Interações virtuais e presenciais em universitários com e sem indicativo de fobia social

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

A inclusão das diferenças e as diferenças na inclusão: impasses na inclusão de alunos com necessidades especiais

Pós-graduação em Psicologia - FCLAS

O ensino da escrita e o desenvolvimento das pessoas com deficiência intelectual

This article proposes a theoretical reflection on the development of children with intellectual disabilities, regarding the importance and necessity of the process of learning the written language, from a historical-cultural point of view. For this approach, the course of development of a child disabled or not will occur according to cultural and social conditions experimented by him or her. Therefore, concerning the child with intellectual disabilities, his cultural condition, in dynamic relationship with the obstacles placed in its special condition, will be the source of his development. If the development of higher psychological functions is realized through the use of tools and if the people with intellectual disabilities present an inability to use these tools, there will be the need for aids so they can learn to use them in order to train and develop their psychic functions. In this process, education and written language acquisitions are fundamental ways of accessibility to the cultural world, a wider significance of communication in the world and to oneself. In short, the educators' comprehension about the importance of intentional teaching of written language and the historical process that envolves its development represents a fundamental contribution to the process of humanization of children with disabilities.

Effect of different exercise programs on the psychological and cognitive functions of people with Parkinson's disease

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of different exercise programs on the psychological and cognitive functions in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Forty-five patients with PD participated in the study. The participants were randomized in three intervention programs: Group-1 (n=15, cognitive-activities), Group-2 (n=15, multimodal exercise) and Group-3 (n=15, exercises for posture and gait). The clinical, psychological and cognitive functions were assessed before and after 4 months of intervention. Univariate analysis did not reveal significant interactions between groups and time (p>0.05). However, univariate analysis for time revealed differences in stress level and memory. Participants showed less physical stress (p<0.01) and overall stress (p < 0.04) and higher performance in episodic declarative memory (p < 0.001) after exercise. These findings suggest that group work with motor or non-motor activities can improve cognitive and psychological functions of patients with PD.

Disease severity affects obstacle crossing in people with Parkinson's disease

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Do people with recurrent back pain constrain spinal motion during seated horizontal and downward reaching?

Background: Although the effect of symptomatic back pain on functional movement has been investigated, changes to spinal movement patterns in essentially pain-free people with a history of recurrent back pain are largely unreported. Reaching activities, important for everyday and occupational function, often present problems to such people, but have not been considered in this population. The purpose of this study was to compare the amplitude and timing of spinal and hip motions during two, seated reaching activities in people with and without a history of recurrent low back pain (RLBP).Methods: Spinal and hip motions during reaching downward and across the body, in both directions, were tracked using electromagnetic sensors. Analyses were conducted to explore the amplitudes, velocities and timings of 3D segmental movements and to compare controls with subjects with recurrent, but asymptomatic lumbar or lumbosacral pain.Findings: We detected significant differences in the amplitude and timing of movement in the lower thoracic region, with the RLBP group restricting movement and demonstrating compensatory increased motion at the hip. The lumbar region displayed no significant between-group differences. The order in which the spinal segments achieved peak velocity in cross-reaching was reversed in RLBP compared to controls, with lumbar motion leading in controls and lagging in RLBP.Interpretation: Subjects with a history of RLBP show a number of altered kinematic features during reaching activities which are not related to the presence or intensity of pain, but which suggest adaptive changes to movement control. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influência das representações sociais do pesquisador na análise de dados de entrevistas: um estudo no campo da educação especial

Social representations are values and ideas shared and transmitted by a group of individuals. This article aims to investigate how researchers’ social representations can influence their analysis of an interview. Data were collected from 28 students participating in a course on interview analysis. Students were divided into three groups. Each group received the same excerpt of a transcript, but with different characterizations of the interviewee: for Group 1, it was a young man who had studied in a public school; for Group 2, the subject had attended a special education school for people with intellectual disabilities; for Group 3, he had studied at a private school. The three groups were asked to analyze the interview and submit a written document describing their analysis. The data revealed that the students carried out interpretive synthesis, descriptive synthesis, and thematic analysis. Interpretations of content data indicated that participants in Groups 1 and 3 attributed negative representations to the interviewee and/or to public or private school. In contrast, participants in Group 2, which was told that the interviewee had intellectual disabilities, attributed positive representations to the interviewee and to the special education school. The conclusion indicates the urgency for theoretical and practical training of young researchers regarding analysis of interviews so that the representations do not lead to biased results. The comparison of the results with an earlier similar study points to a probable change in representations of people with intellectual disabilities.

Positive effects of auditory cue in locomotor pattern of people with Parkinson's disease (off and on medication)

Gait disorders are identified in people with Parkinson’s disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of auditory cues and medication on kinematic, kinetic and EMG parameters, during different gait phases of people with PD and healthy elderly. Thirty subjects distributed in two groups (Group 1, PD patients off and on medication; Group 2, healthy elderly) participated in this study and were instructed to walk in two experimental conditions: non-cued and cued. Therefore, kinematic, kinetic and electromyography analyses were utilized to investigate the locomotor pattern. Changes in locomotor pattern (greater muscular activity) with auditory cue were observed for PD patients. Regarding the medication, locomotor parameter improvement was observed after levodopa intake in association with the auditory cue. These results confirm the hypothesis about the external cues therapy that could be used as a complement to drug therapy to achieve improvement in the locomotor pattern of PD patients.

O outro na cidade: deficiência, acessibilidade e saúde em Presidente Prudente-SP

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Auditory evoked potential: a proposal for further evaluation in children with learning disabilities

The information presented in this paper demonstrates the author's experience in previews cross-sectional studies conducted in Brazil, in comparison with the current literature. Over the last 10 years, auditory evoked potential (AEP) has been used in children with learning disabilities. This method is critical to analyze the quality of the processing in time and indicates the specific neural demands and circuits of the sensorial and cognitive process in this clinical population. Some studies with children with dyslexia and learning disabilities were shown here to illustrate the use of AEP in this population.