Service Provision for an Independent Life

How is an independent daily life possible for disabled people when relying upon professional service provision and the bureaucratic gate-keeping systems of the welfare state? This article discusses this question in relation to an interview study. Eighteen mobility disabled and 20 service providers in one local setting in Norway were interviewed. We point out at least three categories regarding how independence is interpreted among the disabled: the super-normal, the independent living activists, and those experiencing powerlessness and lack of support. The analysis points out how these categories are constructed in relations between the disabled person, professional service providers and the gate-keeping systems of the welfare bureaucracy.     

Students and Refugees Together: Towards a Model of Practice Learning as Service Provision

Between 2001 and 2003, 14 assessed placements were provided for social work students through students creating a ‘virtual’ agency offering a service to refugees and asylum seekers. Drawing on research in progress regarding a unique project in South West England, this paper explores an inclusive model that creates a context for students to integrate theory and practice at the cutting edge of professional practice.

The START project is a service to refugees and asylum seekers, a group that experience acute social exclusion and media‐induced hostility, provided for two years entirely by students as part of their professional course requirements. Holistic, needs‐led assessment, cultural sensitivity and advocacy by students allow families and unaccompanied minors to access otherwise inaccessible resources.

In the current context of changing arrangements for practice assessment, emphasis on multi‐disciplinary learning and service user involvement, this offers an alternative to the ‘apprenticeship’ model for students in developing a secure professional identity. Student learning is framed as contribution rather than burden in the organisational and employment arena and service‐user outcomes have been dramatic. The focus of this paper is on the educational impact from the perspectives of students and practice teachers and an alternative model of practice learning.     

A Comparative Approach to Evaluating Individual Planning for People with Learning Disabilities: challenging the assumptions

Individual planning in services for people with learning disabilities is used on the assumption that it encourages service users across a range of abilities to make important decisions about their lives. Although recent studies have questioned the value and effectiveness of such processes, the principles underlying the practice of individual planning are rarely challenged. This paper considers important aspects of individual planning in London, comparing a system based on the principles of normalisation with a situation-specific, family-orientated system operating in Milan, Italy. Key factors such as the role of professionals and the involvement of service users are considered with the aims of the process. The intention of the paper is to stimulate debate in an area of practice by questioning its assumptions.     

Youthful Offending and Delinquency: The Comorbid Impact of Maltreatment,Mental Health Problems,and Learning Disabilities

A majority of adolescents formally involved in juvenile court have at least one, if not more than one, significant emotional or learning impairment, or maltreatment experience. This is particularly true in juvenile detention and incarceration facility populations. While this problem is increasingly recognized within the juvenile justice system and social work profession, often the impact and correlation to delinquency of these child and youth difficulties is underestimated. This paper reviews the links from mental health disorders, learning (and academic-related) disabilities, and maltreatment victimizations to delinquent and serious youthful offending behaviors, and provides successful collaboration outcome examples to address this problem. The most difficult challenge to juvenile courts and youth-caring systems is working with adolescents and families with comorbid difficulties, for this group is most at risk for incarceration and involvement with the adult criminal justice system.     

The Dearing Report and Students with Disabilities and Learning Difficulties

The movement to promote improved levels of participation from groups under-represented in higher education which occurred between 1980 and 1990 neglected disabled people. The position has been addressed by the national higher education funding councils since 1992 and progress has been made. Therefore, it was surprising to find that, whilst certain social groups were highlighted, nothing was said about disabled people in the terms of reference of Sir Ron Dearing's National Committee of Inquiry. This paper describes attempts made to inform and influence the Committee. Next, it considers the Report itself. First, the recommendations for future policy which are directed specifically towards disabled people are discussed; secondly, the potential implications for disabled people of the general recommendations are explored; and thirdly, the supplementary report on students with disabilities is reviewed. The conclusion provides a brief overview of developments since the Report's publication.     

Matching AIDS Service Organizations' Philosophy of Service Provision with a Compatible Style of Program Evaluation

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to outline the unique features of AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs) that should be considered when developing an evaluation strategy. It describes current evaluation approaches used by ASOs which are incongruent with the service philosophy of these organizations and the drawbacks these current evaluation efforts present. It then describes an alternative evaluation approach that better matches ASOs' philosophy of service delivery with the evaluation process. An illustrative case example is used to show how a more participatory approach can be used in an ASO and why such an approach is more likely to produce meaningful data that will be utilized for program development and refinement.     

Family Life With Children With Disabilities: The Key Role of Rehabilitation

This study examines the effects of children's medical impairments and functional disabilities and the use of medical care and rehabilitation on three family consequences (job changes, severe financial problems, and sleep disruptions). We use a life course perspective on the interlinked lives of family members, countertransitions, and career contingencies to understand the family impact of child disability. Using data from the 1994 and 1995 National Health Interview Surveys (N= 3,446), we find that the rehabilitation services that children receive account for (mediate) a large part of the observed association of children's medical impairments and disabilities on these family outcomes. Assistance in obtaining rehabilitation for children with disabilities could reduce the family costs and disruptive countertransitions associated with raising children with disabilities.     

The Concepts of University Lifelong Learning Provision in Europe

The organizational and conceptual models of the university lifelong learning provision in Europe are analyzed. Unexpectedly, common terms such as “lifelong learning” and “university continuing education” are found not to be well defined, and there is a substantial lack of statistical data on both. The underlying concepts of the EU member states differ significantly and their efforts seem to be partly mismatched. One of the main common denominators is the inseparable connection with e-learning and/or open and distance learning. Modern information technology support appears to be the foundation of future efficient and cost-effective lifelong learning.     

The Americans with Disabilities Act:

In response to finding of pervasive historical discrimination, Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a far-reaching statue which prohibits discrimination in employment, transportation, and telecommunications, by both public and private entities. This article presents the essential principles of the ADA that govern equal employment opportunity and non-discriminatory access to and receipt of services and programs of private and public entities, particularly as they may affect elders and agencies serving elders.     

Changing Opportunities for Learning in Everyday Life: Infant Body Position Over the First Year

Developmental theories depend on characterizing the input to potential learning mechanisms—infants’ everyday experiences. The current study employed a novel ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to measure two aspects of the physical context of those experiences: body position and location. Infant body position was selected because it relates to the development of a variety of other skills. Caregivers of 3‐, 6‐, 9‐, and 12‐month‐olds reported infants’ body position—held, supine, reclined, prone, sitting, or upright—in response to text message notifications over a week to capture infants’ experiences across the entire range of their daily activities. Findings revealed a tremendous disparity in the distribution of body position experiences over the first year. Younger infants spend more time held, supine, and reclined, whereas older infants spend more time sitting and upright. Body position experiences differed substantially between same‐age infants who possess a motor skill (e.g., ability to sit or walk) compared with those who did not, suggesting that developing motor skills change infants’ everyday experiences. Finally, the success of the methodology suggests that similar EMAs might be used to study a wide range of infants’ naturalistic experiences.     

Stuck in a Loop: Individual and System Barriers for Job Seekers With Disabilities

Research conducted within Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996) and Workforce Investment Act of 1998 systems indicates pervasive issues hindering program effectiveness for job seekers with disabilities. This population frequently experiences employment barriers beyond those of able‐bodied job seekers, including significantly lower self‐esteem. Service providers need and want information about disability but do not know how to obtain it. Program staff and job seekers with disabilities get stuck in a loop wherein each questions their ability and neither feels empowered to make meaningful changes to improve outcomes. Career counselors may need to expand their role to be more culturally relevant for these clients.     

We Live Here Too: Birth Children's Perspectives on Fostering Someone with Learning Disabilities

SUMMARY. This paper reports some results from a study of foster care of young people with severe learning disabilities. It focuses upon the views and experiences of the birth children in foster families. The findings demonstrate how fostering involves everyone in the family, not just the adult carers; and highlight some of the rewards and difficulties of fostering from the birth children's point of view.     

Erratum to: Modernizing State Support of Nonprofit Service Provision: The Case of Kyrgyzstan

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations -     

The Impact of Emotions on Practicum Learning

Nine mature aged, experienced practitioners enrolled to gain a BSW qualification in social work were interviewed regarding a course requirement to complete the first placement. At the time of interview no recognition of prior learning for previous experience in the field was made possible for these students. As educators we had experienced considerable hostility from students who believed they should be exempt from completing this course requirement. This paper reports on interviews with the nine students, where we consider how student sentiment about completing the practice learning component might impact upon their learning experience. As anticipated, some students expressed strong negative views about being on placement. However, others were much more positive about the experience. These mixed views prompted us to explore further the relationship between emotion and practice learning. The article begins with a review of the literature concerning mature student engagement with tertiary education, followed by an overview of theory and research related to the ways feelings and emotion influence learning. Using passages from the interviews, expressions of participant anxiety, anger and excitement about the practicum are discussed with the view to extending discourse about practicum learning to include consideration of emotional intelligence and investment.     

The Learning Experience of Students with Disabilities in Higher Education. A case study of a UK university

This paper summarises the results of an investigation into the social and learning experiences of students with disabilities in a UK University. The students' experiences were evaluated in three broad areas: with respect to the categories used by the Higher Education Council to examine the quality of the learning experience for all students in higher education; against the issues conventionally included in studies and policy developments for independent living for people with disabilities; and in relation to the impact coming to university has on the lives of students with disabilities. The paper highlights the issues of central concern to students with disabilities in the University and draws some conclusions with policy implications from a discussion of student perception of services, the practical constraints facing the institution, and the social values which underpin the framework of support for students with disabilities in Higher Education in England and Wales.     

Family Placement Schemes Offering Long-term Care for Adults with Learning Disabilities: a review of the evaluation literature

This paper reviews evaluation studies of family placement schemes offering long-term care for adults with learning disabilities in Britain. The model is widely used, but there is very little research describing such schemes. It is suggested that evaluation is made difficult because the goals of placement schemes for people with learning disabilities are not made clear in the literature. A theoretical structure for evaluation based upon an ecological view of quality of life is suggested and research is reviewed within this model. Where possible, comparisons are made to American literature on similar models of care.     

The Ethics of Research With Men who Have Learning Disabilities and Abusive Sexual Behaviour: a minefield in a vacuum

In the wake of the recent awareness of the sexual abuse of people with learning disabilities is the recognition that a small number of men with learning disabilities are themselves sexually abusing. The need to understand the men's behaviour and provide effective responses is pressing yet the search for an ethical course of enquiry appears illusory. The two conflicting dilemmas which make this task so difficult are whether the men's learning disabilities preclude their giving informed consent to the research process, and/or whether men who are sexually abusing have lost some rights to exclude themselves from research which is intended to prevent further abuse. This paper explores in depth these dilemmas and describes the authors' attempts to resolve them as they attempted to devise a protocol for consent to involvement in a qualitative study of men with learning disabilities who sexually abuse. Issues raised in this particular context have relevance to many other issues in learning disability services where robust ethical debate is needed, but often glossed over.     

Curriculum Access for Pupils with Disabilities: an Irish experience

For young people with physical disabilities in Ireland, gaining access to a school represents only the first tentative step on the way to full participation in the curriculum alongside their peers. While government policy explicitly favours the inclusion of young people with disabilities within mainstream education there is little evidence of planning at a systemic level to facilitate this process. This small scale, qualitative study attempts to ascertain the reality of inclusion within mainstream settings for young people with physical disabilities. The results indicate that the young people often experienced exclusion from full curricular access. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to developing inclusive structures that facilitate curricular access for young people with disabilities within Irish post-primary schools.     

大型残疾人体育赛事辅助器具维修服务体系构建研究

残疾人体育竞赛和辅助器具密不可分,赛事期间提供辅助器具维修服务是承办残疾人体育赛事不可或缺的重要技术服务保障,是赛事组委会不可推卸的重要义务.结合辅助器具适配专业技术要求、残疾人体育辅助器具使用规定以及组织管理运行体育赛事的根本宗旨,本文对承办大型残疾人体育赛事规范、有效开展辅助器具维修服务进行了有益探索,首次提出建立大型残疾人体育赛事辅助器具维修服务体系的构想及发展策略,可为我国承办2022年北京冬季残奥会和杭州亚残运会制订科学合理的实施方案、有效开展辅助器具维修服务,提供重要借鉴.