Investigating psychological characteristics of self-regulation in schoolchildren with cognitive disorders

Introduction. The authors investigate psychological characteristics of self-regulation in primary schoolchildren with cognitive impairments. The purpose of the article is to identify key determinants of the manifestation of self-regulation as the leading mechanism of adaptation. The results obtained can contribute to developing psychological support programs within school conditions and facilitate adaptive strategies of behavior and components of self-regulation. Materials and Methods. The methodological foundations of the research included leading positions of psychology about the formation of the behavior of children with cognitive disabilities. The research was carried out in the logic of the ascertaining psychological and educational experiment; the material obtained from the collection of empirical data was analyzed and generalized. The sample consisted of 456 schoolchildren aged between 8 and 11 years, who were divided into three groups: NID (normal intellectual development), MR (mental retardation) and MID (mild intellectual disability). The data obtained were interpreted and subjected to statistical analysis using various methods of mathematical and statistical processing: the reliability of differences according to statistical criteria, the F * angular transformation, the criterion for comparing the distribution of Pearson χ2 levels, correlation analysis, and the method of correlation pleiades. Results. The research findings include identifying the main psychological characteristics of self-regulation in primary schoolchildren with cognitive impairment. The research data enabled to develop self-regulation skills in schoolchildren with cognitive impairment. The results obtained are considered as a socio-psychological resource for improving cognitive health in primary schoolchildren. Conclusions. The study concludes that after identifying the psychological characteristics of self-regulation in primary schoolchildren with impaired cognitive health, it is possible to develop programs of psychological assistance for educational settings. The research data can be used within educational settings teaching children with cognitive disabilities to increase the effectiveness of classroom and extracurricular activities and their successful integration into society.

Cognitive disabilities and web accessibility: a survey into the Brazilian web development community

Cognitive disabilities include a diversity of conditions related to cognitive functions, such as reading, understanding, learning, solving problems, memorization and speaking. They differ largely from each other, making them a heterogeneous complex set of disabilities. Although the awareness about cognitive disabilities has been increasing in the last few years, it is still less than necessary compared to other disabilities. The need for an investigation about this issue is part of the agenda of the Challenge 2 (Accessibility and Digital Inclusion) from GranDIHC-Br. This paper describes the results of an online exploratory survey conducted with 105 web development professionals from different sectors to understand their knowledge and barriers regarding accessibility for people with cognitive disabilities. The results evidenced three biases that potentially prevent those professionals from approaching cogni-tive disabilities: strong organizational barriers; difficulty to understand user needs related to cognitive disabilities; a knowledge gap about web accessibility principles and guidelines. Our results confirmed that web development professionals are unaware about cognitive disabilities mostly by a lack of knowledge about them, even if they understand web accessibility in a technical level. Therefore, we suggest that applied research studies focus on how to fill this knowledge gap before providing tools, artifacts or frameworks.

Web Accessibility Interventions for Citizens Living with Cognitive Impairment: A Rapid Evidence Assessment

BackgroundThere is a clear and pressing need to understand the barriers to technology user experience, particularly in relation to people with cognitive disabilities. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent expansion of digital technologies associated with education, wellness and employment only makes the need to understand how people with cognitive disabilities interact with such technologies, within the naturalistic context of their lifeworld, increasingly urgent. Therefore a necessary first step is to develop a baseline understanding of the current state of web accessibility for people with cognitive disabilities. Thus, the purpose of this review is to conduct baseline research to understand the factors and processes that inhibit access to online content and services for people with cognitive impairments.MethodsThis systematic, rapid evidence assessment, review will employ a search strategy using defined terms within agreed search strings in the following databases: Web of Science, SCOPUS, EBSCOhost, ERIC and ProQuest. Internet searching through Google Scholar will be carried out as well as forward and backward tracking of citations from studies that are included in the review. All results, screening process results will be documented in tabular form and communicated in a PRISMA flow diagram. In addition, the research team consider it necessary to carry out a grey literature search due to the nature of the work being investigated. The expertise within the research team indicated that many programmes that support people with cognitive impairments do not formally report their work through academic dissemination pathways. Consequently it is intended that a grey literature search will be carried out to supplement that findings of study. In contrast to the focus on studies published in English for peer review returns, the grey literature search will actively seek out returns across all languages of the European Union.DiscussionThis rapid review protocol will focus on citizens ages 9 and up who live with cognitive impairment and establish a baseline for best practice in supporting web accessibility for people with cognitive impairments. It will achieve this by providing a time limited state-of-the-art evidence report, specific to the challenges people with cognitive impairment, that will help those involved in policy development, policy response initiatives and localised activity. It is intended that, depending on the outcome of the review process, additional opportunities for innovation and/or research may be communicated to relevant stakeholders and policy makers.Systematic Review RegistrationThis protocol has been submitted to the International Prospective Register for Systematic Reviews - PROSPERO, and is currently under review. Reference No. 269245.

Fair and Equitable Grading for ALL Students in Inclusive Settings

Grading is a common practice in general education settings. Few teachers, however, are clear about how they should grade students with significant cognitive disabilities when those students are included in the general education classroom. Unfortunately, existing research provides minimal information to aid teachers and education leaders as they consider fair and equitable grading practices for these students. In this article, we examine the four criteria for high-quality inclusive grading outlined by The William & Mary Training & Technical Assistance Center for grading within the inclusive classroom: (a) grades are accurate, (b) grades are meaningful, (c) grades are consistent, and (d) grades are supportive of learning and discuss how these criteria could be applied to provide a more fair and equitable grading system for students with significant cognitive disabilities.

Raising the Bar in Disability Arts

This article discusses my pedagogical approach towards teaching dance, movement, and theatre to artists with cognitive disabilities. I have developed a training method for artists participating in my classes and productions that invites individual creative exploration and professional rigour. My inclusive dance-theatre company, Les Productions des pieds des mains, creates productions that are presented on professional artistic platforms and not limited to the context of disabled art presentations. Our productions are regularly subject to the same selection criteria as would be a non-inclusive company. With this in mind, I aim for excellence. I work towards creating high quality shows while helping artists with a disability push past their perceived limits and surpass themselves. In this article I will share my findings and strategies, perfected throughout my many years of experimentation, explaining how to reach a high-level of quality in inclusive productions, as well as how I help artists with a disability reach a level of quality in their performances which allows them to find gainful employment within the artistic domain.

Enhancing sleep after training improves memory in Down syndrome model mice

Down syndrome (DS) is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. DS is associated with cognitive disabilities, for which there are no drug therapies. In spite of significant behavioral and pharmacological efforts to treat cognitive disabilities, new and continued efforts are still necessary. Over sixty percent of children with DS are reported to have sleep apnea that disrupt normal sleep. Normal and adequate sleep is necessary to maintain optimal cognitive functions. Therefore, we asked whether improved quality and/or quantity of sleep could improve cognitive capacities of people with DS. To investigate this possibility, we used the Ts65Dn mouse model of DS and applied two methods for enhancing their sleep following training on mouse memory tasks. A behavioral method was to impose sleep deprivation prior to training resulting in sleep rebound following the training. A pharmacologic method, hypocretin receptor 2 antagonist, was used immediately after the training to enhance subsequent sleep knowing that hypocretin is involved in the maintenance of wake. Our behavioral method resulted in a sleep reorganization that decreased wake and increased REM sleep following the training associated with an improvement of recognition memory and spatial memory in the DS model mice. Our pharmacologic approach decreased wake and increased NREM sleep and was associated with improvement only in the spatial memory task. These results show that enhancing sleep after the training in a memory task improves memory consolidation in a mouse model of DS.

Approaches to Identification and Instruction for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities Who Are English Learners

Research is needed to better understand the academic instruction needs of students with significant cognitive disabilities who are English learners and the classroom practices of their teachers. In this qualitative study, we interviewed 10 teachers to learn how they identify and meet the unique needs of this student subpopulation. Our findings suggest that teachers generally do not view disability- and language-related needs as separate and that approaches to instruction tend to follow those perceptions. Some expressed a desire for more support from language professionals in the classroom, whereas others thought their special education classrooms adequately meet student language development needs. Finally, although the teachers we interviewed went to great lengths to engage families in supporting instruction, some reported dissatisfaction with and barriers to those relationships. We discuss our findings in light of the current literature, the study’s limitations, and implications for future research and practice.

Severe Cognitive Disabilities in Online Learning

The present study analyzes different strategies employed during remote learning for high school students with Severe Cognitive Disabilities (SCDs), in order to determine which are most effective for engagement. Utilizing methods from previous research (Kurth 2015, Kurth 2016), individual student observations were completed throughout online learning class sessions. Data revealed that giving the student the chance to demonstrate their knowledge, providing choices, working with peers, and having a self-chosen goal to work toward were some of the most important factors for increased engagement. Furthermore, distracted teachers and paraeducators hindered the engagement. Consequently. the present study displays suggestions for increased engagement during online learning for this population. Given the limitations of the present study, additional research should also be completed to expand on these results.