Paper presented at Equality Diversity Inclusion (EDI) 2010 Conference, Vienna, Austria 14-16 july 2010
DOCUMENT
Individuals with autism increasingly enroll in universities, but little is known about predictors for their success. This study developed predictive models for the academic success of autistic bachelor students (N=101) in comparison to students with other health conditions (N=2465) and students with no health conditions (N=25,077). We applied propensity score weighting to balance outcomes. The research showed that autistic students’ academic success was predictable, and these predictions were more accurate than predictions of their peers’ success. For first-year success, study choice issues were the most important predictors (parallel program and application timing). Issues with participation in pre-education (missingness of grades in pre-educational records) and delays at the beginning of autistic students’ studies (reflected in age) were the most influential predictors for the second-year success and delays in the second and final year of their bachelor’s program. In addition, academic performance (average grades) was the strongest predictor for degree completion in 3 years. These insights can enable universities to develop tailored support for autistic students. Using early warning signals from administrative data, institutions can lower dropout risk and increase degree completion for autistic students.
DOCUMENT
Objective: For more than a decade, an increase in psychiatric disabilities has been reported worldwide among students in postsecondary education. Supported Education (SEd) interventions support students with psychiatric disabilities to return to or remain in education. As not much is known about the effectiveness of SEd, we conducted a systematic review of the research on the effects of SEd on educational functioning, including study success and student satisfaction. Method: The EBSCOhost Complete browser (e.g., ERIC, MEDLINE, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, SocINDEX) was used to search for peer-reviewed studies representing effectiveness data on SEd published in English or Dutch/Flemish between 2009 and 2021. The quality of the research was assessed for all studies included. Results: A total number of seven studies were eligible. The results indicated a positive impact of SEd on the educational functioning (e.g., educational attainment, grade point average, comfort with the student role) of students with psychiatric disabilities. In addition, effects on time spent on educational activities, interpersonal skills, and sustained attention/vigilance were found. The quality of the studies appeared to be moderate. Conclusions and Implications for Practice: The limited available evidence suggests the added value of SEd interventions for the educational functioning of students with psychiatric disabilities. Reviewing the effectiveness of SEd was difficult due to differences in the SEd interventions used, the generally small research populations, and differing research designs. To improve the quality of research on this subject, future studies should overcome the identified shortcomings.
DOCUMENT
Introduction: Depression can be a serious problem in young adult students. There is a need to implement and monitor prevention interventions for these students. Emotion-regulating improvisational music therapy (EIMT) was developed to prevent depression. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of EIMT for use in practice for young adult students with depressive symptoms in a university context. Method: A process evaluation was conducted embedded in a larger research project. Eleven students, three music therapists and five referrers were interviewed. The music therapists also completed evaluation forms. Data were collected concerning client attendance, treatment integrity, musical components used to synchronise, and experiences with EIMT and referral. Results: Client attendance (90%) and treatment integrity were evaluated to be sufficient (therapist adherence 83%; competence 84%). The music therapists used mostly rhythm to synchronise (38 of 99 times). The students and music therapists reported that EIMT and its elements evoked changes in all emotion regulation components. The students reported that synchronisation elicited meaningful experiences of expressing joy, feeling heard, feeling joy and bodily responses of relaxation. The music therapists found the manual useful for applying EIMT. The student counsellors experienced EIMT as an appropriate way to support students due to its preventive character. Discussion: EIMT appears to be a feasible means of evoking changes in emotion regulation components in young adult students with depressive symptoms in a university context. More studies are needed to create a more nuanced and evidence-based understanding of the feasibility of EIMT, processes of change and treatment integrity.
DOCUMENT
This is a revised PAPAI (Personal Adapted Physical Activity Instructor) handbook 2020, part of the Sport Empowers Disabled Youth 2 (SEDY2) project. The original handbook of the PAPAI project, based on Finnish pilot-phase experiences, was written in 2016 by Aija Saari and Heidi Skantz. This revised (2020) PAPAI handbook contains updated materials and lessons learned by the Finnish Paralympic Committee and Inholland University during 2017-2020.
DOCUMENT
The Sport Empowers Disabled Youth 2 (SEDY2) project encourages inclusion and equal opportunities in sport for youth with a disability by raising their sports and exercise participation in inclusive settings. The SEDY2 Inclusion Handbook is aimed at anybody involved in running or working in a sport club, such as a volunteer, a coach, or a club member. The goal of the handbook is to facilitate disability inclusion among mainstream sport providers by sharing SEDY2 project partners’ best practices and inclusive ideas.
DOCUMENT
The Sport Empowers Disabled Youth 2 (SEDY2) project encourages inclusion and equal opportunities in sport for youth with a disability by raising their sports and exercise participation in inclusive settings. The SEDY2 Collection of Inclusion Best Practices report contains good examples of inclusion on youth with a disability in sport at the community and institutional level. This report includes a detailed description of the process of building and using the SEDY2 approach for collection international best practices in sport, the criteria and template used to collect the SEDY2 best practices and the list of SEDY2 international best practices on inclusion in sport for youth with a disability.
DOCUMENT
People with psychiatric disabilities frequently experience difficulties in pursuing higher education. For instance, the nature of their disability and its treatment, stigmatization and discrimination can be overwhelming obstacles. These difficulties can eventually lead to early school leaving and consequently to un- or underemployment. Unfortunately, support services for (future) students with psychiatric disabilities are often not available at colleges and universities or at mental health organizations.For the social inclusion and (future) labor opportunities of people with psychiatric disabilities it is of the utmost importance that they have better access to higher education, and are able to complete such study successfully. Supported Education is a means to reach these goals. Supported Education is defined as the provision of individualized, practical support and instruction to assist people with psychiatric disabilities to achieve their educational goals (Anthony, Cohen, Farkas, & Gagne, 2002).The main aim of the ImpulSE project (see Appendix 1 for information about the project's organization) was the development of a toolkit for Supported Education services for (future) students with psychiatric disabilities. The toolkit is based upon needs and resources assessments from the four participating countries, as well as good practices from these.Secondly, a European network of Supported Education (ENSEd) is initiated, starting with a first International Conference on Supported Education. The aim of ENSEd is to raise awareness in the EU about the educational needs of (future) students with psychiatric disabilities and for services that help to remove the barriers for this target group.The toolkit is aimed at students’ counselors, trainers, teachers and tutors, mental health managers and workers, and local authority officials involved in policymaking concerning people with psychiatric disabilities. It enables field workers to improve guidance and counseling to (future) students with psychiatric disabilities, supporting them in their educational careers.In the Netherlands alone, it is estimated that six per cent of the total student population suffers from a psychiatric disability—that is, a total of 40,000 students. On a European scale, the number of students with a psychiatric disability is therefore considerably high. We hope that through the project these students will be better empowered to be successful in their educational careers and that their chances in the labor market and their participation in society at large will be improved.
MULTIFILE
The Sport Empowers Disabled Youth 2 (SEDY2) project encourages inclusion and equal opportunities in sport for youth with a disability by raising their sports and exercise participation in inclusive settings. This SEDY2 Inclusive (Online) Focus Group Guidance aimed to develop an easy-to-use guidance document on how to deliver inclusive focus groups to attain the authentic views, wishes and feelings of children and youth with a disability about inclusion in sport in practice. This guidance document was produced in order to support other practitioners in conducting inclusive focus groups. The focus group guidance can easily be adapted to cover other topics and can also be used effectively with all (young) people.
DOCUMENT
Social and Emotional Learning programs, designed to enhance adolescents’ social and emotional skills, are implemented in schools worldwide. One of these programs is Skills4Life (S4L), for students in Dutch secondary education. To strengthen this program and adapt it to students’ needs, we conducted an exploratory study on their perspectives on their own social-emotional development, focusing on low-achieving students in prevocational education. We interviewed eleven boys and eleven girls in five focus groups on (1) their general school life experiences, (2) their perceptions and experiences regarding interactions with peers, the problems they encountered in these interactions, and (3) the strategies and skills they used to solve these problems. Driven by findings in related studies initial thematic analyzes were extended using a three-step approach: an inductive, data-driven process of open coding; axial coding; and selective coding, using the social-emotional skills comprised in an often-used SEL framework as sensitizing concepts. Overall, students were satisfied with their relationships with classmates and teachers and their ability to manage their daily interaction struggles. Their reflections on their interactions indicate that the skills they preferred to use mirror the social-emotional skills taught in many school programs. However, they also indicated that they did not apply these skills in situations they experienced as unsafe and uncontrollable, e.g., bullying and harassment. The insights into adolescents’ social-emotional skills perceptions and the problems they encountered with peers at school presented here can contribute to customizing school-based skills enhancement programs to their needs. Teacher training is required to help teachers gain insight into students’ perspectives and to use this insight to implement SEL programs tailored to their needs.
MULTIFILE
