Search results for "special needs"

The role of music in the development of children with Down syndrome: a systematic review

2020

Music is commonly used in special education to achieve developmental and therapeutic aims, often in people with special needs. The present article conducts a systematic review of results from previous studies that explore the role of music in the development of children with Down syndrome (DS). It analyses a sample of 19 articles, in English and Spanish, from several databases (ERIC, Scopus, SciELO, Dialnet, Web of Science, CSIC and Pubmed). The results show that music has positive effects in the treatment and progress of the four main areas of development (social-emotional, motor, cognitive and communication) in children with DS. Nevertheless, the review reveals a lack of detail in the met…

Assessment conception patterns of Finnish pre-service special needs teachers : the contribution of prior studies and teaching experience

2021

The main aim of this study was to investigate how Finnish pre-service special needs teachers’ (N = 134) assessment conceptions, prior academic studies in special education and teaching experience together cluster into different patterns representing different student types. Their assessment conceptions formed three main factors: 1) assessment measures learning, 2) assessment supports teaching and learning, and 3) assessment as a harmful action. All three factors were emphasised differently in each pattern. Assessment conceptions, prior studies, and teaching experience were clustered together in three different patterns: Assessment Criticals, Assessment Positives, and Assessment Cautious. Th…

2019

Given the documented decline in levels of physical activity in early adolescence, promoting physical activity in young people is a priority for health promotion. School physical education (PE) is an important existing network in which participation in physical activity beyond school can be promoted to the captive young people. The objective of current article is to present the protocol for a PE teacher-delivered theory-based trial to promote secondary school students’ participation in physical activity out-of-school contexts. The intervention will be guided by the trans-contextual model explaining the processes by which PE teachers’ support for autonomous motivation in the classroom promote…

QUALITY OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION, OBSTACLES AND NECESSARY PEDAGOGICAL SOLUTIONS IN WORKING WITH PUPILS WITH AUTISM IN ITALY

2018

Nowadays are increasingly encountered children diagnosed with autism, but there are still serious problems of inclusion of these children in the comprehensive general education system. This is due to various factors. The author of this study many years is working in the schools of special education in Rome, so in the year 2010 started research on inclusion of pupils with autism into the Italian schools. The idea is to transmit the author's knowledge and experience further in Latvia, where inclusion of such pupils into general education schools is still at an early stage because of a lack of both human resources and financial resources, as well in regard of experience and clear understanding…

A Culturally Sensitive Approach to Promoting Initial Literacy Development in Africa : Ongoing and Planned Research and Development at the University …

2017

A four-year research and development program at CAPOLSA (the Centre for the Promotion of Literacy in Sub-Saharan Africa) was inspired by widespread dissatisfaction with poor literacy outcomes of mass basic schooling in Zambia and sought to test the generalizability of a scientifically grounded, computer-mediated instructional resource developed in Finland, for effective intervention in an African society where different linguistic and educational conditions obtain. Specific challenges and opportunities posed by the local sociocultural context included the prevalence of multilingualism, the relatively transparent orthographies of local languages, and poor infrastructure of the public school …

Mental health problems in adolescents with cochlear implants: Peer problems persist after controlling for additional handicaps

2015

The aims of the present multi-center study were to investigate the extent of mental health problems in adolescents with a hearing loss and cochlear implants (CIs) in comparison to normal hearing (NH) peers and to investigate possible relations between the extent of mental health problems of young CI users and hearing variables, such as age at implantation, or functional gain of CI. The survey included 140 adolescents with CI (mean age = 14.7, SD = 1.5 years) and 140 NH adolescents (mean age = 14.8, SD = 1.4 years), their parents and teachers. Participants were matched by age, gender and social background. Within the CI group, 35 adolescents were identified as “risk cases” due to possible an…

Exploring Microfinance Clients with Disabilities: A Case Study of an Ecuadorian Microbank

2016

AbstractUsing a unique sample from an Ecuadorian microfinance institution that has focused on increasing its outreach to disabled clients, we present a comparative analysis of the characteristics of disabled versus non-disabled clients. The study shows that disabled clients are more often male, are less likely to be living with a partner, have fewer children, and are older compared to their non-disabled counterparts. Moreover, we observe differences in repayment statistics between clients with and without disabilities, as well as differences within the disability sample. Our findings illustrate the importance of adapting microloans to the special needs of persons with disabilities.

Inclusive Education Ideal at the Negotiating Table: Accounts of Educational Possibilities for Disabled Children Within Inter‐Disciplinary Team Meetin…

2008

The debate about whether to include all kinds of students in the general education classrooms is a current topic in the European and Scandinavian educational policy. This paper comes to grips with this topic by focusing on the process through which professionals define educational possibilities and risks for one group of children considered as special needs children. The study is based on the transcripts of four Finnish interdisciplinary team meetings in which professionals and parents negotiate for the school choices of preschool‐aged children with cochlear implants. Analysis of the data is based on the principles of qualitative discourse analytical methods of conversation. Results show th…

Oral health-related quality of life after dental treatment in patients with intellectual disability

2020

Background The influence of dental treatment on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQOL) has rarely been evaluated in patients with intellectual disability (ID) through validated questionnaires. The aim of this study was to estimate the changes on OHRQOL in patients with ID after the implementation of an institutional dental treatment program under general anesthesia using the Franciscan Hospital for Children Oral Health-Related Quality of Life questionnaire (FHCOHRQOL-Q). Material and Methods A prospective longitudinal study was conducted on 85 patients (mean age=24.85 years) classified according to DSM-V whose parents/caregivers completed the FHC-OHRQOL-Q. We analyzed the changes in t…

Astronomical Activities with Disabled People

2010

With this contribution we would like to share our experiences in organizing astronomical activities addressed to people with disabilities. The goal is twofold: we would like to invite all those with similar experiences to contribute to the compilation of a document to guide other astronomers who might be interested in carrying out these kind of activities aimed at groups of people with special needs. We also want to persuade public outreach officers that working with disabled people is not as difficult as it may seem at first, as long as they are provided with adequate educational material and guidelines about how to do it. The final goal is to build a repository that can be used by educato…