John R. Hegarty

Websites as Educational Motivators for Adults with Learning Disability.

Adults with learning disability pose an educational challenge for teachers and support workers. They frequently have limited skills in reading and writing, and may find it difficult to pay attention to topics of little interest to them. Nevertheless, they can be keen to use new technology, and often have hobbies and interests that are catered for on the Internet. This article describes a project aimed to highlight the advantages and weaknesses of web-based learning for adults with learning disability, and to suggest improvements. Eight students with mild to moderate learning disability were helped to find websites related to their interests, and supported in creating multimedia work linked to those sites. Results showed the powerfully motivating effect of the websites for students, but highlighted the access difficulties posed by websites for such students. Further work in this area is needed, to develop strategies for exploiting the motivating effect of websites, and to improve the accessibility of sites for people with low literacy levels.

Effects of Consistent Food Presentation on Oral-Motor Skill Acquisition in Children with Severe Neurological Impairment

Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluate systematically the effect of presenting food consistently, in a position regarded as optimal, to children with severe neurological impairment who have associated oral-motor dysfunction. We tested the validity of some recommendations often made in the literature regarding good feeding practices. The trial used an ABA within-subjects design and extended over a 9-month period. Sixteen children between 7 and 17 years of age with severe neurological impairment and associated eating difficulties were studied. Six subjects had some speech. The effects of the intervention were compared by detailed analysis of standard feeding assessments carried out and video-recorded under control and experimental conditions. Statistically significant differences in components of oral-motor behavior were found when a consistent method of food presentation was employed and significant improvements, which could not be attributed to maturation alone, were found between assessment periods. There were also significant differences in the degree of oral-motor learning achieved by children who had some speech and those who had none. Newly acquired skills were not always evident at followup, however, nor in control assessments of feeding. We conclude that some children, even those with severe neurological impairment, can acquire mastery over latent or previously undeveloped oral-motor skills when feeding strategies are modified to allow appropriate opportunities for learning to occur.

ICT for adults with learning disabilities: an organisation‐wide audit

Microcomputers have recognised value for people with learning disability (mental retardation) and their use has been a feature of many service settings since the 1980s. Recent technological advances, such as the modern and powerful personal computers with multimedia capability and the Internet, have, however, not yet been widely adopted in day and residential services. The implications of these developments for service planning and management are not fully understood. A survey of microcomputer use for adults with learning disability within The Home Farm Trust, a UK national organisation for people with learning disability was carried out in the light of a planned organisation-wide initiative to introduce modern information and communications technology (ICT) to service users. Results show that there had been a limited provision of computers within the organisation and that staffing and support for the introduction of new ICT were not fully in place. The findings are discussed in the light of research on the organisational requirements for effective ICT use. These requirements were built into the planning of a major initiative to equip the organisation with new ICT for its service users. Future research should lead to simple audit procedures to aid organisations develop effective ICT use.

Staff development in information technology for special needs: a new, distance-learning course at Keele University

Whilst information technology has much to offer people with special needs, the availability of staff training in the use of special-needs IT in the UK and Europe is sparse. Keele University, with over a decade of experience in research and in supporting and training staff in the use of information technology, has launched a new, distance-learning course. This article describes the course background, its structure, and feedback from the first cohort of students. Results suggest that the course strikes an effective balance between the need of distance-learning students for face-to-face contact with peers and tutors, and the difficulties faced by students wishing to attend training whilst in full-time employment who are geographically distant. The course structure appears appropriate for a wide range of special-needs settings and the curriculum seems to have an appropriate mix of background theory and practical application. Difficulties faced with computer conferencing became apparent, which need to be addressed in future. The course could be a model for further staff development opportunities in IT for special-needs professionals.

Effects of Consistent Food Presentation on Efficiency of Eating and Nutritive Value of Food Consumed by Children with Severe Neurological Impairment

Abstract. The purpose of this investigation was to determine what implications consistent presentation of food, delivered by an assistive feeding device at a position regarded as optimal, would have for the maintenance of food intake, duration of meals, and efficiency of eating. The trial employed an AB within-subjects design and extended over a 9-month period. Twenty children, aged 7 to 17 years, with severe neurological impairment and associated eating difficulties, were studied. The effects of the intervention were compared by examination of diaries recording the sizes and composition of meals consumed during designated periods and by precautionary measures of growth and weight. Although no statistically significant changes in weight were recorded overall, meals presented consistently were consumed less efficiently and sometimes more slowly than were standard ones, where food was presented by hand. However, no change occurred in the amount of energy and protein consumed, which suggested that the childrens ability to thrive was neither improved nor further compromised by participation in the study. The findings have implications for the way in which children are assisted during mealtimes by their caregivers.

Counsellors’ experiences of working with male victims of female-perpetrated domestic abuse

Abstract Aim: To provide an understanding of counsellors’ experiences of working with male victims of female-perpetrated domestic abuse. This topic has been virtually unexplored within counselling literature. Method: A qualitative design was adopted to address the objective of this research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six counsellors. Snowball sampling was used to identify suitable participants. Three were males and three females, and all had experience of working with male victims of female-perpetrated domestic abuse. Results were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Findings: Ten over-arching themes emerged from the transcripts, including a distinct lack of recognition of male victimisation, which was seen as hampering counsellors’ work with clients. Participants, particularly female counsellors, also drew on the significance of their gender. Furthermore, counsellors described changes in their perceptions of women within modern society. A central feature of ...

GAP: a Graphics Authoring Package which produces BASIC from graphical input

The authors argue that there is a need for a microcomputer software authoring package which produces graphics. The novel feature of the Graphics Authoring Package (GAP) which they developed is that it produces Basic code from the users graphical input. GAP is described together with the results of an evaluation study. The results indicate that the package is easy to use, effective in rapidly producing graphics code and that, in general, it fills a gap in the current range of educational software.

Editorial: Information and communications technology for people with special needs

How far educational technology for people with special needs has come in the past 30 years can be judged from my personal experience, then and now. The technology certainly has progressed. My first project involved an electro-mechanical teaching machine which weighed over 50 kilos and cost (in 1969) the staggering amount then of £500 (Hegarty, 1974). Now we produce multimedia software for computers costing about the same amount. How far we have moved forward educationally can be seen by how much technology is used. Then, much had been written about the potential advantages of educational technology, but little was happening in classrooms and colleges with people who had special needs. Now, the situation is reversed, with far more being done in practice than is written about in theory. One of my aims for this special issue is that its contents will go some way to redressing that balance.