Search

This chapter reviews the literature in relation to the effect that employment and method of employment has on the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities. The chapter first summarizes the literature on whether employment affects the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities, and then reports those papers that investigate whether differences exist in the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities employed in sheltered employment compared with open employment. The chapter concludes with a call for more research in the area, specifically highlighting gaps in our current knowledge and identifying areas worthy of future research on this matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter examines intellectual disability and begging in the Nigerian context. The interface between the two phenomena is considered with a view to understanding the socio-cultural conditions that precipitate begging by people with intellectual disabilities in Nigeria. The chapter concludes by recommending effective policy implementation strategies in the area of education targeted at both parents of people with intellectual disabilities and the person with the disability themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance measurement is important for agencies assisting people with intellectual disabilities in terms of measuring the efficiency and effectiveness of the agency΄s service provision. In this chapter we argue that agencies that assist people with intellectual disabilities can use quality of life as one potential measure of performance. This is demonstrated with reference to research conducted by Kober (2006) on the effect of different methods of employment on the quality of life for people with intellectual disabilities. The performance of agencies and/or programs can be assessed based on comparisons of quality of life outcomes under different methods of employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past few decades both the structure and the culture of the Dutch health-care system have changed. A new insurance system was introduced as well as new legislation. Both were mainly cost-driven, but were also influenced by changing visions. These changes also had implications for the intellectual disabilities field. Quality assurance was introduced, first to monitor and improve health-care processes; later on quality assurance became outcome-oriented. The concept of Quality of Life (QoL) proved to be a useful concept in a sensitizing, organizing and reflecting way. In policy development in the intellectual disabilities field, the concept of QoL meant a paradigm change (sensitizing), implying changes in views and roles of several stakeholders at micro, meso and macro level in the field (organizing). The concept of QoL is used in a reference framework at a national level, as well as in a memorandum at an EU level (reflecting). In practice, the concept of QoL is applied by several organizations in the disabilities field as a sensitizing concept (as seen by the renewing of mission statements and general objectives), with best-practice resulting in organizations refocusing services and programmes. The outcome orientation in the disabilities field has led to the use of the concept of QoL as a reflecting model. The task for the next decade is to internalize, align and broaden the described practices so as to strive for an enhanced quality of life for people with intellectual disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People with intellectual disabilities and elderly need physical and intellectual support to ensuring independent living. This is one of the main issues in applying Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into Assistive Technology field. In this sense the development of appropriated Intelligent Systems (ISs) offers new perspectives to this community. In our project a new IS system (LAGUNTXO) which adds user affective information oriented to people with intellectual disabilities has been developed. The system integrates a Human Emotion Analysis System (HEAS) which attempts to solve critical situations for this community as block stages. In the development of the HEAS one of the critical issues was to create appropriated databases to train the system due to the difficulty to simulate pre-block stages in laboratory. Finally a films and real sequences based emotion elicitation database was created. The elicitation material was categorized with more actual features based on discrete emotions and dimensional terms (pleasant, unpleasant). Classically the evaluation is carried out by a specialist (psychologist). In this work we present a hybrid approach for Automatic Evaluation of Emotion Elicitation databases based on Machine Learning classifiers and K-means clustering. The new categorization and the automatic evaluation show a high level of accuracy with respect to others methodologies presented in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to face the problems that people with disabilities find in their integration into working environments, one of the key issues is the implementation of solutions offered by new technologies by using what experts call ˵Support Technologies″. The development of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) based on mobile platforms offers new perspectives for better integration of people with disabilities. The LAGUNTXO System aims to achieve the performance of human tutors, going a step beyond classical tutoring systems which perform organizational tasks. Due to the wide diversity related to people with disabilities, an intelligent structure that may achieve a convenient tutoring system configuration for each case has been incorporated. With an appropriate design of the structure and architecture of this task handler, it is very easy to operate by stakeholders. An automaton-based mechanism has been performed to technologically adapt the large amount of possibilities related to the interaction between people with disabilities, the task that is going to be made autonomously by these people, and the mobile system elements. In this paper, LAGUNTXO architecture, operational ways, and several use cases are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education for students with disabilities now takes place in a wide range of settings, thus, including a wider range of assistive tools. As a result of this, one of the most interesting application domains of technology enhanced learning is related to the adoption of learning technologies and designs for people with disabilities. Following this unstoppable trend, this paper presents MAS, a software platform aimed to help people with severe intellectual disabilities and cerebral paralysis in their learning processes. MAS, as a technology enhanced learning platform, provides several tools that supports learning and monitoring for people with special needs, including adaptative games, data processing and monitoring tools. Installed in a special needs education institution in Madrid, Spain, MAS provides special educators with a tool that improved students education processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The object of this research is to build up a picture of what families with children with intellectual disability in Spain understand by quality of life and, on this basis, draw up a scale specially focusing on adults (over 18) that will furnish information on the support required by these families and so allow us to promote the necessary resources from the organizations and the different administrations. This research is based on the work on the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities and their families carried out by various research groups over the past few decades. The project involves researchers from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the University of Seville, the Autonomous University of Madrid and the University of the Basque Country, as well as from the Ramon Llull University in Barcelona, who coordinated the project. The work comprises focus groups with parents and siblings, and interviews with people with intellectual disability in the five Autonomous Communities where the universities taking part are based. At the moment we are in a position to present only the general approach of the research (characteristics of the sample, composition and distribution of the focus groups, data analysis procedures, etc.) and the results of the pilot study which will enable us to define more precisely the questions and the methodology to be employed in the fieldwork. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family Quality of Life (FQOL) research partly stemmed from government policies in the 1970s promoting deinstitutionalization, resulting in increasing numbers of families becoming responsible for the primary care and support of their relative with an intellectual disability. Research has indicated that families have not necessarily been prepared for the duration and intensity of this care, leading to added demands on disability services to provide such families with support. Consequently, there has grown a need to evaluate FQOL. This chapter describes two internationally developed FQOL survey measures; the Beach Center Family Quality of Life Scale (Beach Center on Disability, 2003) and the international Family Quality of Life Survey: Main caregivers of people with intellectual disabilities (I. Brown et al., 2006), and discusses their concurrent use within Australia. Both surveys made use of similar FQOL domains associated with Emotional, Material, and Physical Well-Being; Family Relationships; and Disability Services, but there are also some differences throughout the scales. While both surveys resulted in relatively comprehensive FQOL data, some components relevant to FQOL were included in one survey but not the other, such as ˵Transportation,″ ˵Parenting,″ and ˵Influence of Values.″ In addition, while both surveys used the measurement concepts Importance and Satisfaction, the International Survey also measured Opportunities, Initiative, Attainment, and Stability. The evaluation of these two instruments carried out in the present study supports the importance of measuring FQOL using mixed-methods in an interview format where possible, and it also provides suggestions for how these measures could be improved to better identify what makes up a life of quality for these families as well as the support needed to improve the QOL of families who have a member with a intellectual disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A non-profit community agency closed its sheltered workshop for adults with intellectual disabilities, and offered new options in the community. Three years later, they measured the impact of change in the area of community affiliation and social capital. The change resulted in improvements in personal quality of life as measured by Personal Outcome Measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the first part of this chapter we describe the care and support systems for children with intellectual disabilities and their families in Slovenia. In the second part we present data on family quality of life in Slovenia. We present family quality of life scores for the entire sample as well as separately analyzing the data for families: with children with intellectual disabilities who experience developmental issues and for families with children with intellectual disabilities who experience behavioral issues. Data were collected using the family quality of life survey (Brown et al., 2006), which was adapted according to Slovene conditions. Results of particular interest are: (1) the low family quality of life for Slovene families with a child with an intellectual disability relative to international averages; (2) a statistically significantly higher family quality of life in the families with children with intellectual disabilities who experience developmental issues compared with families with children with intellectual disabilities who experience behavioral issues; and (3) financial wellbeing, being statistically significantly correlated to total family quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality of life for children with a disability is important to their sense of self-worth and their development but has not often been the focus of study. Some aspects of children΄s quality of life are dependent upon their family΄s quality life – others relate to the individual and their everyday activities, and are worthy of separate consideration. This chapter discusses the results of an inquiry into the ordinary lives of children with a disability who attended inclusive schools. A quality of life framework was used to guide the inquiry and subsequently analyze the findings. A personal account of the children΄s experiences at school, home, and in the community was provided by the children themselves and their parents through interviews. The quality of life of these children appeared rich, and the circumstances that enhanced their lives are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concepts of quality of life and life satisfaction are ubiquitous, complex and intertwined. But for people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) – who by most measures have a very low quality of life – understanding, assessing and improving quality of life and life satisfaction are very problematic. The first author΄s research, briefly described in this chapter, investigated the nature of life satisfaction for children with such disabilities. The primary findings are a grounded theory about the nature of life satisfaction for children with PIMD, and a grounded theory about how others can (best) come to know them. The authors believe that this life satisfaction can be discerned, that children with PIMD often experience a reasonable quality of life and that their life satisfaction and quality of life can be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]