The sound of study:Student experiences of listening in the university soundscape

The students from three universities (Groningen, Oldenburg and the University of Applied Sciences in Utrecht) were surveyed on the experience of hearing and listening in their study. Included in the online survey were established questionnaires on hearing loss, tinnitus, hyperacusis, a subscale on psychosocial strain resulting from impaired hearing and a questionnaire about students’ perceptions of listening ease in study environments. Results from the 10,466 students who completed the survey (13% response rate) are highlighted, with particular attention to listening ease and measures proposed by students for improving it. A consequence from our findings is that more effective classroom practice may be won if study soundscapes can be improved, while universities might exercise greater inclusive responsibility for study as high quality sensory experience for the benefit of all students

Analysis of shared heritability in common disorders of the brain

ience, this issue p. eaap8757 Structured Abstract INTRODUCTION Brain disorders may exhibit shared symptoms and substantial epidemiological comorbidity, inciting debate about their etiologic overlap. However, detailed study of phenotypes with different ages of onset, severity, and presentation poses a considerable challenge. Recently developed heritability methods allow us to accurately measure correlation of genome-wide common variant risk between two phenotypes from pools of different individuals and assess how connected they, or at least their genetic risks, are on the genomic level. We used genome-wide association data for 265,218 patients and 784,643 control participants, as well as 17 phenotypes from a total of 1,191,588 individuals, to quantify the degree of overlap for genetic risk factors of 25 common brain disorders. RATIONALE Over the past century, the classification of brain disorders has evolved to reflect the medical and scientific communities' assessments of the presumed root causes of clinical phenomena such as behavioral change, loss of motor function, or alterations of consciousness. Directly observable phenomena (such as the presence of emboli, protein tangles, or unusual electrical activity patterns) generally define and separate neurological disorders from psychiatric disorders. Understanding the genetic underpinnings and categorical distinctions for brain disorders and related phenotypes may inform the search for their biological mechanisms. RESULTS Common variant risk for psychiatric disorders was shown to correlate significantly, especially among attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder (MDD), and schizophrenia. By contrast, neurological disorders appear more distinct from one another and from the psychiatric disorders, except for migraine, which was significantly correlated to ADHD, MDD, and Tourette syndrome. We demonstrate that, in the general population, the personality trait neuroticism is significantly correlated with almost every psychiatric disorder and migraine. We also identify significant genetic sharing between disorders and early life cognitive measures (e.g., years of education and college attainment) in the general population, demonstrating positive correlation with several psychiatric disorders (e.g., anorexia nervosa and bipolar disorder) and negative correlation with several neurological phenotypes (e.g., Alzheimer's disease and ischemic stroke), even though the latter are considered to result from specific processes that occur later in life. Extensive simulations were also performed to inform how statistical power, diagnostic misclassification, and phenotypic heterogeneity influence genetic correlations. CONCLUSION The high degree of genetic correlation among many of the psychiatric disorders adds further evidence that their current clinical boundaries do not reflect distinct underlying pathogenic processes, at least on the genetic level. This suggests a deeply interconnected nature for psychiatric disorders, in contrast to neurological disorders, and underscores the need to refine psychiatric diagnostics. Genetically informed analyses may provide important "scaffolding" to support such restructuring of psychiatric nosology, which likely requires incorporating many levels of information. By contrast, we find limited evidence for widespread common genetic risk sharing among neurological disorders or across neurological and psychiatric disorders. We show that both psychiatric and neurological disorders have robust correlations with cognitive and personality measures. Further study is needed to evaluate whether overlapping genetic contributions to psychiatric pathology may influence treatment choices. Ultimately, such developments may pave the way toward reduced heterogeneity and improved diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders

Implementation von Zugänglichkeit / Barrierefreiheit im Kontext von Studieren mit Beeinträchtigung und digitalisiertem Lehren und Lernen

Spätestens die einstimmig verabschiedete Empfehlung „Eine Hochschule für Alle“ der Hochschulrektorenkonferenz (2009) hat die U N-Konvention über die Rechte von Menschen mit Behinderungen (C R P D) mit der enthaltenen Forderung nach inklusiver Bildung im Lebensverlauf (U N, 2006 § 24) und dem barrierefreien Zugang zu selbiger (e b d. § 9) zum Handlungsauftrag für Hochschulen gemacht. Die Kultusministerkonferenz (K M K) (2016, 2019) empfiehlt hierzu eine verstärkte Implementierung von digitalisiertem Lernen, um der Diversität der Studierenden Rechnung zu tragen und beispielsweise die Partizipationsmöglichkeiten von Studierenden mit Beeinträchtigungen erheblich verbessern zu können (Ebersold & Evens, 2003). Entscheidend ist es, holistische statt zielgruppenspezifische Lösungsansätze zu entwickeln und neben technischen auch die strukturellen und didaktischen Aspekte zugänglicher Lehre in den Blick zu nehmen (Grundmann & Podszus, 2019; Podszus, 2019a, 2019b). Dies erfordert zum einen Kenntnisse der Stakeholder von digitalisiertem Lehren und Lernen über die Bedarfe Studierender mit Beeinträchtigungen im Hinblick auf Selbiges und zum anderen die Kooperation der beteiligten Stakeholder und Organisationseinheiten innerhalb der Hochschulen sowie deren Unterstützung durch ein wirksames Diversitätsmanagement. Als Herausforderung erweist sich, dass das Thema „Studieren mit Beeinträchtigung“ generell und auch beim Implementieren solcher Diversitätsmanagementstrukturen neben Diversitätsdimensionen wie atypischen Bildungsbiografien, Migrationshintergrund oder Gender nur eine marginale Rolle spielt (Knauf, 2015; Rothenberg, 2012) und die Maßnahmen eine Fokussierung auf Nachteilsausgleiche, Fall-zu-Fall-Lösungen und fakultative Angebote anstelle proaktiver Barrierefreiheit beinhalten (Fisseler, 2013; Podszus, 2019a). Ein für die Betrachtung und Systematisierung von derartigen Implementierungsprozessen und Forschungsfragen nutzbares Modell, die Adaption des Contextualized Model of Accessible E-Learning Practice in Higher Education Institutions für den deutschen Hochschulraum (Podszus, 2019a), soll im Beitrag vorgestellt werden

Gesamtfamiliale Unterstützung bei schulabsentem Verhalten pflegender Kinder und Jugendlicher

Schülerinnen und Schüler, die schulabsent sind und pflegende Tätigkeiten für psychisch oder physisch erkrankte Angehörige übernehmen, sind in Deutschland und der Schweiz eine bisher wenig beachtete Zielgruppe in Forschung und Praxis. Erfahrungen aus anderen Ländern zeigen, dass eine interdisziplinäre Zusammenarbeit unter Einbezug der gesamten Familie bedeutsam ist, um negativen Auswirkungen für die Betroffenen entgegenzuwirken. Dieser als ‚whole family approach‘ bezeichnete Grundgedanke ist heute das dominierende Paradigma in der Unterstützung pflegender Kinder, Jugendlicher und ihrer Familien. Im vorliegenden Artikel wird der Nutzen dieses Paradigmas für die Zielgruppe diskutiert. Es wird geschlussfolgert, dass einhergehend mit dem Paradigma eine effektive gesamtfamiliale Unterstützung möglich ist und schulischen Problematiken der Kinder und Jugendlichen, wie schulabsentes Verhalten, entgegenwirkt werden kann. Voraussetzung für die effektive Unterstützung ist eine Sensibilisierung von Fachkräften des Bildungs-, Gesundheits- und Sozialwesens für die häufig unsichtbare Zielgruppe in Deutschland und der Schweiz. Neben breiter Öffentlichkeitsarbeit müssen dazu auch die Forschungsaktivitäten in beiden Ländern ausgebaut werden

Basic Conditions for Support of Young Carers in School: A Secondary Analysis of the Perspectives of Young Carers, Parents, Teachers, and Counselors

Young carers face a variety of challenges at school. While schools can be vital places of support, the assistance they receive at school often seems selective and fails to consider the unique life situations of individual students. This paper examines the perspective of multiple actors in the student’s school environment and explores how schools can develop comprehensive, sustainable support systems for young carers—systems that consider and involve as many actors as possible in the student’s school environment. In a secondary analysis of two interview studies, we analyzed how young carers as well as their parents, teachers, and school counsellors perceived the school support the carers received. We then developed an integrated model that incorporates these differing perspectives. The model offers an approach for implementing low-threshold support for young carers within existing school structures in relation to their family situation and outlines conditions that can support both recognized and “invisible” young carers, as well as other students

Sul Ross Reunion

The article reviews practical experiences and theoretical reflections from the Dutch child and youth care sector on the provision of care for families with multiple problems. Emphasis is laid upon the complex relations between socio-economic and psychosocial problems, and subsequent issues that may arise in arranging child and youth care. Furthermore, the current state of discussion in program development for the target group in the Netherlands is introduced. The originally English concept of families with multiple problems has been used only modestly in German-speaking countries. This is remarkable from an international perspective, especially considering the re-emerging prominence of social policies that define families as a site of social work practice in English-speaking countries. We conclude that the themes, as derived from our review open up possibilities for further international comparisons, and can provide valuable reference for the transnational discourse about child and youth care services for families with multiple problems

Who are „Young Carers”? Analysis of the Use of the Term in German Speaking Countries and Development of a Definition / Wer sind Young Carers? Analyse der Begriffsverwendung im deutschsprachigen Raum und Entwicklung einer Definition

Children and adolescents with caring responsibility who are looking after a family member or a person close are often hiding from the view of the public. They are not well recognised from professionals from health care, education and social services. Several research as well as support programmes have been initiated within the last years. It became obvious that the term ‘young carers’ was translated in various ways into German and connected with different attributes. An integral understanding is yet of high relevance for the international dialogue as well as for the transfer from theory to practice