Dual-Task Balance Training for Motor Skill Development among Children with Intelligence Quotient Discrepancy

The motor skills of people with mental disabilities are reportedly reduced compared with those of their peers. Therefore, any task incorporating both motor and cognitive skills was hypothesized to provide better motor recovery. The aim of this study is to find the effect of dual-task balance training (DTBT) on motor skill development in children of 6–13 years with intelligence quotient discrepancy (IQD) (score: 50–79). Overall, 30 individuals with mental disabilities aged 6–13 years having an IQ score of 50–79 were included. The participants were randomly divided into two groups that received dual-task training and standard balance training, respectively. IQ was measured with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised, motor proficiency with the Bruininks–Oseretsky test, reaction time with COGNIBOARD, and balance with Functional Reach Test scores. Intervention was provided twice a week for 12 consecutive weeks. Participants in both groups showed higher test scores in all tests after the training program. Both training programs positively affected the motor performance of the participants. The DTBT was more effective in improving balance performance than the standard balance training. DTBT is a better tool than conventional balance training for improving motor skills and balance in children of 6–13 years with IQD (score: 50–79).

The Negative Impact of Racial Microaggressions on College Students of Color

The goal of this chapter is to describe the adverse impact of racial microaggressions on college students, particularly as it pertains to their decreased self-esteem and academic achievement. It will also provide insight on specific forms of microaggressions and how they may be perceived by various targeted groups. Although this chapter focuses on the impact of microaggressions on college students of color, the adverse effects on college students with disabilities, LGBTQ students, and students with physical and mental disabilities are to be noted as equally detrimental. Finally, this chapter will include implications to deconstruct racial microaggressions and provide insight on how educators and administrators may disarm racial microaggressions in the classroom and on college campuses in general.

Creative Solutions for Today's Students

This chapter will explore the connection between diversifying health profession student demographics, diversifying challenges these students face, and the new obstacles presented by shifting curriculum delivery to remote and hybrid learning during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The chapter will explore challenges that may seem especially difficult to address in a remote learning model: the desire to develop community among fellow learners when in a hybrid or fully remote program and when learners are from varied backgrounds; cultivating in students coping mechanisms to manage anxiety from the economic uncertainty of today's world, balancing commitments between educational pursuits and other responsibilities (e.g., child or parent care, etc.); and facilitating learning for students with physical and/or mental disabilities or chronic medical conditions.

Impact of Widowhood and Disability Among Elderly

Aging is a natural phenomenon in which widowhood and disability are the major characteristics of concern. The main objective of the chapter is to sift the relationship between widowhood and disability by gender. It examines the factors affecting female elderly with the disability and measures both subjective and objective disabilities. This study is evidenced from the Kerala Ageing Survey (KAS), 2013, with a sample of 7668 elderly in which 58% are females. Three major physical disabilities, namely vision, hearing, and walking, and mental disabilities, such as cognitive impairment and depression, are to be analyzed through the data. Before that, disability trends and prevalence of both India and Kerala by age and sex are closely examined through census figures. It is revealed that elderly women are at risk of many factors compared to their male counterparts. They are vulnerable to multiple disabilities. The prevalence of disability is more among elderly females after the age of 70. The main physical problem of elderly is vision followed by movement and hearing impairment.

French Support and Work Assistance Establishment and Social and Professional Integration of Workers With Disabilities in Rural Areas. The Example of Habert (Savoie, France)

This article proposes to address the issue of inclusion through work and in a rural environment of people with mental disabilities and/or intellectual disabilities. Through the example of a French support and work assistance establishment, the support and work assistance establishment Le Habert, located in a small rural and mountainous village in the Alps and offering people with disabilities to work on a farm, the article will first address the importance of work as a means for people to regain their dignity. Between the feeling of usefulness and pride in participating in the operation of one territory, by being fully involved in the process of producing and adding value to a product, accompanying the farm allows, apart from these therapeutic virtues, a real professional inclusion. Living in houses or apartments in the surrounding villages, the accommodation, allowing contact between people with disabilities and local inhabitants is also a vector of social inclusion. However, while the rural setting can be an asset for inclusion because of the professional and social opportunities, the isolation and geographical inaccessibility of the rural mountainous environment can be an obstacle for people who do not necessarily have the means to be mobile. By offering personalised support for mobility, the institution transforms geographical exclusion into an asset for professional, social and spatial inclusion.

Addressing Stigma in the Community: A Rights-Based Approach to Community-Building

Article 12 of the United Nations Convention of Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) affirms the rights of persons with physical and mental disabilities to be treated as equal, and deserving of state support to realize their full human potential. This focus on a ‘positive’ right to support (as opposed to the ‘negative’ right to non-interference) has established an important set of expectations around societal responses to people living with dementia(PLWD). This presentation examines the contributions of a rights-based approach to build community with and for PLWD. Data is drawn from Participatory Action Research (PAR) and bi-weekly online action groups with N=10 PLWD in urban and rural British Columbia. Two thematic targets were identified. First, it is important to bring together PLWD in ways that create a sense of solidarity and inclusion. Second, fostering community requires addressing the stigma and discrimination which often leave PLWD feeling isolated, excluded, and marginalized.

Options of support for primary schools´ pupils with mental disabilities with highlights on social and educational aspects in the Czech Republic

This paper focuses on legal and inclusive changes in Czech´s primary schools´ environment. Since 2016 Czech´s primary schools are including in the education of more pupils with intellectual disability. The following text is introducing the tools which support the idea of common education such as supportive adjustments, use of assistive services. Furthermore, it presents a reflection of this modern approach from perspectives of special pedagogy and social work.

Language Teaching for Specific Purposes: A Case Study of the Degree of Accuracy in Describing the Character of Mental Disabilities in Modern Arabic Drama (Egyptian Film Toot-Toot as an Example)

The study aims at investigating the degree of accuracy in describing the character of mental disabilities in modern Arabic drama. The study takes the Egyptian Film Toot-Toot as an example. Toot -Toot is a film about a mentally handicapped heroine, “Kareema”, who was sexually abused by a wealthy man, and she was also socially harassed by the people of her community. The study tries to prove that there is an accurate stereotypical representation of the mentally up-normal characters in Arabic n drama and cinema. To achieve the objectives of the study, the descriptive analytical approach was adopted. The sincerity and consistency of the study tool were confirmed the study summarized the film into eight scenes, then they were analyzed and discussed in light of the degree of accuracy of the general characteristics of mental disabilities which include the following: cognitive, physical, linguistic, the social and psychological characteristics. Also, the role of social institutions towards the mentally disabled is discussed. The results revealed that the purpose is to make the audience to be sympathized rather than empathized by the dramatic representation of the disabled character for the sake of increasing the cash revenue of the film. To sum up, the mentally- handicapped characters were misrepresented; they were so far from the scientific and medical diagnosis.