Using a MG-M Imagery Intervention to Enhance the Sport Competence of Young Special Olympics Athletes

The opportunity for athletes with an intellectual disability (ID) to participate in sport is limited due to physical, social, and psychological barriers (Shields, Synnot, & Barr, 2012). Sport psychology interventions may have the capacity to address these barriers, namely the lack of sport competence that athletes with an ID tend to experience (Vealey, Hayashi, Garner-Holman, & Giacobbi, 1998). Therefore, this single subject A-B-A design sought to enhance sport competence among athletes with an ID using personalized motivational general-mastery (MG-M) imagery scripts. The study spanned six weeks and was implemented with five Special Olympics athletes (Mage = 11.40) who had ID’s including autism, mild intellectual disability, and moderate intellectual disability. The Sport Imagery Questionnaire for Children (SIQ-C), the Movement Imagery Questionnaire-Revised (MIQ-R), and the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children assessed athletes’ imagery use, imagery ability, and sport competence level, respectively. Results demonstrated improvements in sport competence from baseline through intervention for three out of five participants, and these changes were maintained in the return to baseline phase for two of those three participants. Changes in mean and variability were also evaluated using effect sizes, and suggested that scores became more stable during the intervention phase for three out of five participants. Implications of the current study include emphasizing the importance and feasibility of conducting research with this special population of athletes. Additionally, this study identifies the relevant modifications for mental skills training with individuals who have an ID. In particular, results suggest that imagery use and ability, as well as sport competence, can be improved with individualized training among athletes with an ID

Attitude formation and change toward people with disabilities

Dissertação de mestrado em Gestão, apresentada à Faculdade de Economia da Universidade de Coimbra, sob a orientação de Paulo Miguel Gama.A insolvência das empresas é algo traumático para todos os interessados na empresa, quer sejam trabalhadores, fornecedores, Estado, proprietários e até mesmo clientes. Em tempos de crise e com a diminuição da atividade económica a mortalidade empresarial tendencialmente aumenta. Assim sendo, urge encontrar mecanismos que possam reduzir o impacto financeiro nos vários agentes com interesse na empresa. Este trabalho baseia-se em trabalhos precedentes em que sugerem que o processo degenerativo dos indicadores económico-financeiros é lento e detetável com antecipação, sendo que pode ser corrigido, caso detetado, ou minimizado nos efeitos colaterais nos agentes interessados na empresa. A investigação centra-se em PME do setor de atividade do comércio de materiais de construção civil – CAE 46732 (Comércio por grosso de materiais de construção (excepto madeira) e equipamento sanitário) e 47523 (Comércio a retalho de material de bricolage, equipamento sanitário, ladrilhos e materiais similares, em estabelecimentos especializados). Foi criado um modelo de previsão a dois anos a partir da análise 29 rácios financeiros. Foram escolhidos 26 rácios financeiros que constituíram modelos de autores referenciados no trabalho e a estes juntaram-se 3 rácios relacionados com a temática do crédito comercial, com a finalidade de aferir se estes rácios são preditores de insolvência e se o crédito comercial pode ser preditor de uma possível insolvência. Foi feita também a análise para em dois períodos distintos – empresas que entraram em insolvência no ano de 2008 e empresas que entraram em insolvência no ano 2014. O objetivo de analisar estes dois períodos foi o de verificar se o modelo é replicável em períodos de crescimento da atividade económica (no ano 2008) e em períodos de recessão (2014). A amostra foi constituída por 12 empresas que pediram insolvência no ano 2008 e por 20 no ano 2014.Visto que a metodologia utilizada foi a da Análise Multivariada Discriminante, foi constituída uma segunda amostra de teste constituída aleatoriamente pelo mesmo número de empresas. O modelo encontrado para o ano 2014 teve uma capacidade preditiva geral de 90% a dois anos antes da insolvência. O modelo proposto para o ano 2008 teve uma capacidade preditiva de 100% nos dois anos anteriores ao da insolvência. O trabalho faz uma breve sumula de alguns estudos já realizados na área da Previsão da Insolvência e do Crédito Comercial. Esta investigação pretende contribuir para que os interessados neste sector, empresas comercializadoras de materiais de construção civil, tenham uma ferramenta que permita antecipar uma falência e minimizar o seu impacto

Towards Design Theory for Accessible IT Artefacts

Accessibility in the use of information technology (IT) artefacts, such as websites, applications, and user interfaces, means that they are designed in such a way that people with the broadest range of abilities can use them. However, although accessibility is a human right, IT artefacts often remain inaccessible. Aside from the available accessibility guidelines, we need sufficient design theories that explicitly state how accessibility should be addressed and designed to develop accessible IT artefacts for all users. This dissertation summarises four articles that address this problem. These studies are conducted with qualitative approaches that include a narrative literature review, a systematic literature review and a design science method comprising a participatory design and interviews. The first article develops an explaining theory of accessibility to gain an understanding of the construct of accessibility, showing possible variables of human abilities, tasks and contexts and their relationships in IT use. The second article illustrates the factors in management, development, user, and IT artefact features, including the roles and actions that these domains have and how they affect the realisation of accessibility. The other two articles contribute to accessibility guidance to improve and support content creators’ text production and writing process of accessible online text in the web context. The dissertation underscores three key determinants of the knowledge of accessibility: (1) assumptions of users’ abilities; (2) users’ actual needs; and (3) factors in the development chain. The foregoing factors contribute to the knowledge of accessibility and would help researchers, particularly design scientists, form prescriptive knowledge for practitioners to achieve accessible IT artefacts. Thus, researchers could better identify the variables, relationships and affecting factors in human abilities, management, development, content creation, tasks, and contexts that need to be addressed when designing IT artefacts for certain tasks and use contexts.Informaatioteknologia-artefaktien (IT-artefaktien), kuten verkkosivustojen, sovellusten ja käyttöliittymien saavutettavuus tarkoittaa sitä, että ihmiset erilaisine ominaisuuksineen ja kykyineen voivat käyttää niitä. Vaikka saavutettavuus on ihmisoikeus, IT-artefaktit eivät kuitenkaan ole aina saavutettavia. Käytettävissä olevista saavutettavuusohjeista huolimatta tarvitsemme suunnitteluteorioita, jotka ohjaavat IT-artefaktien suunnittelua, jotta niistä tulisi saavutettavia kaikille IT-artefaktin käyttäjille. Tämä väitöskirja on yhteenveto neljästä artikkelista, jotka käsittelevät tätä ongelmaa. Tutkimukset ovat tehty laadullisilla menetelmillä, joihin on sisältynyt narratiivinen kirjallisuuskatsaus, systemaattinen kirjallisuuskatsaus sekä suunnittelutieteellinen menetelmä sisältäen osallistavan suunnittelun ja haastattelut. Ensimmäisessä artikkelissa kehitetään kuvaileva saavutettavuuden teoria, jolla saadaan käsitys saavutettavuuden rakenteesta ja joka näyttää mahdolliset muuttujat ihmisen kyvyissä, tehtävissä ja konteksteissa, sekä niiden väliset suhteet. Toinen artikkeli kuvaa saavutettavuuteen vaikuttavia tekijöitä johtamisen, kehityksen, käyttäjän ja IT-artefaktin ominaisuuksien näkökulmista, mukaan lukien roolit ja toimenpiteet, joita näillä kohteilla on. Kaksi muuta artikkelia kehittävät ohjeistuksen sisällöntuottajien työn tueksi saavutettavan verkkotekstin tuottamiseksi. Väitöskirjassa esitetään kolme ratkaisevaa tekijää saavutettavuuden tietämyksessä: (1) olettamukset käyttäjien kyvyistä (2) käyttäjien todelliset tarpeet ja (3) tekijät kehitysketjussa. Näiden tekijöiden tuntemus auttaa erityisesti suunnittelutieteilijöitä muodostamaan ohjaavaa tietoa ammattilaisille saavutettavien IT-artefaktien saavuttamiseksi. Täten tutkijat voivat paremmin tunnistaa muuttujat, niiden väliset suhteet ja saavutettavuuteen vaikuttavat tekijät, jotka liittyvät käyttäjän kykyihin, johtamiseen, kehittämiseen, sisällöntuottamiseen, tehtäviin ja kontekstiin, kun IT-artefaktia suunnitellaan tiettyä tehtävää ja käyttökontekstia varten.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Interpersonal sources of conflict in young people with and without mild to moderate intellectual disabilities at transition from adolescence to adulthood

<p><b>Background:</b> Interpersonal conflict is a source of stress and contributes to poor mental health in people with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities. Understanding the contexts in which conflict typically occurs can better equip services to help people with such difficulties. However, existing studies into the contexts of conflict have included participants with wide-ranging ages and may not reflect the experiences of young adults in particular.</p> <p><b>Materials and Methods:</b> Twenty-six young adults (16-20 years) with intellectual disabilities and 20 non-disabled young adults completed a semi-structured interview about a recent experience of interpersonal conflict. Participants were asked to describe their beliefs and feelings about the event and their subsequent response.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> Participants with intellectual disabilities were more likely to encounter conflict with strangers or peers outside their friendship group and to describe incidents of aggression than non-disabled participants. They were also more likely to characterize the other person globally as 'bad' and to perceive the other's actions as being personally directed at them. Young women with intellectual disabilities were less likely to describe responding aggressively to incidents.</p> <p><b>Conclusions:</b> Findings suggest that young adults with intellectual disabilities are often the target of overt aggression from those outside their inner social sphere, while their non-disabled peers are more likely to experience conflict with people close to them. Young adults with intellectual disabilities may also be more likely to feel victimized by interpersonal conflict. Implications of these findings and limitations of the study are discussed.</p&gt

Robots in education and care of children with developmental disabilities : a study on acceptance by experienced and future professionals

Research in the area of robotics has made available numerous possibilities for further innovation in the education of children, especially in the rehabilitation of those with learning difficulties and/or intellectual disabilities. Despite the scientific evidence, there is still a strong scepticism against the use of robots in the fields of education and care of people. Here we present a study on the acceptance of robots by experienced practitioners (specialized in the treatment of intellectual disabilities) and university students in psychology and education sciences (as future professionals). The aim is to examine the factors, through the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model, that may influence the decision to use a robot as an instrument in the practice. The overall results confirm the applicability of the model in the context of education and care of children, and suggest a positive attitude towards the use of the robot. The comparison highlights some scepticism among the practitioners, who perceive the robot as an expensive and limited tool, while students show a positive perception and a significantly higher willingness to use the robot. From this experience, we formulate the hypothesis that robots may be accepted if more integrated with standard rehabilitation protocols in a way that benefits can outweigh the costs

Adhering to International and Culture-related Usability Guidelines: A Basis for Developing Localized User-friendly Websites

Modern websites provide multiple forms of information such as images, text, audio, video, and different ways of accessing them. As the use of website becomes a global phenomenon, international usability guidelines are provided in order to enhance user experience. A major challenge lies in the lack of research data on the preferences of localized users. Without such data, many websites will be created that may not serve the needs of an intended user group, especially in a multi-cultural society. This will amount to a waste of time and resources. This paper describes web-design and usability guidelines and explains their importance to practice. It discusses why, when, and how these guidelines are applied in designing a responsive and easy-to-use website for any setting of choice. It emphasizes that, in addition to applying international usability standards and guidelines, website designers and owners should pay attention to culture-related usability preferences in order to develop localized and user-friendly websites. The paper highlights important features of websites that must be given priority in the design process. It draws attention to the need for an iterating process for usability testing of websites in order to improve their functions as information systems that serve the purpose of the owner and the needs of the users. The paper suggests more studies to be carried out with local website users, especially in Africa and the developing nations of the world, in order to develop usability guidelines that include the cultural preferences of the users. Keywords: Usability testing, heuristics, websites, interactivity, culture-related usability, localized websites, user-friendly website

Evaluation Strategy for the Re-Development of the Displays and Visitor Facilities at the Museum and Art Gallery, Kelvingrove

No abstract available