ARE GREEK SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS IN FAVOUR OF THE INCLUSION OF PUPILS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY? AN ONLINE SURVEY

<p>Few studies have been conducted in Greece focusing on the inclusion of pupils with Intellectual Disability (ID) in general classes. The aim of this quantitative study was to explore the attitudes of Special Education Teachers (SETs or SET) towards the inclusion of pupils with ID in general classes. A structured questionnaire was sent out. It consisted of 10 demographic questions and of 6 structured closed-ended questions about the inclusion of this group of pupils in general classes, using a 5-point Likert scale. The study sample consisted of 150 SETs [129 (86%) females and 21 (14%) males]. The questionnaire data were analysed via descriptive and inferential statistics (SPSS version 21). The results of the research showed that the majority of SETs had a positive attitude towards the fact that the special and general education teacher should jointly adapt the classroom according to the needs of the pupil with ID and that inclusive education is appropriate for these pupils. The SETs had a neutral to positive attitude about whether pupils with ID should be educated in general settings with pupils without disabilities and whether they should be removed less frequently from general education settings in order to be given more help with their difficulties. Finally, there were some dependent variables that played a major role in participants' responses, such as education, work experience, work and the structure of employment. In conclusion, SETs point out that they are in favour of the inclusion of pupils with ID. Finally, the results of the study are discussed. </p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0993/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

SOCIAL INTERACTION AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING STUDENTS IN CEBU CITY, PHILIPPINES

<p>This research assessed the social interaction and the academic performance of the deaf and hard of hearing students in a school for the deaf in Cebu City, Philippines. There were 49 respondents who were assessed in terms of their social interaction and academic performance. A survey questionnaire was used to assess the level of their social interaction and their grades were used to measure their academic performance. Data gathered were treated statistically using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed that the respondents had an average age of 19.5 years old that are deaf with 3 to 4 siblings. The respondents had high social interaction with their teachers and peers but had moderate social interaction with their family members and very low social interaction with the hearing students. They perform satisfactorily in school. There were significant relationships between their interaction with their family members and the hearing students. Thus, school administrators are encouraged to design programs that would improve the social interactions of the deaf and hard of hearing students within the school community and at home. </p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0970/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

FRIENDSHIP FORMATION BETWEEN VISUALLY IMPAIRED AND NON-VISUALLY IMPAIRED PUPILS IN SELECTED INCLUSIVE BASIC SCHOOLS IN GHANA

<p>The purpose of the study was to describe the nature of friendships formations that exists between pupils with visual impairment and their non-visually impaired peers in 3 inclusive schools in Ghana. I adopted a phenomenology research design in recruiting 14 pupils with visual impairment in this study. One-on-one interviews were used to collect data for the study. Using thematic analysis, data from the one-on-one interviews were manually analyzed via themes that emerged from the data. Results from the study showed that there existed some levels of friendships between the non-visually impaired and non-non-visually impaired pupils in the schools and this friendship formations centred on assistance provided by the non-visually impaired. While some of the pupils noted that they mutually engaged in positive relationship with non-visually impaired, some thought otherwise and yet others described it as only perfunctory. I recommended that educational authorities in Ghana should put in place, a policy in schools that will solely focus on the formation of friendship between pupils who are visually impaired and the non-visually impaired. Teachers should help develop the capacity of both pupils with and without visual impairments to make and maintain stable and satisfying friendships through play and group activities.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0976/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

ANXIETY DISORDERS AND THE FREQUENCY OF NEGATIVE THOUGHTS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY IN CHILDREN WITH AND WITHOUT SPECIAL LEARNING DISABILITIES

<p>Special Learning Disabilities (SLD) are often accompanied by negative thoughts of self-assessment, deficits in social interactions and psycho-emotional problems as well, which hinder the development and the smooth integration of children diagnosed with SLD into their environment. This research attempts to investigate the association of negative self-assessment thoughts and anxiety disorders with Special Learning Disabilities in a sample of sixty Greek-speaking children in 4th, 5th and 6th grades with and without SLD, including their parents. The tools used for this purpose are the Children’s Automatic Thoughts Scale (CATS), and the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS-CH) self-report questionnaire, which assess anxiety disorders. Parents were asked to answer the corresponding Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale-Parents Edition (SCAS-P) symptom-monitoring questionnaire. According to the results compared to their normal development peers, children with SLD had a higher incidence of negative thoughts, which is more likely to lead to symptoms of anxiety disorders; their parents in fact were able to perceive the severity or frequency of these symptoms in their children. In addition, the frequency of negative thoughts and symptoms related to anxiety disorders seemed to be influenced by the student’s condition (with or without SLD), but not by gender and age. </p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0982/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

DISTANCE EDUCATION IN THE PANDEMIC ERA: THE VIEWS OF GREEK GENERAL AND SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS OF SECONDARY EDUCATION REGARDING READINESS, CHALLENGES AND THE POST-COVID EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES

<p>The present study, via the use of a questionnaire, examined the views of 138 Greek teachers, of general and special education, on the readiness for distance education, the challenges they face during the courses, and the measures to be taken in education in case of a next crisis such as Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Educators’ views on the measures to be taken by educational institutions in order to be ready to provide distance education in the post-COVID era were also examined. The analysis of results showed that Special Education teachers appeared to be more ready for distance education; indeed, their field of employment itself, namely teaching, their years of service, the age and the level of studies were found to have a statistically significant influence on their answers. The greater challenge that both groups of teachers faced were the difficulties in communicating with their students. It became apparent also the great need for training teachers in issues related to distance education as well as the protection of their personal data of their students. </p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0977/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

FATHER BONDING AND BULLYING IN CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES / VÄTERLICHE BINDUNG UND BULLING IN KINDERN MIT BEHINDERUNGEN

<p>In recent years, school bullying has been on the rise, but it is not a new phenomenon. While bullying at school is not a recent phenomenon, it has received a great deal of scientific attention over the last three decades. School bullying is now a prevalent phenomenon around the world and transcends socio-economic, racial and cultural boundaries. At the same time, the father-child relationship is very important, because it contributes to the formation of the child's personality. The main purpose of this research is to investigate whether father attachment makes people with disabilities, such as blindness, deafness and motor disability, but also without disabilities, perpetrators or victims of school bullying and the effect of demographic characteristics on the sample. The sample consists of 170 people aged 10-21 years who live in Greece. The study involved 36 people with blindness, 38 people with deafness, 50 people with motor disabilities and 50 people without disabilities. The results highlighted the pretty important relationship between paternal attachment and school bullying in the various groups of the sample and also showed that father care and father protection are predicting factors of their behaviors. The present research effort complements the research of Charmpatsis et al. (2021) on maternal attachment and bullying and focuses mainly on paternal attachment and bullying.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0914/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

SOCIAL INCLUSION OF CHILDREN DIAGNOSED WITHAUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER IN INDIA: A LITERATURE REVIEW

<p>Autism Spectrum Disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder defined by insufficiency in social communication and social interaction skills and restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior. The aim of this research was to analyze empirical studies on inclusion of children with Autism in India over the past 20 years and then propose recommendations for future research. A systematic process was used to conduct the review which included identifying the data source, assessing the quality of our studies, and drawing analysis of our findings. The result included different stakeholder’s perspectives which were parents and teachers. </p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0986/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

MATERNAL ATTACHMENT AS A FACTOR OF VICTIMIZATION AND BULLING OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES / MUTTERBINDUNG ALS FAKTOR VON VIKTIMIERUNG UND BULLING OF KINDER MIT BEHINDERUNGEN

<p>School bullying is a major diachronic problem of modern society and in recent years it presents considerable intensification, attracting scientific and research attention. The present research studies the victimization due to school bullying of children with disabilities. The aim of the research is to investigate whether the maternal attachment of people with disabilities such as blindness, deafness and motor disability and also of those without disabilities is linked to their victimization or bullying behavior in school, and to highlight the impact of specific demographic characteristics on the possible underlying relationship between maternal attachment and victimization for them. Further, the objectives of the present research include the appraisal of a comparison between individuals with and without disabilities. The research was conducted through a quantitative survey in Greece, to 170 individuals aged between 10 and 21 years of age, with blindness (N=36), deafness (N=38), physical disability (N=50) and without disability (N=50). The results revealed differences between participants with and without disabilities with regard to the type of attachment they have developed with their mothers and to their experiences as victims or offenders of school bullying. The results also demonstrate that there is a correlation between maternal attachment and school bullying behaviors and for certain disability groups mother care and / or mother protection is a predicting factor of these behaviors.</p><p> </p><p> Mobbing in der Schule ist ein großes diachrones Problem der modernen Gesellschaft und hat in den letzten Jahren eine erhebliche Zunahme erfahren, was die Aufmerksamkeit von Wissenschaft und Forschung auf sich zieht. Die vorliegende Studie untersucht die Viktimisierung von Kindern mit Behinderungen durch Mobbing in der Schule. Ziel der Forschung ist es, zu untersuchen, ob die mütterliche Bindung von Menschen mit Behinderungen wie Blindheit, Taubheit und motorischen Behinderungen sowie von Menschen ohne Behinderungen mit ihrem Viktimisierungs- oder Mobbingverhalten in der Schule zusammenhängt, und den Einfluss spezifischer demografischer Merkmale aufzuzeigen über die mögliche zugrunde liegende Beziehung zwischen mütterlicher Bindung und Viktimisierung für sie. Zu den Zielen der vorliegenden Forschung gehört auch die Bewertung eines Vergleichs zwischen Menschen mit und ohne Behinderungen. Die Studie wurde im Rahmen einer quantitativen Umfrage in Griechenland an 170 Personen im Alter zwischen 10 und 21 Jahren mit Blindheit (N=36), Taubheit (N=38), körperlicher Behinderung (N=50) und ohne Behinderung durchgeführt (N=50). Die Ergebnisse zeigten Unterschiede zwischen Teilnehmenden mit und ohne Behinderung hinsichtlich der Art der Bindung, die sie zu ihren Müttern entwickelt haben, und ihrer Erfahrungen als Opfer oder Täter von Mobbing in der Schule. Die Ergebnisse zeigen auch, dass es einen Zusammenhang zwischen mütterlicher Bindung und Mobbing-Verhalten in der Schule gibt und für bestimmte Behindertengruppen die Mutterfürsorge und/oder der Mutterschutz ein Vorhersagefaktor für dieses Verhalten sind.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0883/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

ATTITUDES OF NON-DISABLED STUDENTS TOWARDS THEIR PEERS WITH DISABILITIES IN AN INCLUSIVE SETTING IN GHANA

<p>This study measured the attitudes of non-disabled students towards their peers with disabilities. A cross-sectional survey was employed for the study. The Chedoke-McMaster Attitudes Towards Children with “Handicaps” (CATCH) scale was used to collect data from n=119 respondents. Descriptive statistics analysis was employed in analysing the data. Results indicated that students without disabilities generally held neutral attitudes towards their peers with disabilities (M=2.12; SD=0.687) with no significant difference in gender, age, having a close friend or relative with a disability. Teachers in inclusive education schools were encouraged to measure the attitudes of students towards their peers with disabilities and other related variables. This would enable them to plan, design, develop, implement and evaluate effective interventions that would change non-disabled students’ negative and/or neutral attitudes, thereby ensuring the full social participation of students with disabilities in inclusive settings. </p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0852/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

THE EFFECT OF MOVEMENT TRAINING ON BALANCE SKILLS IN CHILDREN WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

<p>Our study tried to assess the effect of the Special Movement Education Program on the balance skills of children with intellectual disabilities. We used the experimental design of 23 children with intellectual disabilities between the ages of seven and ten in a special education and rehabilitation center in Burdur, Turkey formed the study group. We applied the Basic Movement Training Program designed to develop balance skills to the experimental group. We practiced 22 courses of 45 minutes two days a week for 11 weeks before and after the application. The study continued for 13 weeks. We used Sensory Profile Test, Pediatric Balance Scale, Flamingo Balance Test, Balance Test on Walking Device, Standing Test on Balance Device, and Balance Measurement Device data collection tools. Mann Whitney U Test and Wilcoxon Test, which are non-parametric tests, were used in this study. We found a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of the experimental group. The finding results revealed that children with intellectual disabilities improved their balance skills with movement training.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0753/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>