, severity and comorbidity indexes (Cumulative Illness rating Scale CIRS-SI and CIRS-CI), renal function, functional (Barthel Index), and cog…

Prognostic indicators in pediatric clinically isolated syndrome

2017

To assess prognostic factors for a second clinical attack and a first disability worsening event in pediatric clinically isolated syndrome (pCIS) suggestive of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients. Objective: To assess prognostic factors for a second clinical attack and a first disability-worsening event in pediatric clinically isolated syndrome (pCIS) suggestive of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Methods: A cohort of 770 pCIS patients was followed up for at least 10 years. Cox proportional hazard models and Recursive Partitioning and Amalgamation (RECPAM) tree-regression were used to analyze data. Results: In pCIS, female sex and a multifocal onset were risk factors for a second clinical att…

2021

(1) Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the day-to-day variability and year-to-year reproducibility of an accelerometer-based algorithm for sit-to-stand (STS) transitions in a free-living environment among community-dwelling older adults. (2) Methods: Free-living thigh-worn accelerometry was recorded for three to seven days in 86 (women n = 55) community-dwelling older adults, on two occasions separated by one year, to evaluate the long-term consistency of free-living behavior. (3) Results: Year-to-year intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for the number of STS transitions were 0.79 (95% confidence interval, 0.70–0.86, p < 0.001), for mean angular velocity—0.81 (95…

The Relationship of Sexism and Gender Ideology to Self-Concept and Self-Esteem in Persons with Spinal Cord Injury

2017

The process of adapting to a physical disability is complex and multi-dimensional. It is influenced by many variables that affect adequate life adjustment and psychological wellbeing. This study addresses the specific effects of sexism and gender stereotypes on self-esteem and selfconcept in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). The research design is cross-sectional and correlational. The sample comprises 127 persons, including 95 men and 32 women, with a long-term spinal injury. The results of the MANOVAs do not demonstrate statistically significant differences based on sex for the following variables: self-esteem, self-concept, traditional sexism and neosexism. The relationships among v…

‘Disability Gain’ and the Limits of Representing Alternative Beauty

2018

In this conversation, Ann Fox, Matthias Krings and Ulf Vierke debate the concept of ‘disability gain’ and the limits of representing alternative beauty. The concept demands that we regard disability inclusion as a resource gain, instead of a resource drain. While this approach complicates and questions the societal definition and devaluation of ‘disability,’ it also raises a number of debatable issues. For example, what happens when ‘disabled’ bodies are commodified in an attempt to represent so-called alternative beauty? The conversation shows that, while the stakes for the fashion-beauty industry in extending aesthetic norms, pluralizing beauty and mainstreaming diversity are high, it man…

The Many Faces of Special Education Within RTI Frameworks in the United States and Finland

2015

Response to intervention (RTI) can be considered an everyday practice in many parts of the United States, whereas, in Finland, only recently has a new framework for support in learning taken shape. Choosing Finland as the comparative partner for this policy paper is justified as its educational system has been widely referenced on the basis of good Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results. The results of the present comparative article showed first, that the U.S. RTI was primarily intended for diagnosing and preventing learning disabilities whereas the Finnish RTI is mainly an administrative structure for support. Second, the U.S. RTI includes clear definitions regardin…

Bacterial and viral infections and related inflammatory responses in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

2021

Abstract In chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, bacterial and viral infections play a relevant role in worsening lung function and, therefore, favour disease progression. The inflammatory response to lung infections may become a specific indication of the bacterial and viral infections. We here review data on the bacterial–viral infections and related airways and lung parenchyma inflammation in stable and exacerbated COPD, focussing our attention on the prevalent molecular pathways in these different clinical conditions. The roles of macrophages, autophagy and NETosis are also briefly discussed in the context of lung infections in COPD. Controlling their combined response…