The effectiveness of a short-term group music therapy intervention for parents who have a child with a disability

The relationship between the quality of parent-child interactions and positive child developmental trajectories is well established (Guralnick, 2006; Shonkoff & Meissels, 2000; Zubrick et al., 2008). However, a range of parental, family, and socio-economic factors can pose risks to parents’ capacity to participate in quality interactions with their children. In particular, families with a child with a disability have been found to have higher levels of parenting stress, and are more likely to experience economic disadvantage, as well as social isolation. The importance of early interventions to promote positive parenting and child development for these families is widely recognised (Shonkoff & Meissels, 2000). However, to date, there is a lack of evidence about the effectiveness of early parenting programs for families who have a young child with a disability. This thesis investigates the impact of a music therapy parenting program, Sing & Grow, on 201 parent-child dyads who attended programs specifically targeted to parents who had a young child with a disability. Sing & Grow is an Australian national early parenting intervention funded by the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and delivered by Playgroup Queensland. It is designed and delivered by Registered Music Therapists for families with children aged from birth to three years. It aims to improve parenting skills and confidence, improve family functioning (positive parent-child interactions), enhance child development, and provide social networking opportunities to socially isolated families. The intervention targets a range of families in circumstances that have the potential to impact negatively on family functioning. This thesis uses data from the National Evaluation Study of Sing & Grow from programs which were targeted at families who had a young child with a disability. Three studies were conducted to address the objectives of this thesis. Study 1 examines the effects of the Sing & Grow intervention on parent reported pre and post parent mental health, parenting confidence, parenting skills, and child development, and other parent reported outcomes including social support, use of intervention resources, satisfaction with the intervention and perceived benefits of and barriers to participation. Significant improvements from pre to post were found for parent mental health and parent reported child communication and social skills, along with evidence that parents were very satisfied with the program and that it brought social benefits to families. Study 2 explored the pre to post effects of the intervention on children’s developmental skills and parent-child interactions using observational ratings made by clinicians. Significant pre to post improvements were found for parenting sensitivity, parental engagement with child and acceptance of child as well as for child responsiveness to parent, interest, and participation in the intervention, and social skills. Study 3 examined the nature of child and family characteristics that predicted better outcomes for families while taking account of the level of participation in the program. An overall outcome index was calculated and served as the dependent variable in a logistic regression analysis. Families who attended six or more sessions and mothers who had not completed high school were more likely to have higher outcome scores at post intervention than those who attended fewer sessions and those with more educated mothers respectively. The findings of this research indicate that the intervention had a positive impact on participants’ mental health, parenting behaviours and child development and that level of attendance was associated with better outcomes. There was also evidence that the program reached its target of high risk families (i.e., families in which mothers had lower educational levels) and that for these families better outcomes were achieved. There were also indications that the program was accessible and highly regarded by families and that it promoted social connections for participants. A theoretical model of how the intervention is currently working for families is proposed to explain the connections between early parenting, child development and maternal wellbeing. However, more research is required to further elucidate the mechanisms by which the intervention creates change for families. This research presents promising evidence that a short term group music therapy program can elicit important therapeutic benefits for families who have a child with a disability.

(Dia)logics of difference : disability, performance & spectatorship

In this paper I examine the way artists with disabilities use performances in public spaces to encourage people to reflect on their own contribution to the construction of publics, or counter-publics, during and after the moment of encounter. I focus on Liz Crow’s Resistance on the Plinth. This is the title Crow gave her performance on the Forth Plinth in Trafalgar Square as part of Antony Gormley’s One and Other project in 2009. Described as a public art project presenting a portrait of the U.K., Gormley’s One and Other gave 2400 people selected at random via a lottery the chance to do whatever they chose for an hour on the vacant Forth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. In her hour, Crow chose to present herself in a Nazi uniform, in her wheelchair. In this paper, I discuss how Crow’s performance used a counterposition of images – the Nazi uniform, associated with eugenics and a desire to eliminate people who do not accord with the Arayan ‘norm’, counterposed with her wheelchair – to encourage passersby to “stop, look, think.” I examine how Crow used this counterposition to prevent passersby from attributing a single, stable, monologic meaning to the image – forestalling the risk that passersby would read the image as a Nazi on the Plinth – and instead draw passersby into a dialogue in which the impossibility of reconciling the contradictory images, ideologies and cultural logics Crow embodied encouraged people to continue thinking and talking about these cultural logics during and after the encounter.

The role of informal networks in providing effective work opportunities for people with an intellectual disability

Being in paid employment is socially valued, and is linked to health, financial security and time use. Issues arising from a lack of occupational choice and control, and from diminished role partnerships are particularly problematic in the lives of people with an intellectual disability. Informal support networks are shown to influence work opportunities for people without disabilities, but their impact on the work experiences of people with disability has not been thoroughly explored. The experience of 'work' and preparation for work was explored with a group of four people with an intellectual disability (the participants) and the key members of their informal support networks (network members) in New South Wales, Australia. Network members and participants were interviewed and participant observations of work and other activities were undertaken. Data analysis included open, conceptual and thematic coding. Data analysis software assisted in managing the large datasets across multiple team members. The insight and actions of network members created and sustained the employment and support opportunities that effectively matched the needs and interests of the participants. Recommendations for future research are outlined.

Nonverbal Learning Disability explained : the link to shunted hydrocephalus

A Nonverbal Learning Disability is believed to be caused by damage, disorder or destruction of neuronal white matter in the brain’s right hemisphere and may be seen in persons experiencing a wide range of neurological diseases such as hydrocephalus and other types of brain injury (Harnadek & Rourke 1994). This article probes the relationship between shunted hydrocephalus and Nonverbal Learning Disability. Description of hydrocephalus and intelligence associated with hydrocephalus concludes with explication of the ‘final common pathway’ that links residual damage caused by the hydrocephalic condition to a Nonverbal Learning Disability (Rourke & Del Dotto 1994, p. 37). The paper seeks to assist teachers, teacher aides, psychologists, guidance officers, support workers, parents and disability service providers whose role is to understand and advocate for individuals with shunted hydrocephalus and spina bifida.

The effectiveness of a short-term group music therapy intervention for parents who have a child with a disability

Background The relationship between positive parent-child interactions and optimal child development is well established. Families with a child with a disability may face additional challenges to establishing positive parent-child relationships. There are limited studies addressing the effectiveness of interventions which seek to address these issues with parents and young children with a disability. In particular, prior studies of music therapy with this group have been limited by small sample sizes and the use of measures of limited reliability and validity. Objective This study investigates the effectiveness of a short-term group music therapy intervention for parents who have a child with a disability and explores the factors associated with higher outcomes for participating families. Methods The participants were 201 mother-child dyads, where the child had a disability. Pre and post intervention parental questionnaires and clinician observation measures were taken on a range of parental wellbeing, parenting behaviours and child developmental factors. Descriptive data, t-tests for repeated measures and a predictive model tested via logistic regression are presented. Results Significant improvements pre to post were found for parent mental health, child communication and social skills, parenting sensitivity, parental engagement with child and acceptance of child, child responsiveness to parent, and child interest and participation in program activities. There was also evidence that parents were very satisfied with the program and that it brought social benefits to families. Reliable change on six or more indicators of parent or child functioning was predicted by attendance and parent education. Conclusions This study provides positive evidence for the effectiveness of group music therapy in promoting improved parental mental health, positive parenting and key child developmental areas. Whilst several limitations are discussed, the study does address some of the gaps in the music therapy evidence base in this area.

Exploring the relationship between grandparents and their grandchild who has a disability

This thesis reports on the findings of a study which sought to explore the relationship between grandparents and their grandchild who has a disability. In contrast to previous studies, it presents the grandparents’ perspective on the roles and relationships they maintain within their families and adopts a qualitative approach to identify the meanings, symbols and beliefs grandparents attribute to their experiences. Grandparents have played and continue to play an important role in the lives of many families, contributing both symbolic and instrumental support to their grandchildren. Changing life expectancy for older people has meant that many more grandparents and grandchildren now have the opportunity to participate in meaningful interactions and to develop strong relationships. In the future, this will be true for great grandparents and in some cases great great grandparents as well. This presents a number of challenges to all concerned as family members negotiate the often complex arena of family life in the 21st Century. Realizing that a grandchild has a disability adds another degree of complexity to the negotiation of roles and responsibilities of grandparents within families. By focussing on grandparents experiences when their grandchild has a disability, this research both explores a knowledge gap in the current literature and more practicably, will inform both grandparents and their families as they negotiate these challenges. This research makes a significant contribution to knowledge in this area by exploring grandparents’ views on the differences in the relationship they have with their typically developing grandchildren and their grandchild with a disability; the impact having a grandchild with a disability had had on their grandparent identity and whether it impacted on quality of life. As well as reporting on the aims of the study, the papers presented in this thesis report on the key topics and themes identified in the analysis of the transcribed interviews conducted with 22 grandparents whose grandchild has a disability. Article 1 presents an overview of the literature which informs current knowledge in relation to grandparents, presenting a historical and theoretical perspective. Additionally, it presents previous literature which discusses the roles and styles grandparents adopt thus providing a framework which is later used to examine the roles and styles adopted by the grandparents in the study. Article 2 addresses the emotional responses grandparents in the study experienced as they grandparented a child with a disability. Comparing these emotions to that of a roller coaster ride, ranging from absolute sadness and grief to pride and delight, these findings highlight their unique experiences and will be reassuring for other grandparents who experience similar emotional responses. Article 3 discusses from the grandparents’ perspective, how having a grandchild with a disability has impacted on their family. Whilst reporting on the day to day challenges of competing family commitments and conflict, a number of grandparents in this study also commented that the experience had made them closer as a family and that there had been significant changes in how some individual family members now viewed people with disability. Article 4 explores the impact having a grandchild with a disability may have on the grandparents’ sense of identity and enactment of the grandparent role, utilising Neugarten and Weinstein’s (1964) classic grandparenting styles and Kornhaber’s (1996) concepts of latent and functional grandparent identity as a basis for comparison. It provides important insight into grandparenting identity when a child has a disability, suggesting that the grandparenting experience and role enactment may be universal with only the context and delivery varying. In summary, this thesis confirms the valuable role grandparents play in the lives of grandchildren who have a disability and their families. It identifies a number of implications and makes recommendations for future research and practice.

Socially adaptable housing new housing model for families living with disability

In Australia as far back as 1993, researchers such as Baladin and Chapmen reported that "18% of the total Australian population and 51% of the population over 60 years of age were identified as having a disability" (2001; p38.2). Statistics such as these are not by any means astonishing, even to members of the general public, and it is widely understood that these are only to increase significantly in our near future. What is particularly surprising however is, in the face of such statistics, the lack of new and creative responses to this demographic shift, particularly by the architecture and construction industries. The common response from a range of sectors seems to be the repetition of a series of models which offer limited, and often undesirable, housing options. It is this against this backdrop, characterized by a lack of original options from mainstream practitioners and relevant government bodies, that the need has arisen to develop alternative models at grass-roots level. This paper reports primarily on the work of one group comprising a not-for-profit organization, a pro-bono design practice group and a local university working together to design a more holistic, emotionally sustainable independent living model of housing for families where a member of the family has a disability. This approach recognizes the limitations of universal design in that it often does not " ... meet all the housing needs that arise for people with moderate to severe disabilities" (Scotts, Margie et al, 2007; p.17). It is hoped that by examining the work of such a collective which is not driven by profit or policy, but rather born with the aim to address first and foremost individual and community need, that better insight can be gained into the real requirements of individuals and families as well as open up a view to new ways of fulfilling them.

House as home : emotions centred design for disability

In this paper we highlight how current approaches to design for disability have failed to consider the emotional needs not only of those with disabilities but their families and other carers as well. In conjunction with this, we demonstrate through a review of literature the significance of the house, the home and home in the support and growth of the person as a whole in association with their loved ones, and the potential inequity that arises when the emotional and holistic dimensions of 'being' are neglected. With a growing trend nationally and internationally away from group and shared housing, a greater focus on the family and their home is required. However, as research has shown, home for families where a family member has a disability is not necessarily a positive experience; it can be a source of stress, work, conflict and burden, arousing emotions ranging from loss of control through guilt. As proposed in the paper, consideration of the negative as well as positive emotions demands exploration of the 'middle ground' between institutions and home-based care models. This paper outlines the beginning of one such exploration.

Online we are all able bodied : Online psychological sense of community and social support found through membership of disability-specific websites promotes well-being for people living with a physical disability

People with a physical disability are a population who for a number of reasons may be vulnerable to social isolation. Research into Internet-based support sites has found that social support and an online sense of community can be developed through computer mediated communication channels. This study aims to gain an understanding of the benefits that membership of disability-specific online communities may have for people with a physical disability. An online survey was administered to a sample of users of such sites (N = 160). Results indicated that users did receive moral support and personal advice through participating in such online communities. Further, results indicated that online social support and feeling a sense of community online were positively associated with participants' well-being in the areas of personal relations and personal growth.

The development of an observation tool for use with parents with psychiatric disability and their preschool children

Community-based treatment and care of people with psychiatric disabilities has meant that they are now more likely to engage in the parenting role. This has led to the development of programs designed to enhance the parenting skills of people with psychiatric disabilities. Evaluation of these programs has been hampered by a paucity of evaluation tools. This study's aim was to develop and trial a tool that examined the parent-child interaction within a group setting, was functional and easy to use, required minimum training and equipment, and had acceptable levels of reliability and validity. The revised tool yielded a single scale with acceptable reliability. It had discriminative validity and concurrent validity with non-independent global ratings of parenting. Sensitivity to change was not investigated. The findings suggest that this method of evaluating parenting is likely to have both clinical and research utility and further investigation of the psychometric properties of the tool is warranted.