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Sheltered work and leisure activities were locked down in at the Signo centre in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Signo centre is a Norwegian national centre for adults with multiple, complex needs, including severe sensory loss/impairments. Tension and uncertainty rapidly spread among relatives and workers. To explore the impacts of the pandemic on residents, 24 adults living in Signo Vivo answered a semi-structured interview together with their primary worker. Additionally, reports on staff injuries and PRN medication between April and Aug of 2020 were compared to the period before the lockdown. The reports from the interviews included fewer stressful events for the participants, more rest and sleep, more time spent in their own apartments, and more time with smaller groups of workers. The reports on staff injuries and PRN medication showed decreased occurrence.

This study, inspired by a life course approach, examines how former students with special educational needs that were met with different types of support, succeed in finding employment with sufficient pay to sustain livelihood and, thus, made themselves economically independent. The individuals in the sample (N = 295) are a part of a Norwegian research project that has lasted for 20 years. The study participants' difficulties and their special needs and the provision made to meet those needs were recorded when they were 16-17 years old. Beyond their teens, they reported the information about themselves every fifth year until their mid-thirties. At that age, more than half were economically independent. Logistic regression analysis revealed that independent variables in the analytic model influence economic independence in various ways. The main conclusion was that the use of teacher assistants and much special pedagogical teaching do not contribute to long-term economic independence. Other factors, including changes in the life course after leaving secondary school, vocational or academic competence registered when the individuals were in their late twenties and the birth of their first child seem to be of greater importance. Yet other factors, such as gender and functional level seem to be decisive.

International businesses face a difficult task when trying to decide where to place or expand a business that could be located anywhere in the world. Each country is a complex system of human capabilities, technical systems, [infrastructure bases, laws, cultures and economic systems. How can a company know which country is best for it today, and even more importantly, which country will grow into an appropriate location for future business opportunities? Several studies offer insights into how to make site selection decisions (O'Farrell & Wood, 1994; Papadopoulos et al., 2002; Rothaermel et al., 2006) but the complexity of the data required makes initial analysis across many countries problematic. Most businesses, trying to predict an ideal country or sequence of countries to enter, are left to simple rules of thumb or decision models using limited criteria (Górecka & Szalucka, 2013; Alexander et al., 2011). A wide variety of country data of varying reliability and efficacy are frequently used (Rahman, 2003). Many of the largest companies have developed specialized teams with sophisticated models for site selection. However, for smaller companies finding reliable, consistently measured data they can interpret and analyze in ways that provide useful insights is a challenge. This article introduces the Social Progress Index, launched in April 2013 at the 10th annual Skoll World Forum held at the University of Oxford (The Origins, 2015). The Social Progress Index is unique because it is the most comprehensive framework developed for measuring social progress and the first to measure social progress independently of GDP or other economic variables (Porter, 2015; Keohane, 2015). Three cases have been chosen to demonstrate the usefulness of the Social Progress Index for site selection in three very different circumstances.

Democracy in an inclusive discourse in education relates to all children's rights to comment upon and influence matters concerning their interest in education. The article's empirical data are based on a girl categorised with intellectual disability who through her surroundings is granted the right to influence her physical placement in school, which results in her often choosing to segregate herself from the fellowship with peers. This creates a dilemma for the school, which is faced with the question of overruling her decision in favour of other aspects of inclusion such as fellowship and participation or to continue supporting her decision to segregate. Based on theoretical contributions by Ian Hacking and Lev Vygotskij, this article discusses how schools and teachers approach children that are categorised as intellectually disabled and how the category influences the construction of their identity. Further, constructions of identity govern how the child views themselves and their surroundings. How they understand themselves in relation to the context and situations they are part of will ultimately affect what needs, wishes and compensation strategies the child develops. Studying the structures at play might contribute to further understanding about what causes a child to decide in a manner that conflicts with dimensions of inclusion.

This article examines gifted students' (ages 13–16) groupwork on a rich task in mathematics. This study was conducted in Norway, which has an inclusive education system that does not allow fixed-ability grouping. The purpose of this study was to better understand how to cultivate mathematical learning opportunities for gifted learners in inclusive education systems. The analysis was conducted from a multimodal perspective, in which students' coordination of speech, gestures, and artifact use was viewed as part of their learning process. The findings contribute to discussions on gifted students as a heterogeneous group. Moreover, our analysis illustrates how giftedness can be invisible, leading to unrealized potential and low achievement. We suggest that more attention be paid to teaching by adapting to gifted students' individual needs, particularly if the intention is to provide high-quality learning opportunities for gifted students in inclusive settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study sought to identify dignity‐based practices in a Norwegian activation programme − the Qualification Programme. Some welfare recipients are likely to experience shame in connection with their interaction with the welfare system. Previous research suggests that a dignity‐based approach could help welfare recipients to avoid such negative experiences. The operational components of dignity have been identified as autonomy, empathy and rights. Data gathered through individual interviews with participants and activation workers were examined using interpretative phenomenological analysis with a focus on exploring respondents' perceptions of events to which they ascribe meaning. The findings indicate that accounts of empathy were common, but that the study's participants seldom reported experiencing that their autonomy and rights were enhanced. Participation in the programme appeared to undermine the participants' dignity, particularly when individual needs were overlooked. An underlying reason could be the current move away from a comprehensive understanding of service users' different needs and to a narrow focus on employability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To explore solo mothers' postnatal caring experiences. Patients and Methods: A qualitative interview study including nine solo mothers living in six different counties in Norway. The mothers had a total of twelve children conceived through assisted fertilization and donor sperm. Systematic text condensation was used to analyze the data. Results: The first theme described how the decision to be a solo mother entailed responsibility and rendered solo mothers vulnerable. Secondly, it was valuable, but sometimes surprising, to be met with care and interest, but, and finally, bending standard rules and regulation of the postnatal ward proved necessary to fit the needs of solo mothers. Conclusion: Solo mothers see themselves as different from other mothers, and the results of this study underline that solo mothers' individual needs are not always met in postnatal care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The naval hero Peter Wassel Tordenskjold (1690-1720) was one of the most celebrated historical figures in both nineteenth-century Norway and Denmark. This double national cultivation gave cause for an ongoing feud between Danish and Norwegian historians concerning his true fatherland. At the same time, the uncertainty surrounding his exact nationality offered a wealth of material for narratives of Dano-Norwegian, and even pan- Scandinavian rapprochement. This article explores Tordenskjold's track record as a figure of national cultivation by treating him as a dynamic and transnational memory site (lieu de mémoire). It will be demonstrated that the contestation surrounding the ownership of his memory formed an important motivation for the rich artistic cultivation of this national hero, while the symbolic meaning attributed to him was subjected to the ideological needs of the individuals and groups appropriating him. As such, Tordenskjold came to be alternately ingrained in Danish, Norwegian, Dano-Norwegian, and Scandinavian frameworks according to the relevant political and social circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the requirement of psychological intervention individualized music (IM) therapy to fulfill the needs of dementia patients. It is mentioned that the aim of the study is to explore experience of IM care staff in nursing home residential with dementia. The study concludes that IM can make person-centered care easy through increased resident involvement.