Current Perspectives on Inclusive Education in the Czech Republic

This paper examines the academic literature describing the development of inclusive education programming within the Czech Republic after the Velvet Revolution. Interviews were conducted with special education professionals, who are researching potential benefits of inclusive education. Additionally, observations from an inclusive third grade classroom give further insight into how an inclusive classroom works. Despite some resistance, the Czech Republic is moving in the direction of inclusive education across the country

Development And Outcomes Of An Experientially-Based Nonverbal Social Skills Curriculum For Youth With Visual Impairments

The importance of social skills training for youth with visual impairments has been widely researched within educational and rehabilitation settings. To date, social skills training curricula for visually impaired youth have largely utilized verbally-based methods for instruction and training. Given the non-visual aspects of human communication, it is proposed that verbal approaches to nonverbal social skills training may not be sufficient for visually impaired individuals. To address this issue, an experiential curriculum of nonverbal social skills training was developed that emphasized hands-on learning and practice of nonverbal social skills. This curriculum was administered to seventeen visually impaired youth attending short-term rehabilitative programming in North Dakota. Outcomes of this intervention were measured through repeated administrations of the Social Skills Rating Scales, Social Skills Assessment Tool for Children with Visual Impairments, and a modified nonverbal social skills checklist. Results of the current investigation yielded statistically insignificant effects of the nonverbal social skills curriculum intervention. Alternatively, visual analysis indicated trends of improved general social skills during and immediately after participation in the social skills intervention and improved nonverbal social skills during the intervention. Discussion of limitations, clinical implications, and suggested future directions of this study follows

“Being Yourself”: Self-Determination at a Summer Sports Camp for Youth with Visual Impairments

This mixed methods study examined self-determination at a summer sports camp for youth with visual impairments. Athletes responded to questionnaires regarding their perceptions of their own self-determination across home, school, and camp settings; goals they set; and their experiences throughout the week of camp. Coaches answered similar questions concerning opportunities for athletes to practice and learn self-determination skills at camp. Five athletes also participated in interviews about their understanding of self-determination in the camp setting. A repeated measures ANOVA on the composite scores of AIR Self-Determination Scale (Wolman et al., 1994) across home, school, and camp settings revealed athletes were statistically significantly more confident in their self-determination skills at camp (M = 26.6, SD = 3.33) compared to at home (M = 19.1, SD = 5.76) and at school (M = 19.2, SD = 5.21), p \u3c .001. Through qualitative survey responses, questionnaires, and interviews, athletes reported that the camp setting created an emotionally-safe environment to practice self-determination skills through fostering positive relationships between coaches and athletes at camp, providing emotional support, and promoting inclusion with respect to visual impairment. This research will contribute to the literature surrounding teaching self-determination skills to young people with visual impairments and has implications for classroom learning. In particular, low staff-to-student ratios, access to adapted sport, options to follow one’s own interests throughout the day, and goal-setting are all aspects of the camp environment that educators can adopt to promote self-determination in school

Adapting Hands-On Science Programs for Students with Disabilities

The CSIRO, Australia\u27s National Science Agency, has recognized their current hands-on science outreach programs do not accommodate students with disabilities and seeks to make adjustments to existing programs. Present methods for teaching students with disabilities were investigated through literature review and interviews with teachers and disability practitioners. Through observations of CSIRO programs, barriers for students with disabilities were identified. This information was used to develop a framework for adapting hands-on science programs for students with disabilities. Implementation of the framework achieves program accessibility and increases awareness of the capabilities of students with disabilities, affording them the same opportunities as their peers

Overcoming barriers and increasing independence: service robots for elderly and disabled people

This paper discusses the potential for service robots to overcome barriers and increase independence of elderly and disabled people. It includes a brief overview of the existing uses of service robots by disabled and elderly people and advances in technology which will make new uses possible and provides suggestions for some of these new applications. The paper also considers the design and other conditions to be met for user acceptance. It also discusses the complementarity of assistive service robots and personal assistance and considers the types of applications and users for which service robots are and are not suitable

Developing physical activity interventions for children with a visual impairment:lessons from the First Steps initiative

Children with a visual impairment are less active than their sighted peers. Yet they are born with the potential to match their sighted peers’ motor skill competency and levels of physical fitness. Environmental barriers are one of the main causes of inequities. This paper provides insight on these issues, drawing upon a physical activity intervention called ‘First Steps’, a British Blind Sport initiative that aimed to get more children with a visual impairment more active.Physical activity packs were delivered to 53 children aged 5-15 years old with a visual impairment. Of these participants, 62% had additional impairments or medical conditions. A mixed-methods approach was used to gather participants’ experiences of physical activity prior to receiving this pack and canvas opinion on how the pack changed their activity levels. The findings revealed inequitable experiences of physical activity. The First Steps pack made considerable progress in developing children’s physical activity levels. Participants’ motor skills, social interactions and confidence improved. Organisations working with this population might look to adopt a similar concept. Recommendations for those wishing to do so are provided.<br/

Gender Transformative Philanthropy

As foundations and other philanthropic institutions assess where they can maximize the social return on their charitable investments, many are looking at issues of gender norms and gender equity. One program officer put it this way: "Our grantees and staff get race and class; some are even starting to get sexual orientation. What I want to know is -- what happened to gender? Where is the gender analysis?" Over two decades of research has now shown that challenging harmful codes of masculinity and femininity is a major key to improving outcomes in reproductive health and gender-based violence. Yet the field continues to mostly overlook gender norms. As the same time, studies have shown conclusively that having a strong gender analysis of the disparate impacts on women and men is crucial to increasing the effectiveness of civic engagement organizing. However, many non-profits in this space either ignore gender equity, or marginalize it as a "women's issue." As one experienced program officer put it, "Grantees need to see gender and race together. Gender impacts every issue they work on. But grantees are not being challenged to do innovative work around gender [in a way that parallels their work on race or class concerns]. This accessible overview will help program officers who want to integrate a stronger gender focus into their giving and their grantees' work and analysis

Wherefore art thou, inclusion? Analysing the development of inclusive education in New South Wales, Alberta and Finland

Over the last two decades, moves toward “inclusion” have prompted change in the formation of education policies, schooling structures and pedagogical practice. Yet, exclusion through the categorisation and segregation of students with diverse abilities has grown; particularly for students with challenging behaviour. This paper considers what has happened to inclusive education by focusing on three educational jurisdictions known to be experiencing different rates of growth in the identification of special educational needs: New South Wales (Australia), Alberta (Canada) and Finland (Europe). In our analysis, we consider the effects of competing policy forces that appear to thwart the development of inclusive schools in two of our case-study regions

TACTOPI: a playful approach to promote computational thinking to visually impaired children

Tese de mestrado em Informática, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 2021The use of playful activities is common in introductory programming settings. Visually, these activities tend to be stimulating enough. However, these are not accessible for visually impaired children. This work presents TACTOPI - a system that consists of a tangible environment that provides navigation skills training and enriches sensorial experiences using sound, visual and tactile elements; It allows the learning of introductory concepts of computational thinking embedded in playful activities with storytelling that promote environmental education for children with visual impairments from 4 to 7 years old. The map is modular, customizable and has a docking system to place the elements allowing a fun tactile interaction. Another essential element is the 3D printed helm containing a joystick and buttons for the child to control and pre-program the instructions to be played by the robot. A study was carried out using a qualitative questionnaire to evaluate the system. Suggestions were collected from respondents experienced with blind children about the suitability, relevance and accessibility of this system for these children. From the results, it is possible to conclude that this is a tool that, despite some limitations, is efficient to introduce computational thinking; interactive elements that support activities in other disciplines and contexts; a tool that ensures accessibility and supports task training for the development of blind children