International Journal of Disability Development and Education

Utilized a teaching program to assist 2 5-yr-old autistic-type males in developing speech and making other improvements in their condition. In addition to lacking speech ability, both Ss showed an inability to develop interpersonal relations and scored in the range of possible autism on the Rimland Check List for Behavior Disturbed Children (Form E2) and the Sameness Questionnaire of M. Prior and M. B. MacMillan (1973). The program was designed to (a) establish a warm helping relationship with each child; (b) reduce hyperactivity while taking the associated "figure-ground" problem into account; (c) provide fine and gross motor training linked to language training (e.g., drawing and letter matching); (d) help the socialization of Ss by engaging them in simple physical activities (e.g., walks and ball throwing exercises); and (e) provide language and speech training, involving the naming of stimuli and the formation of simple sentences. One S acquired normal speech, but the other did not, and a possible explanation of this differential response to the program is offered in terms of differences in the stimulation and support provided by their home environments. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Analyzes the arguments being raised about the Regular Education Initiative, a much-debated public education policy proposal in the US that seeks integration of students with mild disability, from the context of the integration movement in Australian schools. Specific questions are outlined that will aid those interested in education in monitoring the development of the field, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and directing the development of services for disabled children in Australia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Presents a model of good information processing and describes how metacognitive knowledge influences strategy selection and use. Three factors pose particular problems for learning disabled students as they attempt to acquire metacognitive knowledge and to use study strategies productively: neurological impairments; deficiencies in general world knowledge; and negative beliefs, attitudes, and styles that limit self-efficacy. Creating an educational atmosphere that explicitly builds conceptual (domain-specific) knowledge and teaches positive beliefs about learning potential is emphasized as essential in promoting metacognitively oriented instruction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Examined Tanzanian cultural attitudes toward persons with disabilities and how these attitudes affected the provision and use of education and services for the disabled. Interviews with 44 tribal elders and observations carried out in 2 schools showed that the communities were not involved in the establishment and running of the schools. The interviews and proverbs surveyed from local literature show that the characteristics of most major disabilities were clearly known, and the general attitudes toward their disabled children were positive. It is argued that the success of special education and any other form of rehabilitation depends on a thorough assessment of the community's folk belief system, customs, and values; capitalizing on progressive elements within the culture; and instilling a sense of participation in the community. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Examined the literature and conducted interviews and observations to determine how disabled people are viewed in Tanzanian society. The literature search covered the period 1935–1990. Interviews were conducted with 44 tribal elders, 10 heads of schools, 45 teachers, and executives and government officials in organizations having to do with the disabled. Teachers and elders were able to describe the characteristics of most kinds of disability, except for mild to moderate intellectual ability, learning disability, and emotional problems. Beliefs seemed to be centered around the abilities of the disabled. Three folk songs convey the message that the disabled are persons with basic human needs and emotions. Three riddles point to the fact that disability can befall anyone. The integration of the disabled into everyday community life is emphasized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Partnerships between professionals and parents of children with disabilities can be valuable ingredients in efforts to design and implement strategies of intervention and support. In this article, we provide a rationale in support of parent-professional partnerships and describe research and programmes that exemplify such partnership practices. We also describe approaches for facilitating the development of partnerships and a framework in which partnerships are placed at the optimal end of a continuum of parent involvement and parent support.

This study presents the findings of a survey in which agencies providing residential support to persons with disabilities reported their capacity to support persons with disabilities who present challenging behaviours. A total of 46 agencies completed the self-report; 62 were initially distributed. Summary variables were calculated for two independent measures, Organisational Stability and Administrative Leadership, and four dependent measures, Staff Structures, Staff Training, Measurements Systems, and Behavioural Systems. Agencies reported between 71% (Organisational Stability) and 83% (Administrative Leadership) of the features as present. The measures were all inter-correlated; Administrative Leadership was found to be more highly correlated with the dependent measures, and to better predict the dependent measures. Specific areas of low capacity were noted in all dependent measures, including features such as inadequate resources for behaviour support, reported by 40% of the responding agencies. Implications of the findings are presented for building agency capacity and community-based support of persons with disabilities.

One new child is born with a serious disability every 40 seconds in China. With the number of people with a disability already exceeding 50,000,000 (approaching the size of the whole population of the UK) it can be seen that this rapidly developing third world country is facing a monumental task in rehabilitation and education. This paper does not attempt to offer solutions, but describes the variety and complexities of the problems facing the People’s Republic of China at the present time and makes estimates of its future needs. It also describes some of the ways China is trying to deal with the problems and gives a realistic appraisal of the difficulties faced by academic, clinical, and social welfare authorities.

Many researchers have stressed that the acoustic environment is crucial to the speech perception, academic performance, attention, and participation of students in classrooms. Classrooms in highly urbanised locations are especially vulnerable to noise, a major influence on the acoustic environment. The purpose of this investigation was to determine noise levels in one such urban environment, Hong Kong. The ambient noise level, and its relationship to the speech intensity levels of both teachers and students was surveyed in 47 primary school classrooms. Moreover, the presence of acoustical treatments for noise reduction and the use of classroom amplification systems were documented for each classroom. The survey found that the mean occupied noise level was 60.74 dB (A); the mean unamplified and amplified speech‐to‐noise ratios of teachers were 13.53 dB and 18.45 dB, respectively; while the mean unamplified speech‐to‐noise ratio for students was 4.13 dB. Most of the classrooms exhibited insufficient acoustical treatments to provide significant noise reduction. The listening environment in many Hong Kong primary schools was not favourable for optimal classroom learning. Recommendations for improving the acoustical environment in classrooms in highly urbanised locations such as Hong Kong are discussed.

We examined the use of a problem-solving intervention to teach classroom skills to a student with moderate intellectual disabilities. She was receiving her education in regular classrooms at her local primary school. The student was taught the targeted skills in a resource room removed from the regular classroom. She successfully generalised the skills to regular classrooms. The problem-solving intervention was evaluated using a multiple baseline design across classrooms. Regular classroom teachers indicated that the student's behaviour significantly improved during the intervention.

People who have severe speech and communication problems have difficulties making themselves heard both in everyday communications and society at large. In spite of the positive results which have followed the development of non-vocal intervention strategies, this group of people is at risk for being left out of the social common and being alienated. It is important to realise that one cannot do in the technical what one cannot do in the ethical. Unless both social interaction and intervention with people who have severe communication impairments are based on ethical reflection, the moral standards that are applied to this group may be lower than for other people. True communicative interaction depends on the acceptance that the other partner has something of value to communicate, even if the means for expressive communication are limited and the messages are vague and difficult to understand. A moral requirement for autonomy, that is, an equal footing or right to expression, places an ethical imperative on the more competent communication partner to strive to overcome the asymmetrical relationship and help the disabled person create authentic messages. Ethics is awareness based on the reflection on moral phenomena, grounded in the norms and values of the society and typically the result of discourse and co-constructive reflection, in the form of everyday discussions as well as of public philosophical scrutiny. Communication is a vehicle of reflection and discourse may be regarded as joined reflection. Thus, time for discourse in professional work may be a prerequisite for ethical practice.

A growing body of research demonstrates that the nature of the relationship between parents and professionals and parents' judgements of their feelings of empowerment are closely linked. This article focuses on one component of this relationship - partnerships - and reports on the association between parent-professional partnership and both parent empowerment and parenting capabilities in a sample of parents with a child with a disability or developmental delay. The results of this study extend our knowledge about the nature of help-giving that is likely to produce desirable outcomes for families.

In Finland compulsory education has been organised within the comprehensive school system since 1970. However, until August 1997, the students with the most severe intellectual disabilities were educated by social welfare authorities outside the school system. This study evaluates the transition from the social service system into the comprehensive school system one year after the reform. Nationally representative data was gathered in 1998 from 125 teachers who taught 591 (65%) of all school age children with severe and profound intellectual disabilities in Finland. The results of the study indicated that while physical integration had increased, individual integration into the full-time mainstream classroom occurred only seldom. Further, only a few teachers thought that the best placement for children with severe and profound intellectual disabilities was in full-time general education classes. About 80% of the respondents thought that the best placement was in full- or part-time special classes located in mainstream schools.

As we celebrate 50 years of the Schonell Special Education Research Centre it is timely to consider changes that have occurred in the provision of residential services for people with an intellectual disability. Before the 1970s adults and children were cared for in large institutions using a medical model of care. In the mid-1970s a new developmental model based on education and training was implemented in response to the principle of normalisation and issues of social justice. The most dramatic changes have occurred in the last ten years with the decision to close large institutions and relocate residents into ordinary homes in the community. This paper describes changes in lifestyle for adults with an intellectual disability as a result of the move from institutional to community residential service provision. The Challinor Centre in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia provides examples of lifestyle changes that have occurred under different models of service provision during this time. Community living is described with research evidence validating the advantages of this type of service provision for residents with an intellectual disability. Outcomes have been documented through the use of group results and a case study of one individual following deinstitutionalisation describes the benefits of this new model of residential accommodation

This paper describes a playground-based communication intervention for a young child with autism. Opportunities for teaching the child to request more play were created at multiple points on the playground by momentarily interrupting the child's ongoing play using the behaviour chain interruption strategy (BCIS). In addition, probes were conducted to determine if the child would generalise his use of the requesting response to an earlier point in the routine and to a second teacher. There were no correct responses during baseline. With intervention, correct requests increased to a high level after approximately 100 instructional opportunities. This high level of correct requesting was maintained with a new teacher and generalised to an earlier point in the routine (i.e., when he was interrupted while on his way to the playground). The results suggest that the BCIS can be used to provide effective communication intervention on the playground.

This study examines the effects victim disability (physical vs. intellectual vs. none), victim resistance (physical vs. verbal vs. none) and respondent gender (male vs. female) have on attributions of blame and credibility in a hypothetical case of child sexual abuse. Three hundred and thirty‐five respondents read a fictional police statement regarding the sexual assault of a 12‐year‐old girl by a 23‐year‐old man before completing 28 attribution items. Principal axis factoring revealed six reliable factors. Subsequent multivariate analysis of covariance—controlling for respondents’ general attitude towards disability—revealed that males deemed the victim more culpable for her own abuse than did females. Further, perpetrators were deemed more culpable when the victim physically (vs. verbally) resisted. Finally, a significant three‐way interaction suggests victim resistance influences attributions of perpetrator blame given a victim’s disability status, at least amongst male observers. Implications and proposals for future research are discussed.

The Student Perceptions of Classroom Support Scale (SPCS), which measures the perceptions of students with mild disabilities of academic and social support mechanisms implemented in regular classrooms, was administered to 60 secondary school‐aged students. Data were obtained with reference to curricular, instructional, physical and peer support mechanisms. Item affectivity and multivariate analysis of variance revealed that significant differences were evident in student’s perceptions in regard to academic versus social support mechanisms. Support mechanisms rated highly by students in terms of positive academic and social outcomes often represented traditional teaching values. Conversely, support mechanisms such as one‐to‐one assistance from teacher assistants or volunteers were perceived as positive in terms of completing classroom activities, but of limited value in establishing friendships with peers. The SPCS not only provides researchers, clinicians and educators with a method of objectively evaluating students’ perceptions of support mechanisms, but also as a method of developing effective practical applications for students included in regular classrooms.

This study explores meanings of family care held by seven families that include a middle-aged adult with intellectually disability. In-depth interviews were conducted with members of each family- the person with intellectual disability, parents, siblings and sibling spouses. Participants described care as simply getting on with their lives, as Family Business, characterised by the conduct of well-understood tasks and routines. As such, all, including the person with intellectually disability, performed roles critical to the well-being of each other and the family as a whole. Family Business was underpinned by negotiated albeit often implicit rules that reflected family values and were amenable to changes in circumstances throughout the lifecycle. Future planning was perceived as a sensitive whole family issue. Interdependence among members was key to retaining family independence from formal services that were regarded as a "top up". Suggested is the importance of services adopting a relational approach to understanding family care and supporting future planning for middle aged people with intellectual disabilities, rather than simply focussing on "older carers".

Full-text of this article is not available in this e-prints service. This article was originally published [following peer-review] in International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, published by and copyright Routledge. This paper presents the processes and findings of a three-year action research project implemented in a small number of urban slums in the city of Kolkata (previously known as Calcutta), the capital of the state of West Bengal in Eastern India. The project involved partnership between an established institute for cerebral palsy in Kolkata, two United Kingdom (UK) universities and three non-government organisations working on community development in the urban slums of Kolkata. These diverse groups working jointly were able to reach low-income, disadvantaged families with low literacy skills, providing individualised home-based intervention for their child with disabilities.

Gender differences associated with the development of adolescents' sense of general self-concept (confidence and self-worth) and emotional stability (calmness, freedom from anxiety, and depression) were investigated using a sample of 655 adolescents (mean age 16 years). Relationships with parents were important for males' emotional stability but not females' and so this finding challenges the belief that adolescent males are more concerned with establishing independence from parents than females. The research also challenges the notion that adolescent boys are less interested in close personal peer relationships than girls. Same sex and opposite sex peer relationships were more influential in the formation of adolescents' emotional stability than parental relationships. A reciprocal relationship was revealed between general self-concept and emotional stability. Comparing these results with results obtained on the same students 18 months previously (aged 14.5 years), demonstrates that adolescents increasingly transfer their emotional attachment from parents to peers in a process called individuation.

Only recently have studies included a female Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) sample when investigating neurocognitive functioning of individuals with ADHD. As such, the generalisability of findings of impaired executive functioning is limited to ADHD males. This study compared four groups aged 13-17 years: 30 male controls, 35 female controls, 24 males with ADHD, and 25 females with ADHD. Participants were assessed using the K-SADS-PL and Conners' Rating Scales, and completed tests of rapid naming, processing speed, memory, inhibition, set-shifting, and interference. Results showed that the males with ADHD and the females with ADHD performed similarly with only one notable difference: males with ADHD showed some evidence of more impaired inhibition than females with ADHD. In contrast, after controlling for reading ability, comorbidity, and IQ, both males and females with ADHD showed some impairment in working memory, naming speeds, processing abilities, and inhibitory deficits as compared with controls. This study supports the growing literature documenting impaired neurocognitive functioning in both males and females with ADHD.

This study explored the responsibilities and concerns of six young adults in relation to their brother/sister with vision and hearing disabilities. A semi-structured interview was conducted with each of the six siblings. Interview transcripts were analysed qualitatively by identifying recurring patterns. It was found that although mothers were the primary carers the siblings played an important but secondary role in supporting their brother/sister with vision and hearing disabilities. The siblings assumed varied levels and types of responsibilities which were directed towards meeting both nondisability and disability-specific support needs. They expressed guilt about being unable to take a more active role. They were aware that there would be demands in the future to increase their support roles when their parents could no longer provide primary home-based care for the adult with disabilities. Although the siblings planned to undertake increased responsibility for their brother/sister in the future, they expected that this support would differ in level and kind from that of their parents.

A number of researchers have argued that young adults with Down syndrome could benefit from continued literacy education beyond the years of compulsory education. Specifically, research has shown that, contrary to myths related to plateaux of learning, cognitive development in individuals with Down syndrome continues into adolescence and beyond. Further, it is also claimed that the young adult years may be the optimal time to focus on literacy development. Based on this research and the ongoing work of the Down Syndrome Research Project (DSRP) a literacy program for young adults with Down syndrome was established at The University of Queensland in 1998 (see Moni & Jobling, 2000). LATCH-ON (Literacy and Technology Hands-On) provides a two year program of teaching and learning activities based on socio-cultural models of literacy in which the explicit teaching of reading, writing, speaking, listening and viewing is integrated with the development of technological literacies. Assessments of reading were undertaken using the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability-Revised (Neale, 1988) and Concepts About Print (Clay, 1979) prior to students entering the program and on completion of the two year course. This paper reports three years of data about the reading-related literacy learning of 17 young adults who have participated in the program. These findings are discussed in terms of the diverse nature of the students' needs, the variability of their reading skills, and issues for educators.

The American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR) is a very influential body in the arena of intellectual disability. It has a long and distinguished history of advocacy for individuals with an intellectual disability, of disseminating information, and of publishing work relevant to intellectual disability. One of the roles the AAMR has undertaken has been to define and classify intellectual disability. It published its first manual on definition in 1921 and its tenth in 2002. In 1992 the AAMR published the 9th edition of the manual for the definition of mental retardation (intellectual disability in Australia and learning disability in the United Kingdom). This definition varied substantially from that of the 8th edition (1983) which had remained largely unchanged from the publication in 1973 of the 6th edition. The 1992 definition states: “Mental retardation refers to substantial limitation in present functioning. It is characterized by significantly subaverage intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with related limitations in two or more of the following applicable adaptive skill areas: communication, self-care, home living, social skills, community use, self-direction, health and safety, functional academics, leisure, and work. Mental retardation manifests before age 18”

The use of logographic symbols to teach word recognition is controversial. Whilst educational advice typically promotes this practice, the results of controlled studies show it to be ineffective and potentially detrimental to student learning. This study partially resolves this conflict. A comparison is made between a new technique (the Handle Technique), Integrated Picture Cueing and a Word Alone method. The results show that using a new combination of teaching strategies enables logographic symbols to be used effectively in teaching word recognition to children with severe learning difficulties who had previously failed to develop a sight vocabulary.

Can the parent of a child with autism or Asperger Syndrome ever really comprehend the experiences of their child? As a greater number of cases are identified and more is understood about these conditions, autism and Asperger Syndrome seem to be increasingly commonly understood terms. Despite the clear definitions provided by diagnostic criteria for the conditions (e.g., American Psychiatric Association [APA], 1994), it often remains difficult for professionals, parents and other carers, particularly those who are newcomers to this field, to truly understand the complexities of these conditions with respect to the day-to-day influences upon the affected individual.

The assessment of students’ capabilities and learning outcomes has long been considered an important factor in instructional design and program planning and refinement. The information provided by clinicians, however, has not always been presented to classroom teachers in a form that will allow them to amend their classroom practices to the students’ advantage. This paper reviews the recent history of psychoeducational testing and examines several attempts to link assessment with instruction within the information processing domain. The authors present a case for the inclusion of testing procedures that inform teachers of students’ information processing capabilities and they argue that clinicians and educators must work together to translate these data into effective remediation and instruction practices.

This study reports on an assessment system for school-leavers with disabilities to identify their capacity for work and the type of transition-to-work programme best suited to each person. Participants were 1,556 high school students in four cohorts who left school between 1999 and 2002. Each school-leaver was assessed by rehabilitation counsellors for functional ability and capacity for work. In a supplementary study, the 2002 cohort was assessed by special transition teachers using a short screening tool. The results demonstrate that there is a predictable hierarchy of functional acquisition among school-leavers with disabilities and that the single best predictor of future capacity for work and need for transition-to-work programmes among this group of young people is the capacity to manage activities of daily living. The results also demonstrate that a short screen used by teachers, together with a behavioural assessment, is sufficient to stream school-leavers with a disability into a range of transition-to-work programmes.

This article describes the reported practices in literacy assessment, recording, and reporting in 12 Australian schools characterised by populations of diverse learners. The findings indicate the problems and challenges teachers face in providing socially just and inclusive literacy assessment in heterogeneous classrooms. We make a number of suggestions related to enhancing assessment, recording, and reporting at the classroom level and argue for systemic support for teachers.

In the literature concerning Greek special education teachers, there is little evidence regarding the perceived levels of burnout, job satisfaction, and job‐related stress factors. The present study focused on the above issues. A sample of 127 Greek special education teachers at the primary school level was tested with the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Employee Satisfaction Inventory, and the Inventory of Job‐related Stress Factors (an instrument created for this study). Results indicated that Greek special education teachers reported average to low levels of burnout. They reported moderately high levels of satisfaction with their job, the principal, and the school organisation as a whole; they also reported average satisfaction with work conditions and low satisfaction with prospects of promotion and pay. Four factors were identified on the job‐related stress factors: teaching in a multi‐category classroom, programme organisation and implementation, assessment of students, and collaborations with other special education experts and parents. The special education teachers perceived none of these issues as particularly overwhelming. Moreover, few significant effects of age, gender, and family status were identified. The above results are consistent with other studies that have focused on Greek regular education teachers, which have indicated that, in general, this group do not experience high levels of occupational stress.

There is considerable evidence regarding the academic and social difficulties children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) experience, but less is known about what their teachers do and should know. This article provides a summary of this evidence, including information on the difficulties experienced by students with ADHD, the relationships between teachers and students with ADHD, pre-service and in-service teachers' knowledge and attitudes toward ADHD, and in-service teachers' behaviour toward children diagnosed with the condition. Teachers need increased awareness of the family circumstances of children with ADHD, more knowledge of the conditions commonly comorbid with ADHD, and insight into these children's relationship with peers.

Knowledge about Down syndrome and attitudes towards the educational inclusion of children with Down syndrome were examined in a sample of 2,053 people from the community and a group of 538 experienced teachers. Although both groups displayed reasonably accurate knowledge about Down syndrome and its developmental consequences, they significantly underestimated the average life expectancy for a person with the syndrome. In both groups, a positive stereotype of children with Down syndrome as particularly affectionate and happy was evident. Despite recognising the educational, social, and emotional benefits of inclusive schooling, only around 20% of each group believed that the regular classroom was the best setting for children with Down syndrome. The findings suggest that accurate knowledge and positive, but realistic, expectations are important for enhancing the acceptance of individuals with disabilities within their schools and communities.

The Interaction with Disabled Persons Scale (IDP) was used to explore the attitudes of preservice teachers at a large Australian University to people with disabilities. Using structural equation modelling, the factor structure of the IDP Scale was tested. The best fitting model was found to be one in which there were four factors (Discomfort, Sympathy, Embarrassment, and Vulnerability) that were derived from 16 items. Although significant effects were found for type of course, age, gender, language, and frequency of contact, the magnitude of these effects was minimal. Changes in student teachers’ attitudes toward disability over a one year general teacher training course were found to be minimal.

To survey the work of itinerant teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing in Australia a mail survey of most of those teachers in four Australian states was conducted. The survey sought information about the professional and personal demographics and work characteristics of the teachers and their roles in working with integrated deaf and hard of hearing students. Teachers also reported on the characteristics and level of inclusion of a “sample student” randomly chosen from their caseloads. Information about the distribution of these students' characteristics and the types of services delivered in each state indicated that there were few differences among the states. It was found that Australian itinerant teachers generally reported that they were satisfied with their work and the placement of deaf and hard of hearing students in regular classes. The teachers generally used a “pull-out/ direct tutorial” mode of working rather than one of “consultation only” with regular teachers and reported that schools and teachers were generally cooperative and understanding of the needs of deaf and hard of hearing students. The students in most cases were well integrated socially and academically in their regular classes. Yes Yes

This article summarises some of the major findings of a study published in 2000 for the Commonwealth government of Australia. It argues that school systems in Australia are moving towards the goal of literacy for all and suggests some of the factors that are and may be contributing to its achievement.

The use of strategies by children with developmental disabilities to repair communicative breakdowns has received little attention in the research literature to date. The research that is available suggests that children with severe communication impairments may be more likely to experience communicative breakdowns than their typically developing peers. These children may also have fewer strategies available to them to repair these breakdowns. The present article reviews some of the research in this area and discusses the possible links between communicative breakdowns and the emergence of problem behaviour in children with autism. Theoretical and practical implications are considered and areas for future research are highlighted. Yes Yes

Awareness of optimal behaviour states of children with profound intellectual disability has been reported in the literature as a potentially useful tool for planning intervention within this population. Some arguments have been raised, however, which question the reliability and validity of previously published work on behaviour state analysis. This article sheds light on the debate by presenting two stages of a study of behaviour state analysis for eight girls with Rett syndrome. The results support Mudford, Hogg, and Roberts' (199725. Mudford , OC , Hogg , J and Roberts , J . 1997. Interobserver agreement and disagreement in continuous recording exemplified by measurement of behavior state, American Journal on Mental Retardation, 102: 54–66. View all references, 199926. Mudford , OC , Hogg , J and Roberts , J . 1999. Behavior states: Now you see them, now you don't, American Journal of Mental Retardation, 104: 385–391. View all references) concerns with the pooling of participant data. The results of Stage 2 also suggest, however, that most categories of behaviour state can be reliably distinguished once definitions of behaviours for each state are clearly defined.

Stanford Binet: Fourth Edition (SB:IV) assessments have been collected longitudinally for 195 individuals with Down syndrome. This article discusses individual assessments which were selected for their ability to highlight major concerns that practitioners need to consider when interpreting intelligence test scores with this population. In this study, Intelligence Quotient (IQ) changed substantially for many individuals, demonstrating changes in classification from a mild level of intellectual impairment on initial assessment to a severe level on later assessment. Subtests used in calculating composite scores were found to have a dramatic effect on IQ. There was up to 9 IQ points difference depending on whether only the “core” subtests or all subtests used by the assessor were included in the calculations. Thirty-seven percent of the assessments were at “floor level” (i.e., IQ of 36), despite obvious divergent abilities illustrated by age equivalent scores. Mean Age Equivalent (MAE) scores were also problematic as they failed to adequately represent either the range, or divergence, of abilities of the individuals whose data are presented. Directions for future research are discussed.

Unemployment and underemployment have, for many years, been a social and economic problem for people with disabilities. This study looks at consumers' perceptions of access to employment for people who are blind or vision impaired as one target group within the disability field. Using the Employment Access Questionnaire (EAQ), the perceptions of people who are blind or vision impaired were compared with the perceptions of people who are not blind or vision impaired (nondisabled). Results of the study indicated that people who are blind or vision impaired and people who are nondisabled view work as equally important in their lives. However, people who are blind or vision impaired reported that they were significantly less satisfied with career development and services and training opportunities as compared with their peers who were nondisabled. A factor analysis of the data gathered from 85 blind or vision impaired and 84 nondisabled participants revealed a four factor structure for the EAQ. These results are discussed with reference to previous work in this area and suggestions for future research are proposed.

The exceedingly complex disorder of stuttering has a long history of capturing public fascination and media attention. Quite regularly, we are confronted with television segments and printed articles that proclaim a new cure for stuttering. Some of these claims represent media over-exaggeration of good evidence-based treatments, but other claims are, simply, untrue. Furthermore, one only has to Google stuttering treatment to find a plethora of claims for miracle treatments. The reality is that stuttering appears to be tractable for many young pre-school aged children (e.g., through the Lidcombe Program; Onslow, Packman, & Harrison, 2003). However, once a person reaches older childhood, sadly, there is no one miracle treatment for stuttering and claims for cures become ethically questionable. Stuttering is not a unitary disorder and it is this heterogeneity amongst the genetic, neural, biochemical, cognitive, emotional, and environmental influences that makes it unlikely that a one-shoe-fits-all approach to treatment will ever emerge. It is important that the reader approaches Stuttering with this context in mind.