“With an LD you’re always mediocre and expect to be mediocre”: Perceptions of Adults Recently Diagnosed with Learning Disabilities

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the educational and em-ployment experiences of 10 adults who had recently been diagnosed as having a learning disability. Seven of the participants eventually obtained a high school diploma or the equivalent and they all had held a variety of entry-level jobs. The participants felt that having an undiagnosed learning disability had negatively af-fected their past, present, and future educational and employment opportunities. The importance of a caring adult to advocate on behalf of at-risk students and a set of goals, skills, and abilities that should be developed while in school emerged from the findings

The Transition Process for Adolescents with Learning Disabilities: Perspectives of Five Families

This qualitative study examines, from the perspective of the families, the transition process to employment or postsecondary education for adolescents with learning disabilities (LDs) and the interplay of the roles of parents, students with LDs, and teachers. Using a case study design, series of three in-depth interviews were conducted with five individuals with LDs and with their parents. Data were analyzed inductively. The findings indicate that the families all had informal transition plans; formal transition plans were not written. For four of the families, the transition process was successful and occurred in two phases spanning the elementary and secondary school years. In the first phase parents controlled the transition process, and during the second phase they transferred this responsibility to their children with LDs. Parents’ high expectations and advocacy; students’ hard work, self-determination and self-advocacy; and teachers’ mentoring and support also contributed to the achievement of transition goals. Throughout the process parents, adolescents with LDs, and teachers worked collaboratively. In the fifth case, only the factor of parental advocacy was in place, and it was insufficient to bring about a successful transition for the adolescent with LDs

The Potential for Effect of a Six-Week Training Program for Gait Aid Use in Older People with Dementia with Unsteadiness of Gait: A Pilot Study

This study examined the potential for effect of a six-week gait aid training program for people with dementia on spatiotemporal gait outcomes, perception of use, and falls with gait aid use. The program utilised four 30-min physiotherapy home visits, scheduled at weeks 1/2/3/6, and was enhanced by carer-supervised practice. Falls and the physiotherapist’s clinical judgement of participants achieving safe gait aid use during and after the program were described. Perception ratings at each visit were measured using Likert scales which, along with the spatiotemporal outcomes using the gait aid (Time-Up-and-Go-Test, 4-m-walk-test, Figure-of-8-Walk-Test with/without a cognitive task) at weeks 1 and 6, and at weeks 6 and 12 (6-week post-program), were examined with ordinal logistic regression analyses. Twenty-four community-dwelling older people with dementia and their carers participated. Twenty-one (87.5%) older people achieved safe gait aid use. Twenty falls occurred, and only one faller was using their gait aid when they fell. Walking speed, step length, and cadence significantly improved when walking with the gait aid at week 6 compared with week 1. No significant improvements in spatiotemporal outcomes were retained at week 12. Physiotherapists were more likely to agree that gait aid use had improved walking safety among older people with dementia with subsequent training visits. Larger studies of the gait aid training program are needed for this clinical group