The objectification of adulthood of persons with deeper and deep intellectual disability

The adulthood of persons with deeper and deep disability continues to be a challenge not only for specialists and parents or caretakers of the indicated group of persons, but also for us as a society. The objective of the article is the presentation of effects of activities experienced by adults with deeper and deep intellectual disability while inhabitants of a social nursing home. One of the main effects of the mentioned activity is objectification. In the discussed case, the objectification is the effect of lack of trust or limited trust in their potential, which can become a factor of manipulation. The research material used in the present study constitutes personal experiences gained while working with persons with deeper and deep intellectual disability, their caretakers, parents and other specialists working with them, acquired through participation in diverse activities/ projects aimed at them. Free, narrative discussions as well as focused discussions were conducted with representatives of the indicated groups (save for persons with deep, and in certain cases, significant intellectual disability). The analysis of the research material was conducted according to the action research methodology

Suicide vulnerability and risk: fragmented sense of self and psychache

Suicidality research has largely focused on psycho-social or demographic suicide risk factors, with less emphasis generally being directed towards understanding individual vulnerability factors. Moreover, although previous research has indicated that suicidality is underscored by the inner workings of personhood, suitable phenomenological approaches appear to have been infrequently applied. Accordingly, this thesis aimed to explore suicidal tendencies as predicted by low sense of self-cohesion, low self-esteem, psychological pain, distress, and emotions that underlie those psychological states. The selection of theoretically derived psychological factors was guided by the theories of Edwin S. Shneidman (psychache), and Heinz Kohut (self and self-cohesion). The cross-sectional nonexperimental design involved a survey of university students and staff, and volunteers from the South Australian community (N = 359, 72% females, 28% males, aged 18-67 years [M = 28.72; SD = 12.29]). Participants completed a battery of psychometric instruments, assessing self-cohesion, psychache, self-esteem, and psychological distress: 1) The Psychological Pain Assessment Scale (PPAS); 2) The Orbach and Mikulincer Mental Pain scale (OMMP); 3) The Psychache Scale (PS); 4) The Adelaide Self-Cohesion Scale (ASCS); 5) The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales 21 (DASS 21); 6) The Beck Self-Esteem scale (BSE); and 7) recent suicidality (from The Psychiatric Symptom Frequency Scale), lifetime attempts, and current suicidality indices. The thesis involved five studies, with results from each informing subsequent studies. Study 1 examined the psychometric properties of ASCS. Its three-factorial structure was replicated, confirming its validity for assessing a sense of self-cohesion. Study 2 tested relationships between self-cohesion, self-esteem, psychache, depression, anxiety, and stress. Exploratory factor analysis, followed by a Schmid-Leiman solution, found near-equivalence between the psychache measures OMMP and PS. Self-cohesion, self-esteem, psychache, depression, anxiety, and stress emerged as distinct but inter-related constructs, all strongly loading on a general factor of psychological frailty. Studies 3 and 4 explored relationships between these psychological factors and recent suicidal ideation/action, and history of suicide attempts. The utility of ASCS for assessing suicidality was also examined. The strongest contributor to recent suicidal ideation/action was depression, followed by self-esteem (part of self-cohesion) and psychache. The strongest contributor to lifelong suicide attempts was anxiety, followed by unmet childhood needs (part of self-cohesion). Study 5 clarified the nature of psychache in relation to three suicidality indices (recent suicidal ideation/action, lifetime attempts, and current suicidality). Two negative emotions underscored intense psychache across the three suicidality measures: self-hate and worthlessness. Additionally, “lure of death” was associated with lifetime suicide attempts only. Sadness, betrayal, and anger had negative associations with suicidality indices; hopelessness was associated with recent/current ideation, but not suicidal actions. It was concluded that suicide vulnerability is characterised by anxiety and a diminished sense of self, originating in early developmental frustrations resultant from unmet psychological needs. Further, tendencies for suicidal ideation/behaviours may partially be attributed to heightened levels of depression and psychache, and lowered self-esteem. As a clinical implication of the findings, it was proposed that a personal capacity for self-empathy may counter limitations of the self, help mollify deleterious effects of psychache and depression, reducing potential for suicide.Thesis (Combined MPsych (Clin) & Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 201

Aktualna rzeczywistość nauczyciela wyzwaniem dla edukacji wysokiej jakości

Over the recent years, the topic of high-quality education has increasingly emerged in the social discourse. The term “inclusive education” appears convergingly and is often analyzed by various academic representatives due to the lack of a uniform theoretical and practical concept. The indicated diversity allows for different ways of its understanding, which affects mutual complementation and introduces certain information chaos. It can be argued that inclusive education is one of the elements of change, a project to reform the education system, aiming to build a high-quality school system for all students. One of the main leaders of the aforementioned change is a teacher who, as a human being, functions within the current social reality, and at the same time acts as its co-creator. The aim of this article is to present teachers’ opinions on the current professional situation at the time of introducing inclusive education as part of high-quality education.Edukacja wysokiej jakości coraz częściej pojawia się w dyskursie społecznym. Zbieżnie występuje termin edukacji włączającej, który z powodu braku jednolitej koncepcji teoretycznej i praktycznej często analizowany jest przez różnych nauczycieli akademickich. Wskazana różnorodność pozwala na różne sposoby definiowania, co wprowadza pewien chaos informacyjny. Można postawić tezę, że edukacja włączająca jest jednym z elementów zmiany, projektem reformy systemu oświatowego, którego celem jest zbudowanie szkoły wysokiej jakości dla wszystkich uczniów. Jednym z głównych liderów wspomnianej zmiany jest nauczyciel, który funkcjonuje w ramach obowiązującej rzeczywistości społecznej, stanowiąc jednocześnie jej współtwórcę. Celem prezentowanego artykułu jest przedstawienie opinii nauczycieli na temat ich sytuacji zawodowej w czasie wprowadzania edukacji włączającej jako elementu edukacji wysokiej jakości

Introduction

Introduction to: Wybrane zagadnienia metodologii i metodyki badań w obszarze niepełnosprawności i codzienności osób z niepełnosprawnością

Projekt "Owca" - refleksje pedagoga : o współpracy w działaniu

The Project “Sheep” resulted from the special educator and ethnologist cooperation, as addressing the need for using an experience and place by representatives of different scientific areas, the purpose of which was to combine professional competence in innovative teaching. The main goal was to raise funds to buy a sheep, then entrust it to the experienced shepherd from Koniaków who wanders along the Carpathians and reconstruct the old way of grazing. At the same time, the participation in this project has been used as an excellent opportunity to talk about building the local identity and cultural heritage values of the region and disabled people. This project also concerned people who are often barely visible in the human herd—people with disabilities

Oczekiwania nauczycieli jako czynnik kreujący zredukowaną rzeczywistość szkolną ucznia niepełnosprawnego w szkole ogólnodostępnej

presented article contain the teachers opinions of the perceived social expectations in relation to their own expectations of both the institutions of school and Local educational authorities. The starting point is a thesis that asymmetrical and disproportionate expectations conducive to the construction of the reduced school reality a specified group of students. as reality shows school does not always reflect the social expectations, which is closely connected with the attitudes of teachers in mainstream schools. however, their expectations of working conditions and the same students with disabilities often remain inconsistent. To identify and interpret the reality that create the appearance of the school, the topic is examined in the context of the concept of the reduced space and the theory of games

Codzienność osoby z głęboką niepełnosprawnością intelektualną w domu pomocy społecznej

Over the last dozen years a considerable number of attempts have been made in Poland to bring the disabled into the mainstream of the community life. Since each individual has the right to development that prepares him or her for independent functioning, a formal basis has been created to guarantee people with disabilities the right to learning and to decent living conditions. Thus, a system has been developed which supports care for this group of people. Moreover, a large number of media campaigns have been launched to promote the positive image of disabled people. Taking into consideration official statements and formal arrangements, the public’s attitudes towards the disabled are indeed changing. However, in everyday practice a distanced attitude is still very frequent, or even avoidance of the issue. Among people with disabilities, those with a profound intellectual disability form a special group. This type of impairment prevents them from living normal, self-reliant lives. Constant stimulation of their development is a chance for them to improve their ability to function physically, intellectually and socially. Often nursing homes and the therapeutic assistance they provide are the only source of help for people who for a variety of reasons remain uncared for. Poland’s access to the European Community resulted in an increased interest in the problems of the disabled and committed units of administration to providing them with care. Institutions which were founded before the access to the Union had to undergo standardisation. In spite of the changes in the field of institutional care for people with intellectual disabilities, there still remain many problems which result from the inconsistencies in the Polish legal system, unclear regulations, and different interpretations of these regulations which are responsible for differences in the organisation and practice of particular institutions. The research into the situation of people with profound intellectual disabilities, residents of nursing homes, was inspired by the author’s therapeutic experience — both in schools and in nursing homes — with a group of people whose needs are often difficult to understand because of the wide range of medical signs observed in patients with this kind of impairment. The book presents individual factors which determine the therapy effectiveness, taking into consideration various levels of functioning impairment. The book includes theoretical considerations (connected with the multidimensional terminology, disability models described in literature, ways of defining and classifying intellectual disability, a description of the institutional care in the form of nursing homes, and an outline of problems connected with everyday life of their residents) and methodological considerations (research methods, effectiveness of the methods, individual factors which determine the therapy results, and a correlation between the age of the subject, the time he or she has spent in the institution, the state of health and the type of contact he or she maintains with the family). The investigations put emphasis on the role of modification of therapy elements with a view to making it more beneficial for people who need it

Psychodrama jako narzędzie użyteczne w (z)rozumieniu niepełnosprawności (ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem niepełnosprawności intelektualnej)

Psychodrama is a method of therapy and personal development which strongly engages – apart from the intellect – the body and emotions. It frequently makes use of symbols and metaphors based on a natural inclination to play, at the same time triggering spontaneity and creativity. Psychodrama was invented by Jacob Moreno in the early 20th century. For a long time, it has been subjected to various changes. Its development has brought about the adjustment of its tools to different needs and group situations. Today, psychodrama is widely applied in psychotherapy, personal development, business, as well as education. The presented study is aimed at showing the usefulness of psychodrama as a tool which enhances the understanding of disability by both people without disability (as it is understood by the non-disabled) and the disabled (as regards the understanding of their own limitations). An additional goal is presenting the general assumptions of psychodrama and the benefits from using its techniques for the development of e.g. teachers, therapists, tutors and other people working with the intellectually disabled, post-graduate students of special pedagogy in the field of oligophrenopedagogy

The potential of psychodrama in early intervention - a case study

Early intervention becomes an increasingly common subject of interdisciplinary considerations related to child care from the first moments of life. The earlier action is taken against the risk of child's disability, the greater the possibility of success in defeating it. One of the main goals of early intervention is to detect the earliest threats to child's development. The present study draws attention to the circumstances hindering proper development based on a case study. There are many methods that prove to be useful in the daily practice of a special educator. However, psychodrama provides the opportunity to capture the moment when preventive measures should be introduced. The expertise of a special educator combined with psychodrama enables an insight into the child's future and allows to plan actions that will best support the child's development. Only very early support of a child at risk of disability and their family, with a particular focus on the parents, will enable normal development of the child in all spheres

Sprawozdanie z X-lecia Międzynarodowych Konferencji Naukowych w Ustroniu

Temat konferencji był kontynuacją podjętych rozważań nad wątkami zaniedbanymi oraz koniecznymi w procesie edukacji i wsparcia społecznego osób niepełnosprawnych (Ustroń 2004), przemianami w kształceniu dzieci z upośledzeniami umysłowymi (Ostrawa 2005), wątkami koniecznymi w procesie edukacji, rehabilitacji i socjalizacji osób niepełnosprawnych (Ustroń 2006), kształceniem uczniów ze specjalnymi potrzebami edukacyjnymi (Ostrawa 2007), problemami edukacji, rehabilitacji i socjalizacji osób niepełnosprawnych (Ustroń 2008), równymi szansami w edukacji osób ze specjalnymi potrzebami (Ostrawa 2009), zagadnieniami edukacji i socjalizacji osób niepełnosprawnych (Ustroń 2010), refleksjami nad współczesnymi trendami w pedagogice specjalnej (Ostrawa 2011), zagadnieniami edukacji, socjalizacji i fizjoterapii w życiu osób niepełnosprawnych (Cieszyn 2012) oraz zagadnieniami edukacji inkluzyjnej (Ostrawa 2013)