The Challenges of Promoting Self Advocacy for an Individual with a Learning Disability in a Residential Setting

This dissertation will address the research question of “what are the challenges of promoting self advocacy for an individual with a learning disability in a residential setting”. This area is important as individuals in a residential setting should be empowered to speak up and make their own decisions. Key themes identified in the literature review as challenges for social care workers to encourage this process can be role uncertainty, professional conflicts, the person centred plan and the skills and components needed to facilitate this process. Through qualitative research, a sample group of six participants from two different residential settings where chosen for semi structure interviews. It was found this self advocacy process was hindered through factors such as institutionalisation, funding, lack of staff and time constraints to name a few. Staff cannot fully implement the self advocacy process to empower individuals due to these factors and would welcome the concept of an outside advocate to assist with the self advocacy process. It was identified these outside advocates can bring other challenges to the self advocacy process. Even though social care workers wish to have an outside advocate to lesson their workload, it can create dilemmas of role uncertainty with a smaller role or create continuation of the challenges experienced if staff are constantly involved. Overall, it was identified that self advocacy will benefit the service user’s quality of life with correct implementation of the person centred plan. It is a process that should be offered to all with a learning disability with the correct support

Considering Vietnam

The Vietnam War is evolving from contemporary memory into history. Fifty years on, it still serves as a benchmark in the history of war reporting and in the representation of conflict in popular culture and historical memory. This conference seeks to explore the legacy of the US involvement in South East Asia and the resonances it still has for the coverage of contemporary warfare. In particular, the conference will reassess the role of the media in covering the war and the implications this has had for the coverage of subsequent conflicts, the impact of the war on popular culture, the ways that wars and their aftermaths are experienced on the ‘home front,’ and issues around memorialisation and memory, particularly in museum culture. The conference will bring together practitioners, academics and curators in an interdisciplinary engagement with this complex but important issue

Experts and evidence in deliberation: scrutinising the role of witnesses and evidence in mini-publics, a case study

Experts hold a prominent position in guiding and shaping policy-making; however, the nature of expert input to decision-making is a topic of public debate. A key aspect of deliberative processes such as citizens’ juries is the provision of information to participants, usually from expert witnesses. However, there is currently little guidance on some of the challenges that organisers and advocates of citizens’ juries must consider regarding expert involvement, including the role of the witness, issues around witness identification and selection, the format of evidence provision, the evidence itself, and how these factors affect the experience of the participants and the witnesses. Here, we explore these issues through detailed case study of three citizens’ juries on onshore wind farm development in Scotland, including interviews with the witnesses involved. This is complemented by examining a cohort of mini-publics held on energy and the environment topics, and, where possible, discussion with the program organisers. We identify a series of issues and sensitivities that can compromise the effectiveness and fairness of the evidence-giving in mini-publics, for the participants, the witnesses and the organisers. We recommend approaches and areas for future work to address these challenges. This is the first time that the ways of involving witnesses in such processes have been so comprehensively examined, and is timely given the increasing interest in democratic innovations such as mini-publics and the current discourse concerning experts

The Interaction between Andrew Johnson and the Press

The purpose of this study is to examine the unstable relationship that existed between Andrew Johnson and the press. Information collected throughout this examination can be used to understand the power of the media in regard to Andrew Johnson’s presidency. Primary documents were examined to determine how the press reacted to Johnson’s policies and actions. What is perhaps most remarkable about Andrew Johnson’s presidency is that he enjoyed almost unprecedented popularity and support during the first months of his term in office. Within months of his inauguration, however, nearly all politicians and members of the press held him in deepest contempt. Johnson and his closest advisors were forced to confront an event unprecedented in the executive branch of the United States. The manner in which Johnson responded to press hostility shaped the nation’s opinion of him. This study attempts to explain why the press displayed such a sudden reversal of opinion. By examining newspapers and magazines throughout the country, the manner in which the Radical Republicans influenced the public’s perception of Johnson can be observed. Johnson’s ability to lead the nation was ultimately inhibited by his political opponents in Washington D.C., and the press’s eagerness to present him in an unfavorable light

Social Justice and Localities: the Allocation of Council Housing in Tower Hamlets

PhDThis thesis is concerned with social justice in the distribution of social goods from public institutions. It seeks to determine applicable theoretical perspectives of social justice suitable for allocating council housing. The thesis reviews different moral principles related to procedural and distributive justice concepts in the rationing of public goods. The research particularly draws on views proposed by authors who have theorised social justice as universal or pluralist in nature and for groups, institutions or territories. Literature and policy concerning the pnupose and history of the council housing sector and the relationship to social justice also informs the work. Emphasis is placed on housing as a basic human need and the links to disadvantaged and excluded groups and localities. Research techniques are triangulated in four case studies, of council housing in Tower Hamlets, between 1984 and 1998. Public and restricted documents concerning administration of council housing in the borough and interview data with tenants and housing officials are used in two case studies. Computerised data from housing records are used in a further two case studies. The research showed that the intervention of the Commission for Racial Equality, using a legal interpretation of social justice, led to actions that reduced discrimination in the housing allocation system. Within the borough localities, the research identified decentralised governance and stakeholders actions as contributing and influencing the contestation of justice in housing procedures and outcomes. New tenancies analysed in terms of different concepts of social justice, showed that some criteria of justice were met, but those placing strongest emphasis on reducing inequalities were not achieved. The location of housing received by groups in Tower Hamlets appears to contribute to continuing spatial polarisation. New residential areas perpetuated disadvantage for some groups

Replication of linkage at chromosome 20p13 and identification of suggestive sex-differential risk loci for autism spectrum disorder.

BackgroundAutism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are male-biased and genetically heterogeneous. While sequencing of sporadic cases has identified de novo risk variants, the heritable genetic contribution and mechanisms driving the male bias are less understood. Here, we aimed to identify familial and sex-differential risk loci in the largest available, uniformly ascertained, densely genotyped sample of multiplex ASD families from the Autism Genetics Resource Exchange (AGRE), and to compare results with earlier findings from AGRE.MethodsFrom a total sample of 1,008 multiplex families, we performed genome-wide, non-parametric linkage analysis in a discovery sample of 847 families, and separately on subsets of families with only male, affected children (male-only, MO) or with at least one female, affected child (female-containing, FC). Loci showing evidence for suggestive linkage (logarithm of odds ≥2.2) in this discovery sample, or in previous AGRE samples, were re-evaluated in an extension study utilizing all 1,008 available families. For regions with genome-wide significant linkage signal in the discovery stage, those families not included in the corresponding discovery sample were then evaluated for independent replication of linkage. Association testing of common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was also performed within suggestive linkage regions.ResultsWe observed an independent replication of previously observed linkage at chromosome 20p13 (P < 0.01), while loci at 6q27 and 8q13.2 showed suggestive linkage in our extended sample. Suggestive sex-differential linkage was observed at 1p31.3 (MO), 8p21.2 (FC), and 8p12 (FC) in our discovery sample, and the MO signal at 1p31.3 was supported in our expanded sample. No sex-differential signals met replication criteria, and no common SNPs were significantly associated with ASD within any identified linkage regions.ConclusionsWith few exceptions, analyses of subsets of families from the AGRE cohort identify different risk loci, consistent with extreme locus heterogeneity in ASD. Large samples appear to yield more consistent results, and sex-stratified analyses facilitate the identification of sex-differential risk loci, suggesting that linkage analyses in large cohorts are useful for identifying heritable risk loci. Additional work, such as targeted re-sequencing, is needed to identify the specific variants within these loci that are responsible for increasing ASD risk

Differences in Spectral Sensitivity Within and Among Species of Darters (genus Etheostoma)

We examined variation in the visual system both within and among seven species of darters, colorful freshwater fishes of the genus Etheostoma. Using microspectrophotometry, we found that darters possess rod photoreceptor cells, single cone photoreceptor cells containing middle wavelength sensitive (MWS) visual pigments, and twin photoreceptor cells containing (LWS) visual pigments. No variation in peak sensitivity was detected among species or individuals in the rod class. In the MWS class, significant variation was detected among species and a strong statistical trend suggests differences among individuals. By contrast, all differences in the LWS class could be attributed to variation among individuals. Patterns of variation detected among species, among individuals, and among cone classes suggest that complex patterns of selection may be shaping the visual system of these fishes. Further, differences among individuals may have important consequences for visually based behaviors

Evaluation of a Pharmacist Led Oral Chemotherapy Clinic: A Pilot Program in the Gastrointestinal Oncology Clinic at an Academic Medical Center

Oral chemotherapy represents a major patient-centric advancement in therapy convenience. However, ownership of safe and correct administration of these agents requires significant patient education. To address this challenge, an in-person pharmacist-led oral chemotherapy education clinic in gastrointestinal oncology patients within an academic medical center was created and assessed. In this pilot program, a medication-specific quiz was administered to patients before and after education performed by a pharmacist to assess patient understanding of their new oral chemotherapy. A five-question satisfaction survey was also administered at the conclusion of the pharmacist clinic visit. Primary outcome was the percentage difference between pre-and post-education quiz scores. Secondary outcomes included patient satisfaction, time to treatment initiation, and number of pharmacist interventions. Frequencies and medians were used to describe categorical and continuous variables, respectively. Of the 18 patients analyzed, 50% were male and median age was 59.5 years. Approximately 28% had colon cancer, and 61% were treated with capecitabine. The median post-education scores improved from a pre-education score of 75% to 100%. Overall, seventeen of the eighteen patients responded with "strongly agree" to all satisfaction survey statements. An in-person oncology pharmacist-led oral chemotherapy education session demonstrated an improvement in patients' understanding of their new oral chemotherapy treatment