Developing empowering research practices with people who have learning disabilities

In this paper we report an exploratory attempt to design a practice that facilitates the extent to which ‘researched-upon’ and ‘researcher-on’ can be cooperatively involved in the planning, data collection and interpretation of research in the field of learning disability and community living. The informants were four people with learning disabilities who had been residents of long-stay mental hospitals but, at the time of the study, had all been living in the community for at least 1 year. After an extended period of informal familiarization, the research had three main phases. The first phase consisted of five individual, non-directive, depth interviews over a 2-month period. The second phase consisted of a meeting in which each participant became a paid co-researcher involved in the design and planning of the next phase of the research. The third phase consisted of three 1-hour guided neighbourhood tours led by the participants who had become co-researchers. Over the course of the three phases, the role of the researcher gradually became more a ‘newcomer-learner’ as he adopted the role of co-researcher and the role of participants with learning disabilities gradually became more ‘expert-teachers’ as they adopted the role of co-researchers. As the research progressed, the balance of power shifted, although modestly, in favour of those with learning disabilities. This led to an improvement in the quality and effectiveness of communication and understanding and an increase in the satisfaction with and enjoyment of the research process for all those involved. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Increasing Accessibility in Couple and Family Therapy Training: Incorporating Universal Design for Instruction

In the last three decades the number of US graduate students with disabilities has increased exponentially. Institutions of higher education have responded by developing and implementing multiple programs and initiatives to meet the needs of this population. One initiative, Universal Design for Instruction (UDI), is believed to have considerable promise. There is a lack of marriage and family therapy (MFT) literature on how to develop and implement pedagogical strategies for students with disabilities and diverse learning styles. Thus, UDI has the potential to enable MFT educators to increasingly foster inclusivity and provide accessible educational experiences for all students, including those with disabilities. When correctly incorporated UDI should diminish the need for individualized accommodations and increase the accessibility of courses and clinical training. We provide a synopsis of the history and philosophy of UDI and describe strategies for applying its nine principles to MFT education.     

Field dependence versus field independence of students with and without learning disabilities

The Group Embedded Figures Test of Oltman, Raskin, and Witkin was administered to 60 high school students (30 with learning disabilities and 30 without learning disabilities) to measure their cognitive styles of field dependence versus field independence. The analysis showed that the students with learning disabilities scored as more field dependent than those without learning disabilities.     

学习不良儿童的家庭资源对其认知发展、学习动机的影响

运用认知测验法和问卷法,综合考察了１６７中学习不良儿童和１６１名一般儿童的家庭 资料对认知发展、学习以机的影响。表明：学习不良儿童的家庭资源、学习动机和认知发展之间存在着因果关系,家族资源通过两种途径对认知发展发生作用,一是通过影响学习动机促进信知发展二是直接对认知发展发生作用。     

A Narrative Approach to Supporting Students Diagnosed With Learning Disabilities

Students diagnosed with learning disabilities experience many challenges that school counselors may address through narrative therapy. Narrative therapy is a postmodern, social constructionist approach based on the theoretical construct that individuals create their notions of truth and meaning of life through interpretive stories. This article identifies potential challenges students diagnosed with learning disabilities encounter, provides an orientation to narrative therapy, and offers a case example illustrating the application of narrative therapy with this client population.     

Family as a factor in delinquency

50 adjudicated delinquents were given academic and psychological tests and a self-report of delinquency according to the learning disability/delinquency study of the National Criminal Justice Service of 1980. 31 learning disabled delinquents were identified. The test of proportions compared learning disabilities in delinquent (n = 31) and nondelinquent (ns = 24 and 43) samples. The Mann-Whitney U test compared the reported number of categories of delinquent behavior in the three groups. A typical delinquent of this rural area tends to be a white male with average or above intelligence and a learning disability. His family is large; his parents are divorced. He comes from a poorer economic and cultural background. A dysfunctional family can be a center wherein delinquency grows; on the other hand, a strong family can nurture and protect when peers and school fail.     

Differences in career maturity among adjudicated and nonadjudicated male students with and without disabilities

The authors investigated the level of career maturity of nonadjudicated high school students without disabilities and 3 groups of adjudicated high school students: those without disabilities, those with learning disabilities, and those with emotional disturbance. Also investigated was the relationship between career maturity and behavioral functioning, using the Behavior Assessment System for Children‐Self‐Report of Personality (BASC‐SRP; C. R. Reynolds & R. W. Kamphaus, 1992). No significant differences existed between nonadjudicated and adjudicated students without disabilities. Adjudicated students with emotional disabilities and learning disabilities scored significantly lower than nonadjudicated high school students without disabilities on the overall measure of career maturity. Career maturity was found to be significantly but only moderately related to 8 behavioral domains on the BASC‐SRP.     

学习不良儿童的心理行为问题

学习不良儿童的心理行为问题已成为人们关注的一个焦点。从心理健康的角度考察,学习不良儿童心理行为问题主要表现在生活和社会适应、学习和违纪,以及焦虑、抑郁和自杀等方面;造成上述现象的主要原因要有自我概念较低、家庭因素的不良影响,以及社会认知方面存在的缺陷。可以通过干预和矫正学习不良儿童的心理行为问题,从而提高他们的心理健康水平。     

Prenatal diagnosis, personal identity, and disability

A fascinating criticism of abortion occasioned by prenatal diagnosis of potentially disabling traits is that the complex test-and-abortion sends a morally disparaging message to people living with disabilities. I have argued that available versions of this "expressivist" argument are inadequate on two grounds. The most fundamental is that, considered as a practice, abortions prompted by prenatal testing are not semantically well-behaved enough to send any particular message; they do not function as signs in a rule-governed symbol system. Further, even granting, for the sake of argument, the expressive power of testing and aborting, it would not be possible, contra the argument's proponents, to distinguish between abortions undertaken because of beliefs about the disabling conditions the fetus might face as a child and abortions undertaken for many other possible reasons -- e.g., because of the poverty the fetus would face or the increase in family size that the birth of a new child would occasion. Here, I respond to criticisms of those arguments, and propose and defend another: the expressivist argument cannot, in general, distinguish successfully between abortion and therapy as modalities for responding to disabilities.     

Pitfalls in the psychoeducational assessment of adolescents with learning and school adjustment problems

Over the past decade there has been a growing interest on the part of educators, medical specialists, mental health personnel, and the lay public in the diagnosis, evaluation, and remediation of specific learning disabilities in the school-age child. This paper attempts to show through case illustrations of five high school-age adolescents how parents can seek from clinical evaluators a diagnostic impression of primary learning disability for their nonlearning disabled children; how this otherwise legitimate diagnostic category can be inappropriately used in the service of denying the salient individual, emotional, and family system factors at work in the school-related difficulties; and how the label of learning disability can work as a formidable resistance on the part of the family when, following comprehensive, in-depth assessment, professional recommendations focus less on specific educational remediation and more on the need for individual or family psychotherapy. Suggestions are made for dealing with this clinical issue.     

Exploring the Use of Family Therapy with Adults with a Learning Disability

Clients with a learning disability have received little attention so far from psychotherapeutic services. Systems thinking seems to have obvious potential for this group, given the stresses which such a disability puts on the client and his family and the variety of different organizations with which they become involved. This paper describes the use of family therapy within a clinic setting and considers similarities to and differences from general family therapy practice. Ways of overcoming communication difficulties are highlighted, as is the need to redress the power imbalance within the therapeutic situation.     

The adolescent with a learning disability: a developmental perspective

The psychosocial difficulties that usually accompany learning disabilities are examined from a framework of developmental theory, particularly that of Erik Erikson. The implications of this perspective for treatment of adolescents with learning problems is discussed, and a specific program described.     

Career Maturity in Young Adults With Learning Disabilities: What Employment Counselors Should Know

Increasing numbers of those with learning disabilities who are entering college have been found to have special needs related to both academic survival and career development that are often unrecognized and unmet in institutions of higher education. This article reviews research on the characteristics of young adults with learning disabilities, discusses factors that are associated with the career maturity of young adults with learning disabilities, and offers suggestions to employment counselors that would be useful when working with this population.     

Growth in emotional intelligence. Psychotherapy with a learning disabled girl

This paper describes the once-weekly psychoanalytic psychotherapy of a girl, called Ellie, aged eight at the start of her treatment. Ellie had a learning disability and displayed difficult behaviour at school and at home. In her therapy, Ellie grew in emotional intelligence, more in touch with and able to express her feelings. Her behaviour improved and so did her capacity to learn. In the therapy there were certain limitations to progress and this is discussed in terms of how Ellie's disability affected the basic achievements of emotional development, including a mind with a solid ‘reality ego’, able to contain anxiety, and able to maintain depressive functioning. The importance of parallel parent work, to share observations and understanding of the child's functioning is discussed. Difficulties for both child and parents in dealing with the pain of difference and how this limits emotional intelligence are discussed. The author hopes that this paper will encourage the offering of psychoanalytic psychotherapy to children and young people with learning disabilities, who are significantly more likely to suffer from mental health problems than their peers.     

A follow up study of a behavioral program for young people with learning disabilities and challenging behavior

This paper describes a pilot follow-up study of a behavioral program for 20 young people with learning disabilities and challenging behavior. Eighteen participants made good overall improvement during the treatment period, and this was partially maintained at follow-up. Eight had continued to improve, eight had deteriorated slightly and four had deteriorated markedly. Adaptive skills were generally maintained. The reemergence of challenging behaviors explained the difference between the Good and Poor Outcome groups. Those participants in the Good Outcome group were younger on admission, scored lower on adaptive skills and higher on challenging behaviors. In addition they had remained on the treatment programme for 12–18 months and had been discharged from the Unit for longer. The overall level of independent living had increased from preadmission and the majority of participants were living in less restrictive placements. These results confirm and extend the findings of previous research. The paper concludes by highlighting the need for more detailed longitudinal follow-up studies in this area.     

学习不良儿童的家庭心理环境,父母教养方式及其与社会性发展的关系

从２３０８名１０—１５岁儿童中选取４２９名被试的研究结果表明．一般儿童的家庭心理环境、父母教养方式大大优于学习不良儿童,这些家庭资源与学习不良儿童的社会交往、自我概念和社会行为等有着密切的联系,说明家庭心理环境、父母教养方式对学习不良儿童社会性发展产生着重要作用。     

Aging family caregivers: policies and practices

This review examines later life family support for adults with developmental disabilities from a life course perspective that takes into account social trends and changes in service patterns and in attitudes of families. Key issues addressed include: (1) trends affecting family caregiving, (2) health and social outcomes of life-long caregiving, (3) support needs of families, (4) family support policies and practices, and (5) recommendations for a research and policy agenda. Research examining outcomes of life-long caregiving has shown that most families adapt well to having a family member with disabilities. However, some families are at risk for poorer physical and mental health outcomes. These include cultural minorities and families of adults with behavioral challenges. Caregiving does seem to have a negative impact on maternal employment and family income as mothers often give up or cut back on employment to care for a child with developmental disabilities, who is more likely to continue living in the family home throughout adulthood than other adult children. Federal and state initiatives are addressing issues of family support through both the developmental disabilities and aging service systems.     

学优生与学困生内隐与外显协同学习的比较研究

根据目前国内采用的标准,选取学优生和学困生各120人。运用内隐学习中的双条件人工语法材料和强分离的实验范式,考察和比较了两种学生的内隐学习、内隐与外显协同学习的成绩。结果显示:(1)学优生在外显学习、协同学习(先内隐后外显以及内隐与外显交替)方式下的成绩显著好于学困生,而在内隐学习方式下,二者成绩差异不显著。(2)学优生的外显学习及协同学习成绩显著好于内隐学习成绩,而学困生在四种学习方式下成绩差异不显著。表明在人工语法学习中学优生的有意识学习及其与无意识的协同学习效果较好,而学困生的有意识学习及协同学习较差。     

顿悟式组块破解的时间进程：ERP研究

本研究旨在探讨顿悟式组块破解的信息加工机制及神经动态变化。被试完成汉字拆解任务,也即从一个源汉字中移动部件从而得到有效汉字。研究操纵部件之间在空间交错背景下的类别关系：同类（移动部件和剩余部件都是汉字）和异类（移动部件是笔画,剩余部件是汉字）。与此同时记录事件相关电位变化。结果显示,同类条件比异类条件引发了更大的N2波动和减小的LPC波动。早期的N2效应可能提示了组块破解过程中的识别困难,而晚期的LPC效应可能提示了组块破解过程中的知觉转换困难。     

ATTITUDES TOWARD READING EXPRESSED BY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS DIAGNOSED WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES

Attitude toward reading affects student's achievement. While conventional wisdom and comparisons with low-skilled, non-disabled students suggest that students with learning disabilities have negative attitudes toward reading, few studies exist to support these inferences. The present study uses the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (McKenna & Kear, 1990) to describe elementary students' diagnosed with learning disabilities attitudes toward academic and recreational reading and to compare their attitudes with those expressed by their non-disabled peers. The findings show that students with learning disabilities who received reading instruction in special-education, resource rooms expressed reading attitudes that equaled or exceeded those expressed by low and average non-disabled students in a nationwide study conducted by McKenna and Kear (1990). The findings also indicated that the students' diagnosed with learning disabilities attitudes remained more stable across grades 1 through 5 than those expressed by their non-disabled students in the McKenna and Kear (1990) study.