This study offers reflections on the inclusion of children with Cri Du Chat Syndrome (CCS), a rare condition of genetic origin. OBJECTIVES: To discuss the inclusion of children with CCS in schools ...and describe the characteristics, diagnosis, treatment, and main symptoms of the condition, along with the main difficulties students with CCS might face; to assess the knowledge teachers have about CCS and potential teaching resources they may use. METHOD: A digital survey questionnaire was used in this qualitative exploratory descriptive study. RESULTS: Only 14.8% of the 27 teachers who responded the questionnaire had knowledge about CCS and had worked in a classroom with adapted pedagogical practices. CONCLUSION: A very small portion of teachers had knowledge about CCS and most had never been in contact with individuals with the syndrome, either in a classroom or during training. A path has to be developed for the inclusion of children with CCS, through a process based on knowledge, affection, love, and respect for differences.
Children and young people with a disability experience challenges in accessing urban environments. This study aimed to generate ideas that can help make an inner-city local government area in ...Melbourne, Australia more inclusive for children and young people with disability. A workshop was held with children and young people self-identifying as having a disability (n = 5) and their parents and guardians (n = 4). Participants brainstormed ideas in response to a prompt centred on ways that Melbourne's inner-city could be made more inclusive for children and young people with a disability. A qualitative analysis of the ideas was undertaken. Ideas common across both groups included the need for adequate and disability-appropriate communication, the provision of pedestrian infrastructure, and accessible public transport. The study's findings have direct relevance for policy makers, informing upcoming policy in the local municipality. The value of research/policy/lived experience-collaborations for local policy improvement is clear, as they provide an opportunity to draw upon a range of perspectives to identify and address local challenges, while also informing larger-scale projects and initiatives in other cities. Through such collaborations, it is possible to tailor infrastructure and accessibility improvements to the specific needs of local communities, resulting in more effective and equitable policy outcomes.
•Young people with disability experience challenges accessing urban environments.•We undertook workshops investigating ideas to facilitate disability inclusion.•Themes included communication, pedestrian infrastructure, and public transport.•Policymakers and people with lived experience provide important research insights.
Mobile health (m‐health) technologies offer many benefits to individuals, organizations, and health professionals alike. Indeed, the utilization of m‐health by older adults can foster the development ...of proactive patients, while also reducing financial burden and resource pressures on health systems. However, the potentially transformative influence of m‐health is limited, as many older adults resist adoption leading to the emergence of an age‐based digital divide. This study leverages protection motivation theory and social cognitive theory to explore the factors driving resistance among older adults. This mixed methods study integrates survey findings with insights from qualitative interviews to highlight that the m‐health digital divide is deepening due to older adults' perceived inability to adopt and their unwillingness to adopt stemming from mistrust, high risk perceptions, and strong desire for privacy. The paper contributes to the privacy and social inclusion literature by demonstrating that while many older adults have access to m‐health, they are currently excluded and require careful consideration by technology organizations and researchers. The study provides recommendations for narrowing the m‐health digital divide through inclusive design and educational efforts to improve self‐efficacy, develop privacy literacy, and build trust, thereby ensuring that older citizens are both capable and willing to adopt.
This two-year (2016-2018) study aimed to identify what a good life is for Aboriginal people with disability in remote Central Australia and how service providers can support them to achieve a good ...life. This paper presents the findings that relate to barriers to delivering services for Aboriginal people with disability.
In-depth interviews and focus groups were held with Aboriginal people with disability and their carers aged at least 18 years from the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Lands and community organisations providing services there. The data were analysed using thematic analysis.
There were 109 participants, of whom 47 were workers in service provider organisations and 62 were Aboriginal people. From the data, barriers to delivering services to support Aboriginal people to live a good life and solutions to overcome the barriers, were identified and described under the headings of environmental barriers and systemic issues.
We discuss the policy implications of these findings with regard to addressing Indigenous disadvantage and how governments, service providers, communities, and Aboriginal people with disability and their families can work in partnership to address these barriers.
Implications for Rehabilitation
Indigenous people with disability living in remote and very remote communities experience significant access and equity barriers to culturally responsive services that enable them to live a socially and culturally engaged life.
Localised government and service provider disability policy approaches in Indigenous communities need to focus on both environmental and systemic issues.
Greater investment in local remote communities is required to build the capacity of Indigenous families to support Aboriginal people with a disability to live a culturally and socially included life.
To explore the benefits of a brief autism education intervention on peer engagement and inclusion of autistic children at day camps. A convergent, parallel, two-arm (intervention/no intervention), ...non-randomized, mixed-methods design was used. The individualized, peer-directed, 5-10 min intervention included four components: (1) diagnostic label, (2) description and purpose of unique behaviors, (3) favorite activities and interests, and (4) strategies to engage. A timed-interval behavior-coding system was used to evaluate engagement between each autistic camper and their peers based on videos taken at camp (days 1, 2, 5). Interviews with campers and camp staff explored why changes in targeted outcomes may have occurred. Percent intervals in which the autistic campers were jointly engaged with peers improved in the intervention group (n = 10) and did not change in the control group (n = 5). A large between group intervention effect occurred by day 5 (Z = - 1.942, η
= 0.29). Interviews (5 autistic campers, 34 peers, 18 staff) done on the last day of camp in the intervention group garnered three themes: (1) Changed behavioral attribution, (2) Knowledge facilitates understanding and engagement, and (3) (Mis)perceptions of increased inclusion. A brief educational intervention that includes individualized explanatory information and strengths-based strategies might improve peers' understanding of and social engagement with autistic children in community programs such as camps.
Participation in sports represents a potent means of empowerment and social inclusion. Nevertheless, women with physical impairments encounter specific challenges in accessing Para sports. The main ...aim of this study is to present the experiential participation and achievements in sports of women with physical impairments in Saudi Arabia.
Twenty women athletes with physical impairments who engaged in competitive Para sports in Saudi Arabia were interviewed. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was employed to extract themes elucidating the experiences of women athletes with physical impairments in Para sports.
Four dimensions were identified: (i) Exploring participation in sports; (ii) The positive impact of participation in sports; (iii) obstacles in participation in sport; and (iv) hopes and aspirations to improve participation in Para sports.
In Saudi Arabia, participation in Para sports functions as a powerful tool for empowering and socially integrating women with physical impairments. However, these women encounter challenges in accessing sports. Achieving empowerment in Para sports necessitates the establishment of an inclusive ecosystem that celebrates diversity and equality. Collaborative efforts from governments, sports organizations, communities, and individuals are indispensable in creating an environment where women with impairments can flourish in sports.
A growing concern for mobility-related social inclusion and equity is evident from both academic research and planning best practices. Scholarly research promotes accessibility as the main aim of ...transport planning, assuming it as the evaluative approach that better conveys how mobility contributes to individuals' well-being and participation in social life. Accessibility can be crucial to address the socio-spatial inequalities that characterise manifold settings across the world. Amongst them, Latin American countries have been keen in tackling such imbalances through mobility-related interventions, as the renowned cases of Curitiba, Medellin and Bogotá show. The widespread interest in mobility as both a cause and effect of social disparities has generated an increasing stream of work that examines Latin American settings through the lenses of accessibility. This paper aims at critically reviewing the growing scholarly works that, providing accessibility-based evaluations, has examined issues of transport and equity in Latin America. Proposing a novel conceptual framework that considers the underlying ethical stance, components of accessibility and implications for planning and policy, this work examines what approaches, features and indicators are present in the current literature, as well as what settings have been taken into consideration by scholarly research. Moreover, the review has an explicit operational interest, to define what indicators are relevant or missing to assess accessibility in the light of social concerns, as well as to consider the current and potential implications that such research findings have on transport planning and policy. The review highlights how a growing but still limited body of work has examined transport and equity in Latin America, suggesting academic, technical and operational avenues to enhance theoretical and practical approaches to the issue.
This commentary aims to shed light on the neglected space of queer people in science communication. In this piece, we introduce queer theory to science communication literature to examine issues from ...the past, present, and future. We argue that to queer our field may entail a radical interrogation of some of science communication's deeply rooted cultural traits and working towards a rainbow-tinted future.
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