Self-regulation and mastery motivation in individuals with developmental disabilities : barriers, supports, and strategies

The development of the capacity for self-regulation represents an important achievement of childhood and is associated with social, behavioral, and academic competence (Bronson, 2001; Cleary & Zimmerman, 2004). Self-regulation evolves as individuals mature, with its final form integrating emotional, cognitive, and behavioral elements working together to achieve self-selected goals. This evolution is closely intertwined with the innate press to master the environment, labeled mastery motivation (Morgan, Harmon, & Maslin-Cole, 1990), as competence is the aim that underpins mastery motivation.

Motivation in children with intellectual disabilities

This article addresses the questions of whether there are motivational deficits in children with intellectual disabilities, whether those with Down syndrome are more likely to display motivational deficits, and how motivation might be supported. The available literature that has examined motivation in children with intellectual disabilities was considered and integrated to address the questions outlined above. There is little published research on this vital topic. Reports on motivational problems differ depending upon the method of data collection. Observational studies using structured tasks generally reveal no differences between children with intellectual disabilities and typically developing children matched for mental age. When reports of parents or teachers are used, children with intellectual disabilities appear to have deficits in motivation. No evidence was found for a particular deficit in children with Down syndrome. The results of this review challenge the perception that children with intellectual disabilities will generally have motivational problems, although it is clear that motivation is a complex construct, not easily examined in those with intellectual disabilities. Strategies for addressing problems and for maintaining motivation, based on theory and evidence, are provided. These strategies are applicable across a range of settings including the home, school, and more adult-oriented services.

Socially inclusive learning in a community setting

People with mental health problems, learning difficulties and poor literacy and numeracy are at risk of social exclusion including homelessness. They are often disconnected from the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system, with few opportunities for education and employment. Academic research has demonstrated a link between literacy and numeracy and social inclusion, however, the pathways to enact this are not well understood. This report presents insights into how a community based adult literacy program in West End, Brisbane, was first established and has since evolved into a successful model of what we are calling ‘socially inclusive learning’. The research informing the report was conducted as a twelve-month study from April 2013 to April 2014 funded through a partnership involving Anglicare Southern Queensland, A Place to Belong and the School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology. The research was conducted by Greg Marston and Jeffrey Johnson- Abdelmalik. The aim of the study was to clarify the principles, practice and methodology of the Reading and Writing group (hereafter RAW) and identify the characteristics of RAW that support the social inclusion of the individual being provided literacy learning. The questions guiding the research included: • What are the key principles and practices of the RAW model? • How does the acquisition of literacy and numeracy skills contribute to the recovery of people with mental health and other issues? • How can the acquisition of literacy and numeracy skills support people’s social inclusion, including achieving employment and further education outcomes? A related aim of the project was to document how this community based literacy and numeracy program operates so that other organisations with an interest in addressing similar needs can learn from the model, particularly organisations that co-locate support and education and organisations that adopt a recovery approach when working with people with mental health challenges and intellectual and psychiatric disabilities. The report highlights the background to RAW, the learning philosophy of RAW, the profile of the participants in the program and the various roles and responsibilities and structure that supports the work of RAW. The report presents perspectives from the teachers, student participants and tutors on how the group is designed and the principles implemented.

State Estimates of Employment Rates for Persons with Disabilities: Report Summary

Statistics on the states’ employment rates for persons with disabilities relative to their non-disabled peers may be of assistance to providers of employment services for persons with disabilities. Such information can help service providers, policy makers, and disability advocacy leaders to assess whether the employment rate of people with disabilities is improving over time, given policy, regulatory, and service intervention strategies. A recent report from the Cornell University Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) for Economic Research on Employment Policy for Persons with Disabilities uses data from the March Current Population Survey to estimate employment rates for persons with and without a disability in the non-institutionalized working-age (aged 25 through 61) civilian population in the United States, and for each state and the District of Columbia for the years 1980 through 1998. The employment rate of persons with a disability relative to that of persons without disabilities are found to vary greatly across states. Over the last 20 years the relative employment rate of those with a disability dramatically declined overall and in most states.

Discovering an Untapped Resource: Recruiting, Hiring, and Promoting People with Cognitive Disabilities.

Sections to the Paper include the following: America's Shrinking Labor Force, People with Cognitive Disabilities: an Untapped Labor Source, Focus, Initiative, Understand, Enhance.

A Comparison of the Implementation of the Employment Provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) in the United States and the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 in the United Kingdom

This summarizes the results of recently conducted surveys in the United States and Britain to assess employer response in each of these countries to their respective employment disability nondiscrimination legislation.

The Benefits Planner: New York Implements Medicaid Buy-In Program - Program Allows Individuals With Disabilities to Work and Keep Medicaid

This newsletter will provide valuable information on how work for persons with disabilities effects government benefits, with an emphasis on the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) work incentives. Each newsletter will contribute to an ongoing dialogue on topics related to benefits and work.

Case study: Using social media to engage students with learning difficulties

Case study on Calderdale College using the social learning network Edmodo to support students with learning difficulties or disabilities to engage with social media.

Combination of web usage, content and structure information for diverse web mining applications in the tourism context and the context of users with disabilities

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The differences in the social competence of children who attend integrated junior infant classes and children who attend segregated learning environments

There are a number of reasons why this researcher has decided to undertake this study into the differences in the social competence of children who attend integrated Junior Infant classes and children who attend segregated learning environments. Theses reasons are both personal and professional. My personal reasons stem from having grown up in a family which included both an aunt who presented with Down Syndrome and an uncle who presented with hearing impairment. Both of these relatives' experiences in our education system are interesting. My aunt was considered ineducable while her brother - my uncle - was sent to Dublin (from Cork) at six years of age to be educated by a religious order. My professional reasons, on the other hand, stemmed from my teaching experience. Having taught in both special and integrated classrooms it became evident to me that there was somewhat 'suspicion' attached to integration. Parents of children without disabilities questioned whether this process would have a negative impact on their children's education. While parents of children with disabilities debated whether integrated settings met the specific needs of their children. On the other hand, I always questioned whether integration and inclusiveness meant the same thing. My research has enabled me to find many answers. Increasingly, children with special educational needs (SEN) are attending a variety of integrated and inclusive childcare and education settings. This contemporary practice of educating children who present with disabilities in mainstream classrooms has stimulated vast interest on the impact of such practices on children with identified disabilities. Indeed, children who present with disabilities "fare far better in mainstream education than in special schools" (Buckley, cited in Siggins, 2001,p.25). However, educators and practitioners in the field of early years education and care are concerned with meeting the needs of all children in their learning environments, while also upholding high academic standards (Putman, 1993). Fundamentally, therefore, integrated education must also produce questions about the impact of this practice on children without identified special educational needs. While these questions can be addressed from the various areas of child development (i.e. cognitive, physical, linguistic, emotional, moral, spiritual and creative), this research focused on the social domain. It investigates the development of social competence in junior infant class children without identified disabilities as they experience different educational settings.

University students with disabilities in Universities. A study of their inclusion

Access to higher education has increased among students with disabilities, and universities are adopting different alternatives which must be assessed. The purpose of this study was to identify the situation of a sample of students with disabilities (n=91) who attend a university in Spain, through the design and validation of the “CUNIDIS-d” scale, with satisfactory psychometric properties. The results show the importance of making reasoned curriculum adaptations, adapting teacher training, improving accessibility and involving all the university community. Different proposals were provided which support the social dimension of the EHEA.

End-of-Life care and people with intellectual disabilities: A multi-media educational resource

Aim This study aimed to develop and evaluate a multi-media educational resource in palliative and end-of-life care for specialist palliative care and intellectual disability services which promoted collaborative working. Methods: A mixed methods design involving three phases was used. Qualitative data were obtained from semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of professionals (n=30) and family carers (n=5) and from two focus groups with people with intellectual disabilities (n=17). Data were content analysed as outlined y Newell and Burnard (2006). This identified training needs and issues, in end-of-life care for this population which were confirmed through quantitative data from services in a regional scoping study analysed using descriptive statistics. A DVD and manual were developed and evaluated with twelve professionals. Data were collected using a solicited diary, the Readiness for Inter-professional Learning Scale, Likert Scales and an evaluation questionnaire. Thematic analysis and descriptive statistics appropriate to data were used.Results: Findings suggest that this resource demonstrates the need for and benefits of partnership working and transferability of this learning to practice could address issues at end-of-life for people with intellectual disabilities. Conclusions: Findings of this study have importance for partnership working and service provision in end-of-life care for this population.

The relationship between the recognition of facial expressions and self-reported anger in people with intellectual disabilities

Background This study aims to examine the relationship between how individuals with intellectual disabilities report their own levels of anger, and the ability of those individuals to recognize emotions. It was hypothesized that increased expression of anger would be linked to lower ability to recognize facial emotional expressions and increased tendency to interpret facial expressions in a hostile or negative manner. It was also hypothesized increased levels of anger may lead to the altered perception of a particular emotion.

Method A cross-sectional survey design was used. Thirty participants completed a test of facial emotion recognition (FER), and a self-report anger inventory (Benson & Ivins 1992) as part of a structured interview.

Results Individuals with higher self-reported anger did not show significantly reduced performance in FER, or interpret facial expressions in a more hostile manner compared with individuals with less self-reported anger. However, they were less accurate in recognizing neutral facial emotions.

Conclusions It is tentatively suggested that individuals with high levels of anger may be likely to perceive emotional content in a neutral facial expression because of their high levels of emotional arousal.

Is there a difference in artistic ability between learning -disabled students and "regular-class" students?

Research and practice regarding LO students usually has focussed upon defining and supplementing deficiencies rather than seeking unique talents and capability patterns for learning and expression. This study examined nine dimensions that may constitute artistic or creative talent and compared LDs with "regular-class" students, pair-wise and as groups, for levels and distributions of the dimensions. For 14 LO and 9 "regular-class" elementary-school subjects, both genders, data were taken by direct observation, from a standardized test and assessments by two practicing artists. Assessments by artists were in concord. LOs improved more in "Composition". No other significant class, age or gender-related differences were found.