Body image and physical disability - personal perspectives

The current study used qualitative methodology to investigate the body image concerns of people with physical disabilities. Three males and four females aged between 22 and 50 years, in Melbourne, Australia, participated in the study. Three participants were heterosexual, two were homosexual and two described their sexual identity as predominantly heterosexual but ‘bicurious’. The data were gathered through individual interviews of approximately 2 h duration, where participants responded to a set of predetermined open-ended questions. The study found that bodily impairment had a negative influence on the participants’ psychological experiences, feelings and attitudes toward their own bodies. The impact of feedback from the social environment was highlighted, and there was evidence suggesting that individuals gradually adjust to their different bodies and increasingly accept their disabilities over time.

Temporal processing and reading disability

The present investigation examined thehypothesis that early auditory temporalprocessing deficits cause later specificreading disability by impairing phonologicalprocessing (Farmer & Klein 1995; Tallal1980, 1984). Temporal processing ability atschool entry was examined using Tallal'sRepetition Test in a large unselected sample ofover 500 children followed over subsequentyears. Although our data confirmed the presenceof certain non-speech auditory processingdeficits in children later classified asspecific reading-disabled, many findings wereclearly at odds with a causal interpretation ofthis relationship. (1) Reading-disabled (RD)children were impaired at school entry on thesubtest with long interstimulus intervals(ISIs) but not the critical short-ISIsubtest. (2) RD children were not inferior toreading-age (RA) controls. (3) A subgroup of RDchildren with evidence of temporal deficitswere no less proficient on later phonologicalor reading measures than RD children with noevidence of early temporal impairment. (4)Although there was a reliable concurrentcorrelation between temporal deficits andphonological awareness at school entry(suggesting a possible common causeexplanation), early temporal deficits did notpredict later phonological impairment,pseudoword processing difficulties, or specificreading disability. On the other hand, earlytemporal deficits did predict later oralreceptive vocabulary and reading comprehensionweaknesses. These findings suggest thatauditory temporal deficits in dyslexics may beassociated with the same dysphasic-typesymptoms observed by Tallal and her colleaguesin specific language-impaired populations, butdo not cause the core phonological deficitsthat characterize dyslexic groups.

Survey commentaries and analysis on Singapore biotechnology venture capital, intellectual and property regulatory law

The article presents survey commentaries and analysis on biotechnology venture capital, intellectual and property regulatory law in Singapore as of April 2006. The survey revealed that the financial sector and venture capitalists lack the ability to evaluate and understand biotechnology. Some major concerns for stakeholders are the lack of experience in the litigation of cases by Singaporean law firms and the lack of strategic management of portfolios for biomedical and pharmaceutical companies and the government. Stakeholders cited the need for Singaporean laws to be amended to accommodate developments in medical devices, herbal medicine, some biological areas and pre-clinical and clinical trials.

Beyond compliance: ACE and the disability standards for education in 2005.

The Disability Standards for Education 2005 make it unlawful for an education authority to discriminate against a person on the grounds of the person's disability, and providers of adult and community education (ACE) are specifically noted as education authorities in the Standards. Most ACE providers, working as they do from a community development basis, would consider themselves to be non-discriminatory. The devil, nevertheless, is in the detail, and it is one particular detail of the Standards that this article considers – Part 7: Standards for student support services. Research has indicated that this is an area with which ACE providers are likely to have problems. This article looks firstly at the place of people with a disability in ACE, and then at some of the provisions of the Standards as they relate to student support. Evidence to support the discussion is taken from three research projects into ACE provision for people with a disability. These studies are outlined before the author moves on to some of the issues indicated in the research. Further, some suggestions are made for compliance, and the need for ACE providers to go beyond compliance and consider advocacy to support the inclusion of people with a disability into ACE.

Sexuality, body esteem and physical disability

The thesis investigated sexuality and body esteem in people with physical disabilities and developed a psychometrically valid measure to assess these dimensions. Physical disability was associated with significant psychological challenges, sexual and body dissatisfaction and limited opportunities for sexual relationships. The thesis highlighted the importance of sexuality for physically disabled people.

Integrating affect and cognition : a test and developmental program

This thesis ratifies a tool for assessing affective-cognitive integration and techniques for affective-cognitive integration. It contributes to theories regarding responses to emotions triggering events, humanistic psychology and the field of emotional intelligence and provides a model of the psychology of the integration of affect and cognition.

Globalisation, television and developmental agenda

Theorising the impact of foreign and private television in India since 1991, does not neatly fit into the old debates about one way flow of news and information as reflected in the demand for the New World Information and Communication Order in the 1970s and early 1980s. In the 1990s, Indian society was invaded from the skies by a number of satellite television signals. However, did this advent of satellite television, vis à vis foreign and private television channels, lead to one way flow of information and entertainment programs from the Western world? Or, did it lead to rapid growth of Indian television industry, resulting in exponential increase in quality and quantity of television programs available to audience?

This paper argues that the de facto de-regulation of the television media since 1991 has led to an enviable growth in local production of programs for more than 450 channels, estimated to be worth Rs30 billion (AS$1 billion), thereby providing an increased level of opportunity for articulation of Indian local stories and culture. This way, the Indian television industry seems to have come full circle – where television, which was launched in the country as a means of development and education but became complacent and the government’s mouth-piece, finally in the past decade-and-a-half has grown sufficiently to potentially provide an outlet for diverse local expressions thereby revitalising democracy in India.

Metacognitive, cognitive and developmental predictors of generalised anxiety disorder symptoms

Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) is the most significant and common of the anxiety disorders. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and negative metacognitive beliefs are two prominent cognitive factors in models of GAD, however only one study to date has examined the relative contribution of these factors. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate and compare these cognitive factors in their prediction of GAD symptoms, and also to examine possible developmental influences on GAD by examining the link between symptoms and the parentification style of childrearing. In this analogue study, 119 non-clinical participants (M age 22.90 years; 95 females, 24 males) completed measures of these constructs. Results indicated that both IU and negative beliefs about worry significantly related to GAD symptoms, however, the degree to which they predicted GAD symptoms did not significantly differ. Although a weak but significant relationship was found between parentification and GAD, this relationship did not remain significant after controlling for depression. Implications and limitations are discussed.