INVESTIGATING THE WORKING MEMORY AND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION STRATEGIES AMONG MONOLINGUAL AND BILINGUAL CHILDREN IN A CLASSROOM’S SETTING

The present study aimed at comparing the working memory of Greek monolingual students to bilingual ones from migrant backgrounds who all attend primary school. Secondly, an effort was made to investigate the correlation of the working memory with the academic performance in both groups. Moreover, the correlation of the vocabulary strategies, employed by monolingual and bilingual students in an integrated memory-based text framework (Rachanioti, Griva & Alevriadou, 2017), with their working memory was explored. The sample consisted of 20 monolingual and 20 bilingual students of Albanian origin, who attended the 5th and 6th grade of three primary schools in Eastern Thessaloniki, Greece. The monolingual and bilingual students were matched according to their mark reports on academic performance. The Automated Working Memory Assessment (Alloway, 2007) was used to assess the students’ working memory. The data revealed that monolingual and bilingual students did not differ either in the verbal working memory or the visuospatial working memory performance. A statistically significant positive correlation between working memory and academic performance was found in both monolingual and bilingual students. The correlation of the Process strategies with the verbal working memory was statistically significant in monolingual students, as well as in the bilingual ones. The Memory strategies were positively correlated with the verbal and visuospatial working memory in both groups. The Confirmation/consolidation strategies were positively correlated with the verbal working memory only in the bilingual students. Results are discussed in terms of memory strategy instruction that may compensate for a poor working memory of both monolingual and bilingual students in a classroom’s setting, thus aiding to improve their academic performance. This study is the first trial of the AWMA in Greek students as well as bilingual immigrant ones.  Article visualizations

An intervention program related to reading development – a case study of a child with Williams syndrome

The present paper is related to a case study of an 8-year-old girl with Williams syndrome and mild intellectual disability. Initial informal assessments and standardized tests indicated that her reading ability was underdeveloped, as well as her phonological awareness. Hence, an intervention for the development of reading skills was designed according to the principles of the ‘top-down’ educational model, combining features from several teaching methods, such as ‘holistic approach’, ‘holisticanalytical method’, and ‘whole-word teaching’. The student’s progress was recorded in the researcher’s journal and evaluated through informal continuous assessment and standardized test. She managed to read 45 out of 65 words, which were included in the intervention, simple syllables with the consonant-vowel sequence and some simple two-syllable words without any complex content, not included in the intervention. The intervention proved to be effective, as the student indicated development in her reading skills, although to a certain degree. Finally, the results verified the influence of the phonological factor in reading and highlighted the holist approach as an appropriate way to develop reading and comprehension skills

Representations of disability from the perspective of people with disabilities and their families: a critical discourse analysis of disability groups on Facebook

Contrary to the growing body of research into views about and attitudes towards disability which has focused on the perspectives of non-disabled people, recent disability studies have been directed to the voices of people with disabilities and/or their families, by acknowledging an ‘epistemic privilege’ to them. In the present study, we use the posts of sensory and physical disability groups on Facebook as a lens to uncover the voices and experiences of people with disabilities and/or their families. The critical discourse analysis of the posts of disability groups on Facebook suggests that people with disabilities and/or their families do not constitute a homogeneous group of people being connected because of their common (bodily) condition. On the other hand, different representations of disability also suggest a different use of Facebook

REVISITING THE ROLE OF VISUAL PERCEPTION ON THE READING SKILLS OF STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES: SOME EDUCATIONAL PLANNING CHALLENGES

Students with learning disabilities often struggle with reading skill acquisition, due to the nature and complexity of the reading process (Brown, 2009). In addition, it has been documented that students experiencing reading disabilities, have problems with the basic cognitive skills of visual perception (Stokes, Matthen & Biggs, 2015). The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of the cognitive parameters of visual perception, assessed by the Developmental Test of Visual Perception-2nd Edition (DTVP-2, Hammill, Pearson & Voress, 1993) on the reading ability of students with learning disabilities, assessed by Test A (Panteliadou & Antoniou, 2007, Standardized test for reading disabilities in Greek). The sample consisted of 73 children (N=73) attending the 4th and 5th grade of Primary school, diagnosed with learning disability in reading. The results indicated that visual perception was a predictive factor for reading performance. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of developing early detection programmes as well as effective educational interventions for pre-school and primary school students.  Article visualizations

DEAF ADULTS AS ROLE MODELS FOR THE HEARING WORLD: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Although deaf role model projects have existed for some time and their benefits and outcomes for deaf children/young people and their parents have been recorded, almost no attention has been paid to the experiences of the deaf people who take on these roles. Additionally, the experiences of being a deaf role model have been little explored in the literature. This paper explores available literature on role models for supporting families of deaf children and hearing practitioners. Most deaf people (about 95%), all over the world, have hearing parents and do not meet deaf adults and sign language before the age that formal primary education starts. The majority of hearing parents do not come in touch with deafness even after their child is diagnosed of being deaf. But it’s really crucial for families to have resources that allow them to help their child develop language and have full interaction with their family. Additionally, deaf role models can play a vital role in the development of deaf children’s knowledge, skills, and perceptions. Further work would be also required to understand the longer-term benefits and further developments that deaf role models may wish to initiate.  Article visualizations

Πεποιθήσεις σχετικά με τη διδασκαλία ΟΛΩΝ των μαθητών (Attitudes Towards Teaching All Students [ATTAS-mm])

Σύντομη Περιγραφή: Πρόκειται για ένα ερωτηματολόγιο αυτοαναφοράς, το οποίο αποτελείται από 9 ερωτήσεις που αξιολογούν τις πεποιθήσεις σχετικά με την ενταξιακή εκπαίδευση. Το σύνολο των ερωτήσεων είναι κλειστού τύπου, κλίμακας τύπου Likert επτά διαβαθμίσεων (1=συμφωνώ απόλυτα, 7=διαφωνώ απόλυτα). Κύριες Βιβλιογραφικές Πηγές: Charitaki, G., Kypriotaki, M., & Alevriadou, A. (2023). Greek adaptation of the teachers’ attitudes towards teaching all students (ATTAS-mm) scale. Equity in Education & Society, 27526461231177457. doi:10.1177/27526461231177457 Charitaki, G., Kourti, I., Gregory, J., Ozturk, M., Ismail, Z., Alevriadou, A., Soulis, S.G., Sakici, S., & Demirel, C. (2022). Attitudes Towards Teaching All Students: A cross-national exploration. Trends in Psychology, 1-33. doi:10.1007/s43076-022-00240-

Theory of mind abilities in children with Down syndrome and non-specific intellectual disabilities: An empirical study with some educational implications

AbstractSeveral researchers explored the impact of cognition, language and social understanding on theory of mind abilities in typically developing (TD) children and children with intellectual disabilities (ID) (either ID of genetic origin or non-specific ID). The aim of the present study was to determine the specificity of the theory of mind deficit to different groups of children with ID. The results are in accordance with the developmental approach of similar structure hypothesis (Zigler, 1969). The findings are discussed in terms of the specificity of the etiology-related theory of mind profiles of ID groups, considering the educational and social inclusion practices

Employability Social Skills Interventions in Transition-Age Youth with Intellectual Disabilities: A Literature Review

Employability skills are necessary for youth with Intellectual Disabilities (IDs) to successfully navigate their transition from educational settings to autonomous adult life. Most importantly, research evidence has shown that individuals with IDs appear to perform adequately on job tasks, yet they frequently face inadequacies in the social aspects of work life. Although much of the existing employability research has focused on social skills training related to employability for individuals with other disabilities, people with IDs are underrepresented in the literature. Thus, this review aimed to provide insight into the existing social skills interventions that promote employability in transition-age youth with IDs. Results indicated that although there is a limited number of studies regarding intervention programs on improving social skills related to employment for individuals with IDs, the majority of them positively impacted target behaviors, thus highlighting the need for further empirical research

“Can I Work Here?”: Employment Barriers for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities in Greece

Research evidence has shown that employment is crucial and purposeful for people with intellectual disabilities, promoting positive effects associated with independent living and social inclusion. Notwithstanding, people with intellectual disabilities find it particularly difficult to accomplish successful employment. They face discrimination, and they are considered to lack work capacity. The extremely marginal position of people with intellectual disabilities in the labor market appears to prevail across national settings. Over the last 35 years, there has been an improvement in the vocational inclusion of individuals with intellectual disabilities in Greece, with the legislation embracing the human rights-based approach to disability. Nevertheless, the challenge of accomplishing full participation and equality in employment for people with intellectual disabilities still remains huge in Greece. Their participation rates in the Greek labour market are significantly lower than in the rest of the European Union. This article illustrates the employment provisions for individuals with intellectual disabilities in Greece. Additionally, it presents the current implemented models of their occupational inclusion while critically discussing the convention's pursuance on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Greek context