Anne Jobling

Parents’ attitudes to inclusion of their children with special needs

This study investigated the attitudes of 354 Australian parents who have a child with a disability and who attends a state school in Queensland. The types of disability of the children were broadly in accordance with accepted prevalence figures, except for a greater number reported as having autistic spectrum disorder and fewer students with a learning difficulty/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The children were in a range of classes, from special schools to schools where there was in-class help from a special teacher or teacher aide. Many of the parents favoured inclusion, some would if additional resources were provided, and a small group of parents favoured special placement. There were a limited number of negative attitudes to inclusion reported by the parents, and though some parents thought that some need existed for in-service education about inclusion, this was not a widespread view.

‘I never imagined I’d have to teach these children’: providing authentic learning experiences for secondary pre‐service teachers in teaching students with special needs

This article describes a collaborative and cross‐curricula initiative undertaken in the School of Education at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. The project involved developing an integrated approach to providing professional year pre‐service secondary teacher education students with experiences that would assist them to develop their knowledge and skills to teach students with special needs in their classrooms. These experiences were undertaken in the authentic teaching and learning context of a post‐school literacy program for young adults with intellectual disabilities. In preliminary interviews pre‐service teachers revealed that they lacked experience, knowledge and understanding related to teaching students with special needs, and felt that their teacher education program lacked focus in this field. This project was developed in response to these expressed needs. Through participating in the project, pre‐service teachers’ knowledge and understanding about working with students with diverse learning needs were developed as they undertook real and purposeful tasks in an authentic context.

Valuing the Voices of Young Disabled People: Exploring Experience of Physical Education and Sport

This article will report on the process of student‐led research as an innovative pedagogical technique for learning more about the physical education (PE) and sporting experiences of young disabled people. The article drawson work fromtwo school based curriculum projects thatsought to work with young people in an empowering manner. We argue that student‐led project work can place value on students voices, promote dialogue between students and teachers and enables students’ to enhance their awareness and reflective capacity.We propose that as researchers we needto rethink our understandingof the research process if we are to support research centralising the voices of young people.

Children with Down syndrome: Discovering the joy of movement

JOPERD • Volume 77 No. 6 • August 2006 D own syndrome (DS) is the most frequently occurring chromosomal abnormality. It results from the presence of an extra partial or complete 21st chromosome. This increase in genetic material disrupts all aspects of an individual’s physical, mental, and social development. While the specifi c sensory and perceptual-motor impairments associated with DS have been well reported, less is known about how best to structure the environment and tailor programs that can maximize the potential of individuals with DS and increase their participation in physical activity. For children with DS, it is widely recognized that the development of movement patterns and the acquisition of motor skill profi ciency can be a slow and discouraging process. Although some children can attain a competence level that is somewhat comparable to their peers, motor milestones are generally delayed, and, in certain aspects of motor skill performance, children and adults with DS show a “lack of fi nesse” often described as “clumsy” (Henderson, 1986; Jobling 1999a, b; Latash, 2000). For children with DS, discovering the joy of movement can be a frustrating and diffi cult task. From a perceptual-motor perspective, the motor features of this observed “clumsiness” are “not straightforward...and sometimes puzzling” (Latash, 2000 p. 209). This awkward form of movement can add to feelings of frustration as movement and movement sequences in action become ineffi cient and thus ineffective as related to the task.

Beyond sex and cooking: Health education for individuals with intellectual disability

Issues of health education programming for people with intellectual disability are discussed. As environments in which such individuals live become more inclusive, and they are encouraged to make their own choices, the issue of whether current health education is sufficient to enable them to make healthy life choices is considered. More attention should be focused on programs in schools and the community to fulfill this need. Three aspects of health education programming are considered: physical activity, general health knowledge, and social supports for health. Continuity of information is viewed as important in policy development as well as in interprofessional coordination and cooperation to assure that these individuals are not further handicapped by poor health.

Maternal support for autonomy : Relationships with persistence for children with Down syndrome and typically developing children

Maternal behaviors and child mastery behaviors were examined in 25 children with Down syndrome and 43 typically developing children matched for mental age (24-36 months). During a shared problem-solving task, there were no group differences in maternal directiveness or support for autonomy, and mothers in the two groups used similar verbal strategies when helping their child. There were also no group differences in child mastery behaviors, measured as persistence with two optimally challenging tasks. However, the two groups differed in the relationships of maternal style with child persistence. Children with Down syndrome whose mothers were more supportive of their autonomy in the shared task displayed greater persistence when working independently on a challenging puzzle, while children of highly directive mothers displayed lower levels of persistence. For typically developing children, persistence was unrelated to maternal style, suggesting that mother behaviors may have different causes or consequences in the two groups.

Listening to the ‘voices’ of students with severe learning difficulties through a task-based approach to research and learning in physical education

In this article, Hayley Fitzgerald, Anne Jobling and David Kirk consider the physical education and sporting experiences of a group of students with severe learning difficulties. Their study is thought provoking, not only because of the important and somewhat neglected subject matter, but equally for the research approach adopted. The way in which the study engaged with the students and the insights gained from that engagement will be of particular interest to practitioner researchers.

The preparation of reach to grasp movements in adults with Down syndrome

The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which adults with Down syndrome (DS) are able to utilise advance information to prepare reach to grasp movements. The study comprised ten adults with DS; ten children matched to an individual in the group with DS on the basis of their intellectual ability, and twelve adult controls. The participants used their right hand to reach out and grasp illuminated perspex blocks. Four target blocks were positioned on a table surface, two to each side of the midsagittal plane. In the complete precue condition, participants were provided with information specifying the location of the target. In the partial precue condition, participants were given advance information indicating the location of the object relative to the midsagittal plane (left or right). In the null condition, advance information concerning the position of the target object was entirely ambiguous. It was found that both reaction times and movement times were greater for the participants with DS than for the adults without DS. The reaction times exhibited by individuals with DS in the complete precue condition were lower than those observed in the null condition, indicating that they had utilised advance information to prepare their movements. In the group with DS, when advance information specified only the location of the target object relative to the midline, reaction times were equivalent to those obtained when ambiguous information was given. In contrast, the adults without DS exhibited reaction times that were lower in both the complete and partial precue conditions when compared to the null condition. The pattern of results exhibited by the children was similar to that of the adults without DS. The movement times exhibited by all groups were not influenced by the precue condition. In summary, our findings indicate that individuals with DS are able to use advance information if it specifies precisely the location of the target object in order to prepare a reach to grasp movement. The group with DS were unable, however, to obtain the normal advantage of advance information specifying only one dimension of the movement goal (i.e., the position of an object relative to the body midline).

Motor Development in School‐Aged Children With Down Syndrome: a longitudinal perspective

Abstract Movement is life! Motor development plays an essential role in the development of all children. From their earliest years, the attainment of motor milestones and the proficient development of motor skills provide the basis for the many other areas of development. Effective and efficient movement enhances confidence and has been shown to contribute to self‐concept and self‐worth. Little is known about the development of motor proficiency in individuals with Down syndrome beyond their early childhood. This study was designed to investigate motor development in school‐aged children to provide a more comprehensive picture of motor development into adolescence. The study was undertaken over 10 years in Brisbane, Australia, with a group of children involved in the Schonell Research Centre longitudinal study into Down syndrome. Results showed that the childrens motor proficiency continued to progress into adolescence and that there were a wide range of inter‐ and intra‐individual differences in their s...

The Stanford Binet Fourth Edition and Its Use with Individuals with Down Syndrome: Cautions for Clinicians.

Stanford Binet: Fourth Edition (SB:IV) assessments have been collected longitudinally for 195 individuals with Down syndrome. This article discusses individual assessments which were selected for their ability to highlight major concerns that practitioners need to consider when interpreting intelligence test scores with this population. In this study, Intelligence Quotient (IQ) changed substantially for many individuals, demonstrating changes in classification from a mild level of intellectual impairment on initial assessment to a severe level on later assessment. Subtests used in calculating composite scores were found to have a dramatic effect on IQ. There was up to 9 IQ points difference depending on whether only the “core” subtests or all subtests used by the assessor were included in the calculations. Thirty‐seven percent of the assessments were at “floor level” (i.e., IQ of 36), despite obvious divergent abilities illustrated by age equivalent scores. Mean Age Equivalent (MAE) scores were also problematic as they failed to adequately represent either the range, or divergence, of abilities of the individuals whose data are presented. Directions for future research are discussed.