Showing papers in "Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs in 2009"
TL;DR: This article investigated the attitudes of regular education teachers towards the implementation of inclusion in elementary and secondary school classrooms and found that most teachers support the practice of inclusion and possess a neutral consensus towards the practice as it relates to teaching assignment.
Abstract: This paper investigates the varying attitudes of regular (mainstream) education teachers towards the implementation of inclusion in elementary and secondary school classrooms. This paper tries to take into account the need for a better understanding of teacher attitude towards inclusion and how the inclusive environment can be improved. The present paper concentrates on examining whether there is a difference in attitude between elementary regular education teachers and secondary regular education teachers. The participants of this study were 73 teachers from three public elementary and secondary schools in rural, southeastern USA who completed the Scale of Teachers' Attitudes Towards Inclusive Classrooms (STATIC). The results indicated that most teachers support the practice of inclusion in regular education classrooms or possess a neutral consensus towards the practice of inclusion as it relates to teaching assignment. For example, grade level, subject area or type of inclusion practice (full or partial). Meaning that the results for this study were mixed.
194 citations
TL;DR: The authors found that pre-service teachers in Ontario, Canada (n = 141) believe they have the prerequisite training and knowledge to be inclusive educators They believe inclusion is effective and produces required results for both identified and non-identified students Inclusion was viewed as a difficult proposition dependent upon several variables such as time, resources, facilities and personnel.
Abstract: This enquiry has shown that pre-service teachers in Ontario, Canada (n = 141), believe they have the prerequisite training and knowledge to be inclusive educators They believe inclusion is effective and produces required results for both identified and non-identified students Inclusion was viewed as a difficult proposition dependent upon several variables such as time, resources, facilities and personnel Inclusion challenges make them want to experiment with instructional modes, and a minority suggested they did not have a positive experience with inclusion Most believed that they would be included in planning for inclusion and maintained a positive attitude towards inclusion
63 citations
TL;DR: This article explored teachers' attitudes to inclusion, and ascertaining their views on the personal qualities believed important in successfully supporting students whose behaviour was considered inappropriate for mainstream classrooms, and found that teacher's attitudes to the inclusion of students with behaviour which challenges, and the notion that such behaviour is beyond the influence of the teacher, is not consonant with their ability to identify personal qualities which are effective in supporting those same students.
Abstract: This paper focuses on taking a first step in the process of influencing teachers' attitudes by building a description of beliefs about inappropriate behaviour that can be used in staff development work to provoke dissonance-led change.
It describes a study, undertaken in two parts, exploring teachers' attitudes to inclusion, and ascertaining their views on the personal qualities believed important in successfully supporting students whose behaviour was considered inappropriate for mainstream classrooms.
Cognitive dissonance can be a tool for teacher educators to challenge teachers' awareness of the foundations of their existing practice and then to create and develop new ways forward. The studies reported in this paper suggest that teacher' attitudes to the inclusion of students with behaviour which challenges, and the notion that such behaviour is beyond the influence of the teacher, is not consonant with their ability to identify personal qualities which are effective in supporting those same students.
50 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a collaborative action-oriented reflexive approach is described to research the lived experience of people with intellectual disability in self-advocacy, offering a "reflective reprocessing" of the methodological traditions, decisions, complexities and inadequacies of approaches to researching with such people.
Abstract: This paper introduces key debates in the contemporary practice of disability research and examines how these apply to conceptualising, designing and conducting research with people with intellectual disability. Specifically, it describes a collaborative action-oriented reflexive approach to researching the lived experience of people with intellectual disability in self-advocacy, offering a ‘reflective reprocessing’ of the methodological traditions, decisions, complexities and inadequacies of approaches to researching with such people. Emphasis on mutuality and the co-construction of research agendas, interpretative frames and meanings is a method that has rarely been seen in research practice in intellectual disability. The approach described enables a merging of the skills of the ‘researcher’ and the ‘researched’ to create a process of integrated inquiry and reflection. It promises the possibility of new forms of co-produced social knowledge about intellectual disability and self-advocacy, with explicitly emancipatory values and assumptions.
41 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a systematic review of environmental interventions in early years for children with speech, language and communication needs is presented, and the context of evidence-based practice and commissioning of such interventions is introduced.
Abstract: Systematic reviews are important as a key source of information for commissioners and for developing practice in speech and language therapy (SLT) and early years. Interventions in this field are often complex and are delivered in community settings. This paper applies a systematic review of environmental interventions in early years for children with speech, language and communication needs. Interventions for primary language impairment may be divided into those which are child-focused and those which are focused on the environment. In both cases, the aim is to effect changes in the child's language skills. The paper introduces the context of evidence-based practice and commissioning of such interventions and argues that systematic reviews may be combined with other evidence to provide information which is fit for purpose for commissioners and for practitioners in the field.
31 citations
TL;DR: This article found that dyslexic children had slower and less accurate number fact recall than the non-dyslexic, but had unimpaired place value understanding, while the results for counting speed were more equivocal.
Abstract: This paper reports the findings of two related studies that examined the mathematical strengths and weaknesses of children with dyslexia. In study one, dyslexic children were compared to children without special educational needs on tests that assessed arithmetic fact recall, place value understanding and counting speed. Study two used the same methodology, but matched the dyslexic children with the non-dyslexic children on a number of factors, including intellectual ability. This excluded the possibility that confounding variables accounted for the differences between the groups in study one. Both studies indicated that the dyslexic children had slower and less accurate number fact recall than the non-dyslexic children, but had unimpaired place value understanding. The results for counting speed were more equivocal, but there was a trend for the dyslexic children to be slower counters. The results suggest that dyslexia is not normally associated with a general mathematical impairment, but rather an uneven profile of skills. This profile can be explained in terms of the phonological processing weaknesses associated with dyslexia. The finding that dyslexic children have a specific difficulty recalling arithmetic facts suggests that a teaching programme that emphasises mental methods may disadvantage them.
29 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored a representation of overlapping categories of gender, disability, and cyborgs in Bionic Woman (2007) and found significant disempowering potentialities for women, individuals with and without disabilities and cyberborgs.
Abstract: This paper explores a representation of overlapping categories of gender, disability and cyborgs in Bionic Woman (2007). The television show Bionic Woman (2007) is a popular culture representation that uniquely brings together these categories. Three themes emerged from an analysis of blogger discourse surrounding the show. The themes reveal significant disempowering potentialities for women, individuals with and without disabilities and cyborgs. Conclusions and implications of these themes are offered.
28 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the concept of social capital was used as both a resource to stimulate discussions and as an explicit goal to facilitate discussions with children and young people about diversity issues, including disability, and their insights on knowing disability, relationships, and provision and support illustrate a shift from an essentialising of impairment to an articulation of barriers which excluded disabled people.
Abstract: This paper reports on a specific event which attempted to facilitate discussions with children and young people about diversity issues, including disability. The concept of social capital was operationalised and used as both a resource to stimulate discussions and as an explicit goal. The paper first reports on the processes involved and the topics identified for discussion by the children and young people and then considers their engagement with disability. Their insights on knowing disability, relationships, and provision and support illustrate a shift from an essentialising of impairment to an articulation of barriers which excluded disabled people and the lessons which teachers might take from these are discussed.
23 citations
TL;DR: This paper found that children with severe and persistent language impairment (SLI) received intervention from speech and language therapists (SLTs) or their assistants made more progress in expressive language than similar children receiving intervention from education staff.
Abstract: Many UK children with severe and persistent language impairment (SLI) attend local mainstream schools. Although this should provide an excellent language-learning environment, opportunities may be limited by difficulties in sustaining time-consuming, child-specific learning activities; restricted co-professional working, and the complex classroom environment. Two language intervention studies in mainstream Scottish primary schools showed children with SLI receiving intervention from speech and language therapists (SLTs) or their assistants made more progress in expressive language than similar children receiving intervention from education staff. Potential reasons for this difference are sought in the amount of tailored language-learning activity undertaken; how actively school staff initiated contact with SLTs; and the language demands of the classroom. Tailored language learning appears to be a differentiating factor. A language support model, reflecting views of teachers and SLTs about encouraging language development for children with SLI within the ecology of the mainstream primary classroom, is also outlined.
21 citations
19 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored the link between hidden disabilities, increasing disengagement and youth offending in SEN provision in North Wales and found that there is a "continuum of disengagement" for children and young people with SEN.
Abstract: Special Educational Needs (SEN) policy and practice in England and Wales currently relies on an authoritative and accurate diagnosis of need by professionals working in partnership with parents and children. Our analysis suggests there is a ‘continuum of disengagement’ for children and young people with SEN. This will be used as a central theme to illustrate the disjuncture between SEN policy and practice. The continuum becomes apparent under the scrutiny of issues that arise during the diagnostic process. Identification of problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia and dyspraxia lead to methods of intervention that can be identified as either preventative, counteractive or punitive. The ambiguity of the diagnostic process lies in the overlapping characteristics of these conditions. Referring to our research in the field of SEN provision in North Wales, this article explores the link between hidden disabilities, increasing disengagement and youth offending.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an analysis of the policy themes of service integration, social justice and social inclusion which underpin the integrated community schools policy initiative in Scotland and apply the concept of social capital to the issue of how practitioners from other agencies, now charged to work in schools, construct new professional ties and networks.
Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of the policy themes of service integration, social justice and social inclusion which underpin the integrated community schools policy initiative in Scotland. That initiative is identified as an important vehicle for the Scottish Executive Government's aim of integrating children's services with the overarching goal of creating greater inclusion and social justice. The main argument in the paper is that it is at the level of the school ‘hub’ that integrated work amongst practitioners and across children's public services needs to be effective if the policy aims of social justice and inclusion are to be achieved. The concept of social capital is applied to the issue of how practitioners from other agencies, now charged to work in schools, construct new professional ties and networks. The conclusion suggests that a mapping of types and levels of social capital offers a fruitful conceptual framework to examine changing interprofessional ties.
TL;DR: The analytical framework of critical discourse analysis is used to understand what role the press played in creating and reinforcing larger societal assumptions about living and dying with a disability.
Abstract: Our society treats people with disabilities in an inequitable manner when compared with non-disabled people. This marginalisation is especially telling in the area of end-of-life issues. The confounding of disability with terminal illness can support practices of encouraging death via assisted suicide and other means for people who, although vulnerable, are not at the end of their lives. The purpose of this paper is to examine a series of news articles covering a Canadian story of assisted suicide. From 2004–2006, newspapers followed the case of Marielle Houle, a mother accused of assisting her son in committing suicide. Although he had a disabling condition at the time of his death, Fariala was not at the end of his life. We use the analytical framework of critical discourse analysis to understand what role, if any, the press played in creating and reinforcing larger societal assumptions about living and dying with a disability.
TL;DR: An extensive survey of five leading UK newspapers reveals wide-ranging variation in coverage of autism or Asperger's syndrome, from a tendency to rely on medical establishment sources in some to an apparently pro-choice, anti-establishment campaign in others but, generally, a neglect of the perspective of articulate autistics themselves.
Abstract: An extensive survey of five leading UK newspapers reveals wide-ranging variation in coverage, from a tendency to rely on medical establishment sources in some to an apparently pro-choice, anti-establishment campaign in others but, generally, a neglect of the perspective of articulate autistics themselves. Based on an enhanced content analysis of all (179) reports on autism or Asperger's syndrome, over the 12 months of 2006, in The Daily Telegraph (London), Daily Mail (London), The Sun (London), Herald (Glasgow) and Daily Record (Glasgow), the findings are discussed using Hermann and Chomsky's Propaganda Model and Shoemaker and Reese's Hierarchy of Influences Model.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider how, by paying attention to the divergent use of "stereotypes" as a methodological tool, they concomitantly pay attention to contemporary disability-criticism.
Abstract: This paper considers how, by paying attention to the divergent use of ‘stereotypes’ as a methodological tool, we concomitantly pay attention to the capacities of contemporary disability-criticism. Firstly, the search for negative stereotypes is described in terms of how it enables the repeated citation of common examples. However, as some areas of disability-criticism have begun to acknowledge that ‘stereotypes’ are not exclusively a negative form, the second part of the paper uses the US cartoon series South Park to explore what sort of interpretations such a troublesome recognition allows. While critical discourse on disability is discussed as a whole the ultimate aim is to draw some conclusions about the past, present and future of British disability-criticism. The paper concludes by suggesting that recognising the contingency of where we are on how we choose to read representations of disability strengthens debates about how we want to go on.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report the findings of a study of 46 personal advisers (PAs) who were supporting young people with specific speech and language difficulties (SSLD) or general learning difficulties, as part of a longitudinal study of these young people's development.
Abstract: The transition from school to the world of post-compulsory education is a major landmark in the lives of young people with special educational needs (SEN). In England the Connexions service set up to support young people during transition was planned to provide both a universal service and one that provided special support to vulnerable young people, particularly those at risk of not being in education, employment or training (NEET). The present paper reports the findings of a study of 46 Connexions personal advisers (PAs) who were supporting young people with specific speech and language difficulties (SSLD) or general learning difficulties, as part of a longitudinal study of these young people's development. Interviews were held with the PAs to identify patterns of organisation, the nature of services delivered to these young people and the factors that influenced successful support. The findings highlight the diversity among Connexions services, the limited expertise with young people with SEN and the structural barriers that may limit effectiveness. In addition, the Assessment, Planning, Implementation and Review Framework was not consistently used. The Connexions service has the potential to provide important support to young people with SEN at this key transition point but our study indicates the need for modifications to its operation.
TL;DR: The results indicate having a disability amplifies difficulties in gaining employment, particularly for females.
Abstract: The pursuit of an acting career is a difficult one for anybody. However, studies have yet to factor how disability affects casting opportunities. This study describes the employment of actors with disabilities, along with the unique barriers they encounter in the audition and casting process. Actors with disabilities from the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) were recruited to participate in focus groups and complete a questionnaire. The results indicate having a disability amplifies difficulties in gaining employment, particularly for females. Participants aged 40 years and over were more likely to work in a lead or supporting role compared to those under 40. Participants identified several barriers to employment in the entertainment industry including industry attitudes about working with actors with disabilities; being restricted to disability specific roles; and fears about requesting an accommodation. accommodations. While the majority (85%) of employers indicated their company was physically accessible, there were several other measures of accessibility that required further action. Areas in need of improved accessibility included developing recruiting methods and advertising specifically for people with disabilities; changing the format of job applications; changing the tests or evaluations used in hiring or promoting; changing the company website; and making recruiting/interviewing sites accessible (Dixon, Kruse & Van Horn, 2003). A survey of small business employers identified the top three concerns of hiring people with disabilities as matching skills and job needs; supervision and training; and costs associated with safety and medical insurance. Furthermore, there were concerns about legal liabilities and making work site accommodations (Harrison, 1998).
TL;DR: The authors conducted a multimethod ethnographic study that aimed to explore the knowledge of local parents concerning children learning to talk, and found that parents from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds living in this socially disadvantaged area, believed learning-to-talk to be very important and that family, community, including faith community, and professionals, have roles in promoting learning- to-talk.
Abstract: Part of a multimethod ethnographic study that aimed to explore the knowledge of local parents concerning children learning to talk is described. The study was carried out with parents from several different ethnic and language groups in a socially disadvantaged part of Sheffield, a large city in the northeast of England. In the phase of the study reported here, parents (either English, Urdu/Punjabi and Arabic speakers) took part in interviews, as well as contributing to the validation of the project. This study found that parents from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds living in this socially disadvantaged area, believed learning to talk to be very important and that family, community, including faith community, and professionals, have roles in promoting learning to talk. They indicated that local community groups, including faith communities, could play a positive role in supporting and developing their knowledge. This paper will be of interest to those seeking innovative ways to support parents in socially excluded communities, particularly parents of children learning to talk, and so contribute to better outcomes for children, families and communities. It also contributes to our understanding of the development of parental knowledge about learning to talk in socially disadvantaged communities.