Teaching practice in the training of special education teachers in Finland

Abstract The aim of this study was to explore the core of teaching practice as a part of the curricula for master’s degree in special teacher education. The data consisted of the curricula of teaching practice of all six universities in Finland that offer this program, along with the results of an electronic questionnaire administered to students. The curricula were obtained from the internet and the questionnaire was delivered to special education students at two of the six universities. Content analysis was used as a method. According to the results the curricula could be compressed into eight key elements, main of which were basic special education competence, advanced methods, collaboration, and interaction skills. Unfortunately, just 54 students responded to the questionnaire. However, they considered teaching practice a relevant part of their studies. They were satisfied with the supervision although, they commented, it could have been more frequent. The results are discussed using a four point frame of curriculum, pointing to the rare possibilities of students to negotiate or to feel empowered

Clinical and genetic characteristics of late-onset Huntington's disease

Background: The frequency of late-onset Huntington's disease (>59 years) is assumed to be low and the clinical course milder. However, previous literature on late-onset disease is scarce and inconclusive. Objective: Our aim is to study clinical characteristics of late-onset compared to common-onset HD patients in a large cohort of HD patients from the Registry database. Methods: Participants with late- and common-onset (30–50 years)were compared for first clinical symptoms, disease progression, CAG repeat size and family history. Participants with a missing CAG repeat size, a repeat size of ≤35 or a UHDRS motor score of ≤5 were excluded. Results: Of 6007 eligible participants, 687 had late-onset (11.4%) and 3216 (53.5%) common-onset HD. Late-onset (n = 577) had significantly more gait and balance problems as first symptom compared to common-onset (n = 2408) (P <.001). Overall motor and cognitive performance (P <.001) were worse, however only disease motor progression was slower (coefficient, −0.58; SE 0.16; P <.001) compared to the common-onset group. Repeat size was significantly lower in the late-onset (n = 40.8; SD 1.6) compared to common-onset (n = 44.4; SD 2.8) (P <.001). Fewer late-onset patients (n = 451) had a positive family history compared to common-onset (n = 2940) (P <.001). Conclusions: Late-onset patients present more frequently with gait and balance problems as first symptom, and disease progression is not milder compared to common-onset HD patients apart from motor progression. The family history is likely to be negative, which might make diagnosing HD more difficult in this population. However, the balance and gait problems might be helpful in diagnosing HD in elderly patients