bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Why Are Students With LD Depressed?
Authors: Sideridis Georgios D.
Published: December 2007

The thesis of the present study was that failure in achievement tasks may constitute a stress factor that can trigger a depression episode, particularly for students with learning disabilities (LD), and that a particular motivational pattern may constitute a cognitive diathesis for depression. Participants were 104 students referred for LD who were drawn from a pool of approximately 900 students from Grades 5 and 6. Students were challenged with a series of difficult math exercises, and their achievement behaviors were examined as a function of achievement goal orientations. Results from structural equation modeling provided empirical support of the contention that performance—avoidance goals may account for a series of negative cognitions and affect. Direct positive paths linked performance— avoidance goals to anxiety, depression, and negative affect; negative paths were revealed with regard to self-esteem and positive affect. Thus, performance—avoidance goals may possess elements of the diathesis mechanism described by Dykman (1998), constituting a vulnerability factor that triggers the mechanism of depression when negative events are in place.
Teaching Students With LD to Use Diagrams to Solve Mathematical Word Problems
Authors: van Garderen Delinda
Published: December 2007

This study examined the effectiveness of instruction focused on teaching students with learning disabilities (LD) to solve 1- and 2-step word problems of varying types. Three students with LD in Grade 8 participated in the study. During the treatment, students received instruction in diagram generation and a strategy that incorporates diagrams as a part of the procedure to solve word problems. The results indicated that all students improved in the number of diagrams they used and in their ability to generate diagrams. Their word problem solving performance increased. Moreover, the students generated and used diagrams to solve other types of problems. Overall, the students were very satisfied with the instruction and would continue to use the diagrams and the strategy to solve word problems in other classroom settings.
Mathematical Ability of 10-Year-Old Boys and Girls
Authors: Kovas Yulia , Haworth Claire M. A. , Petrill Stephen A. , Plomin Robert
Published: December 2007

The genetic and environmental etiologies of 3 aspects of low mathematical performance (math disability) and the full range of variability (math ability) were compared for boys and girls in a sample of 5,348 children age 10 years (members of 2,674 pairs of same-sex and opposite-sex twins) from the United Kingdom (UK). The measures, which we developed for Web-based testing, included problems from 3 domains of mathematics taught as part of the UK National Curriculum. Using quantitative genetic model-fitting analyses, similar results were found for math disabilities and abilities for all 3 measures: Moderate genetic influence and environmental influence were mainly due to nonshared environmental factors that were unique to the individual, with little influence from shared environment. No sex differences were found in the etiologies of math abilities and disabilities. We conclude that low mathematical performance is the quantitative extreme of the same genetic and environmental factors responsible for variation throughout the distribution.
Language Problems in Children with Learning Disabilities
Authors: Poikkeus Anna-Maija , Ahonen Timo , Närhi Vesa , Lyytinen Paula , Rasku-Puttonen Helena
Published: December 2007

In this study, parent-child interaction in two carefully matched subgroups—school—age boys with learning disabilities (LD) who showed a discrepancy between their verbal IQ and performance IQ and had more extensive difficulties in higher-level language abilities (VIQ < PIQ, n = 8) and boys with LD who did not manifest a discrepancy between verbal IQ and performance IQ (VIQ = PIQ, n = 8), were investigated. The effects of the child's language problems on child task performance and on the quality of maternal communication were analyzed in a mother-child problem solving task. Children in the VIQ < PIQ group were found to be less successful on the task than children in the VIQ = PIQ group, and their mothers exhibited lower communication clarity in their instructions than the mothers of the children in the VIQ = PIQ group. An interesting interaction effect was found for communication deviances. For mothers in the VIQ < PIQ group the extent of deficient communication increased from the monologue to the dialogue situation, whereas communication deviances decreased for mothers in the VIQ = PIQ group. Three possible models are discussed in light of the differences between the subgroups.
Imagery Deficits in Nonverbal Learning Disabilities
Authors: Cornoldi Cesare , Rigoni Fiorenza , Tressoldi Patrizio Emmanuele , Vio Claudio
Published: December 2007

This study reports the observations gathered from 11 children referred to consulting services because of learning difficulties at school and diagnosed with nonverbal learning disabilities (NVLD). These children had an average verbal IQ, but a WISC-R performance IQ lower than the verbal IQ by at least 15 points and experienced difficulties especially in mathematics and drawing. The children completed a battery of four tasks requiring visuospatial working memory and visual imagery: a memory task composed of pictures and their positions (Pictures task), a task that required them to memorize the positions filled in a matrix (Passive Matrix task), a task that required them to imagine a pathway along a matrix (Active Matrix task) and a task that required them to learn groups made up of three words, using a visual interactive imagery strategy (TV task). In comparison to a control group of 49 children, children with NVLD scored lower in all the tasks, showing deficits in the use of visuospatial working memory and visual imagery. By contrasting subgroups of children of different ages in the control group, it was possible to show that some tasks did not show a clear developmental trend. Thus the deficits shown by the children with NVLD cannot simply be attributed to a developmental delay of these children, but seem to reflect a more severe disability.
Reading Disability Defined as a Discrepancy Betwveen Listening and Reading Comprehension
Authors: Badian Nathlie A.
Published: December 2007

The purpose of this study was to determine whether defining reading disability by a discrepancy between group-administered tests of listening and reading comprehension would produce result similar in terms of stability, gender ratio, and prevalence to IQ-achievement test discrepancy definitions. The total population of a small school district ( N = 1,008) was followed from prekindergarten through Grade 7-8 for 13 years. As is often seen in epidemiological studies using IQ and individually administered reading tests to define reading disability, stability in the classification of reading disability was low. Among the participants with a consistent reading disability, the male-to-female ratio was 3.2:1, compared with 1.3:1 for the 5.1% of the sample who were nondiscrepant poor readers in both lower and upper grades. A mean 2.7% of the population was classified as reading disabled over the eight-grade span, and only 1.7% demonstrated a consistent reading disability in both the lower and the upper grades. An increase in the ratio of nondiscrepant to discrepant poor readers after Grade 5 was due mainly to late-emerging poor readers. It was concluded that defining reading comprehension disability in terms of a discrepancy between listening and reading comprehension provides a fairly accurate estimate of the stability, gender ratio, and prevalence of the disorder.
Neuropsychological and Behavioral Assessment of ADHD in Seven- to Twelve-Year-Old Children
Authors: Pineda David , Ardila Alfredo , Rosselli Mónica
Published: December 2007

We hypothesized that children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) would underperform on neuropsychological tests that are sensitive to executive function impairments. We further proposed that a linear discriminant analysis using behavioral and neuropsychological variables as dependent variables would pinpoint the capability of behavioral questionnaires and neuropsychological tests to predict the correct classification of ADHD and control children. We designed a transversal study with 62 seven-to twelve-year-old children with ADHD and 62 Full Scale IQ-matched controls using two behavioral scales and 13 neuropsychological tests. Using analysis of variance and covariance with age and school achievement and multifactor analysis of variance, we found that behavioral variables established robust, statistically significant differences between groups (p < .001). Children with ADHD scored worse than controls on 31 out of 61 neuropsychological variables. Children with ADHD, however, obtained better scores that were statistically significant on WISC-R Comprehension and Picture completion. A linear discriminant analysis with nine behavioral variables correctly classified 100% of the participants in both groups. Another linear discriminant analysis using 10 neuropsychological variables correctly classified 85.48% of the participants in both groups. We propose a core battery of selected tests for assessing children with ADHD. The significance of cross-cultural analyses of different developmental disturbances is emphasized.
The Balance Model of Dyslexia and Remedial Training
Authors: Dryer Rachel , Beale Ivan L. , Lambert Anthony J.
Published: December 2007

The aim of this study was to test the validity of Bakker's (1983, 1990) theory and treatment paradigm of dyslexia. Twenty-one children (mean age = 9.9 years) categorized as P-type dyslexics (showing accurate but slow and fragmented reading) and 19 children (mean age = 9.7 years) categorized as L-type dyslexics (fast but inaccurate readers) were presented with hemisphere-specific stimulation (HSS) and hemisphere-alluding stimulation (HAS). HSS was produced by presenting words to either the left or the right visual half-field, or to the left or right hand of the participant. HAS training was achieved through the presentation of either semantically /phonetically demanding or perceptually demanding text. Participants were given either a treatment program that was specifically designed for their particular dyslexia subtype, or a program that had been deliberately chosen to be inconsistent with their subtype. Contrary to predictions, participants made gains on all of the reading measures, regardless of the type of treatment given. On the basis of these findings it is suggested that treatment gains made are due to nonspecific training effects and not to the specific nature of Bakker's remedial strategies.
Social Persistence Following Failure in Boys and Girls with LD
Authors: Settle Shirley A. , Milich Richard
Published: December 2007

The response of boys and girls with or without learning disabilities to social failure was examined. Children participated in two dyadic interactions with experimental confederates: an unfriendly interaction and a friendly one. The children's behavior was videotaped, and they answered questions following each interaction. The children with learning disabilities were found to be hyperresponsive to both interactions: They felt significantly worse following the unfriendly one and significantly better following the friendly interaction. Limited evidence was found to suggest that girls with. learning disabilities were more adversely affected by the unfriendly interaction. Several of the findings were consistent with the hypothesis that children with learning disabilities show a learned helplessness response to social failure. The implications of these findings for understanding the social behavior of children with learning disabilities are discussed.
A Spanish Perspective on LD
Authors: Jimenez González Juan E. , Hernandez Valle Isabel
Published: December 2007

This article offers an overview of special education in Spain, specifically in the area of learning disabilities (LD). The term LD in Spain implies a different conception of the definition that enjoys considerable international agreement and consensus. We give a historical perspective of Spanish legislation and place the proposed definition of LD in the context of recent school reform in Spain. The support services model and the assessment practices and instructional approaches in the LD field are described. Finally, some educational implications of the new school reform regarding teacher training programs to assist special educational needs are presented.
Federal Law and the Accommodation of Students with LD
Authors: Wolinsky Sid , Whelan Amy
Published: December 2007

This article explores the genesis and development of the Guckenberger v. Boston University case, detailing the pertinent facts and issues of the case and analyzing the court's decision. The overall question posed by the case (as considered from the perspective of the plaintiffs' attorneys) was whether Boston University violated federal law in its response to the requests for reasonable accommodations by students with learning disabilities. The article quotes primarily from the decision issued by Federal Judge Patti Saris. The court's decision signified an important development in the field of higher education and set an extraordinary precedent in favor of students with disabilities under both the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Between Passion and Policy
Authors: Elswit Lawrence S. , Geetter Erika , Goldberg Judith A.
Published: December 2007

This article describes the Guckenberger lawsuit from the perspective of the attorneys who litigated the case on behalf of Boston University. It first discusses the events leading to the lawsuit, including then-Provost Jon Westling's speeches, his articulation of new polides regarding documentation for accommodations requests, and the university's refusal to allow course substitutions for required foreign language courses. The article then describes the main events in the lawsuit that resulted from those policy changes, focusing first on pretrial matters, such as the university's search for experts, the various motions filed prior to trial, and tactical issues. Moving to the trial itself, the article discusses the nature of the witness and expert testimony presented to the court and touches on the differences of opinion expressed at trial by experts in the field of learning disabilities. Finally, the article sets forth the court's ruling on the major issues in the case and reflects on the case's impact on institutions of higher education.
An Update on NCAA College Freshman Academic Requirements
Authors: Hishinuma Earl S.
Published: December 2007

A recent landmark settlement between the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the US. Department of Justice addressed many crucial issues relating to the eligibility of high school students with learning disabilities (LD) and their participation in college freshman athletics. Although the changes agreed upon in the consent decree should have wide-ranging ramifications generally in favor of students with LD, the more subjective nature of these changes opens the door for inevitable inconsistencies, biases, and possible abuses. In addition, larger issues remain unresolved, including (a) the NCAA's denial that is covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, (b) the inconclusive status of whether college athletics is a major life activity, (c) the NCAA acting as a de facto national school board without rigorous research for setting policy on an informed basis, and (d) the lack of serious initiative on the part of the NCAA to take on a more supportive role in educational reform.
A Critique of Mody, Studdert-Kennedy, and Brady's "Speech Perception Deficits in Poor Readers
Authors: Denenberg Victor H.
Published: December 2007

A 1997 article by Mody, Studdert-Kennedy, and Brady claimed that their studies constituted a critical test of two hypotheses concerning students with reading impairment: (a) that they experience speech-specific failure in phonological representation, and (b) they display general deficits in auditory temporal processing. From these studies, the authors concluded that their findings were consistent with the first hypothesis but were not in agreement with the second. A critical analysis of the Mody et al. article leads to the conclusion that it makes no contribution to that debate because (a) the children in the Poor reading group did not meet the accepted reading-impairment criterion of being delayed by at least 1 year in their reading skills, (b) there were severe violations of statistical assumptions, and (c) their conclusions were based on the failure to find significant differences, thus compelling them to accept the null hypothesis as proven, in the absence of any statistical power analysis.
Patterns of Phonological and Memory Processing in Beginning Readers and Spellers of Greek
Authors: Porpodas Costas D.
Published: December 2007

This study examined the patterns of reading and spelling performance of first-grade Greek children who either were facing difficulties in literacy acquisition or were normal achievers. In addition, we studied the relationship between obtained literacy development levels and the children's phonological awareness and ability to retain phonological information in short-term memory. The participants were tested in the reading of single letters, letter clusters, words, and nonwords, as well as in word and nonword spelling. Furthermore, their phonological processing knowledge was assessed via a battery of phonological awareness tasks and short-term memory phonetic-representation tasks. The main findings of the study were as follows: (a) Accurate decoding of Greek was achieved by almost every young child (attributed mainly to the nature of the Greek writing system); (b) the time the children needed to process a written item was the crucial index of their difficulty in literacy acquisition; (c) spelling was performed by deriving the orthographic form of a word on the basis of sound-spelling correspondence knowledge; (d) although the children with difficulties in literacy development had achieved a satisfactory performance in phonological processing, their performance was nevertheless significantly lower than that of the normal achievers; and (e) phonemic awareness and speech rate tasks were among the best predictors of learning to read and spell Greek words.
Automatization Aspects of Dyslexia
Authors: van der Leij Aryan , van Daal Victor H. P.
Published: December 2007

A study is presented in which three characteristics of dyslexia were examined: (a) speed limitations in word identification, (b) sensitivity to increasing task demands, and (c) orthographic compensation. Ten students with dyslexia (10 years old) were compared to 10 chronological-age controls and 20 reading-age controls on their performance in reading. Response latencies of the students with dyslexia were slower when familiar words, letter clusters, and nonwords had to be named. A larger word-frequency effect and a larger word-length effect in the these students indicates that they have difficulty with increasing task demands. In addition, a subword-frequency effect was found to be larger in the students with dyslexia. These differences among the three groups of students are interpreted in terms of automatization. Furthermore, it is suggested that students with dyslexia may have a preference for large orthographic units, which is used as a compensatory tool in reading.
Early Language Development and Kindergarten Phonological Awareness as Predictors of Reading Problems
Authors: Olofsson Åke , Niedersøe Jan
Published: December 2007

At the end of Grade 4, 481 children on the Danish island of Bornholm were screened using group tests for sentence reading. For 205 of these children, language and speech data from the speech therapist's screening at age 3 were available, as well as language comprehension and linguistic awareness data from the kindergarten year (age 6) and word decoding measures in Grades 2 and 3. A path analysis revealed significant paths from early language abilities at age 3 through expressive and receptive language in kindergarten via language awareness in kindergarten and word decoding in Grade 2 to sentence reading in Grades 3 and 4. The subgroup of children with parents who had reported a history of reading problems at school entry scored significantly below average on sentence reading in Grade 4. The subgroup of children that were reported to show a very low interest in books and story reading before age 5 also scored low on sentence reading in Grade 4. Statistically significant but weak relationships were also found between parents' educational background, parents' library visits, and number of books at home and the child's reading ability in Grade 4.
Early Intervention for Reading Disabilities
Authors: Berninger Virginia W. , Abbott Robert D. , Zook Dori , Ogier Stacy , Lemos-Britton Zenia , Brooksher Rebecca
Published: December 2007

Forty-eight children referred by teachers at the end of first grade for difficulty in reading were randomly assigned to three treatments, all of which modeled connections between written and spoken words but did not teach phonics rules, for eight half-hour individual tutoring sessions. The children were taught 48 words of varying orders of spelling-sound predictability (Venezky, 1995) using a whole-word method, for making connections between a word's name and its constituent letters; a subword method, for making connections between each color-coded spelling unit and its corresponding phonemes; or a combined whole-word and subword method. Regardless of the method used, children improved reliably on standardized reading measures and the taught words, showing that they could make connections between written and spoken words at the whole word and subword levels, even when rules were not taught. By posttest, the subword method showed a reliable advantage on a standardized test of real word reading. Knowledge of sounds associated with both multiletter and single-letter spelling units predicted reading achievement. Order of spelling-sound predictability (easy, moderate, difficult) was correlated with standardized measures of reading at pretest and posttest, and the magnitude of the relationship increased as a result of the intervention. Individual differences in verbal intelligence, rapid automatized naming, and phonological and orthographic skills predicted response to the intervention. Instructional implications of the results are discussed.
Reading Research for Students with LD
Authors: Swanson H. Lee
Published: December 2007

The present article provides a meta-analysis of instructional research with samples of children and adolescents with learning disabilities in the domains of word recognition and reading comprehension. The results of the synthesis showed that a prototypical intervention study has an effect size (ES) of .59 for word recognition and .72 for reading comprehension. Four important findings emerged from the synthesis: (a) Effect sizes for measures of comprehension were higher when studies included derivatives of both cognitive and direct instruction, whereas effect sizes were higher for word recognition when studies included direct instruction; (b) effect sizes related to reading comprehension were more susceptible to methodological variation than studies of word recognition; (c) the magnitude of ES for word recognition studies was significantly related to samples defined by cutoff scores (IQ > 85 and reading < 25th percentile), whereas the magnitude of ES for reading comprehension studies was sensitive to discrepancies between IQ and reading when compared to competing definitional criteria; and (d) instructional components related to word segmentation did not enter significantly into a weighted least square hierarchical regression analysis for predicting ES estimates of word recognition beyond an instructional core model, whereas small-group interactive instruction and strategy cuing contributed significant variance beyond a core model to ES estimates of reading comprehension. Implications related to definition and instructional components that optimize the magnitude of outcomes are discussed.
Students Classified as LD and the College Foreign Language Requirement
Authors: Sparks Richard L. , Philips Lois , Ganschow Leonore , Javorsky James
Published: December 2007

This study was conducted to determine whether students classified as learning disabled (LD) who were permitted to substitute courses for the college foreign language (FL) requirement at one university would display significant cognitive and academic achievement differences when grouped by level of discrepancy between IQ and achievement, by discrepancy between achievement according to different measures, and by level of performance on phonological-orthographic processing measures, on the Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT), and in FL courses. Results showed that there were no differences among students with different levels of discrepancy (i.e., < 1.0 SD, 1.0-1.49 SD, and > 1.50 SD) on MLAT and American College Testing (ACT) scores, graduating grade point average (GPA) or college FL GPA. Results also showed that among students who scored below versus at or above the 25th percentile on phonological-orthographic processing measures, there were no differences on measures of IQ, ACT, MLAT, and GPA, as well as most measures of academic achievement. Implications for the use of the LD label to grant FL course substitutions or waivers, use of the MLAT in the diagnostic and course substitution/waiver process, and the validity and reliability of traditional criteria for the classification as LD are discussed.
An Intervention Approach for Children with Teacher-and Parent-Identified Attentional Difficulties
Authors: Semrud-Clikeman Margaret , Nielsen Kathleen H. , Clinton Amanda , Sylvester Leihua , Parle Nancy , Connor Robert T.
Published: December 2007

Using a multimodal and multi-informant method for diagnosis, we selected 33 children by teacher and parent nomination for attention and work completion problems that met DSM-IV criteria for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Of the 33 children in this group, 21 participated in the initial intervention, and 12 were placed in an ADHD control group and received the intervention after pre- and posttesting. A similarly selected group of 21 children without difficulties in attention and work completion served as a control group. Each child was assessed on pre- and posttest measures of visual and auditory attention. After an 18-week intervention period that included attention and problem-solving training, all children in the intervention and control groups were retested on visual and auditory tasks. Children in both ADHD groups showed significantly poorer initial performance on the visual attention task. Whereas the ADHD intervention group showed commensurate performance to the nondisabled control group after training, the ADHD control group did not show significant improvement over the same period. Auditory attention was poorer compared to the control group for both ADHD groups initially and improved only for the ADHD intervention group. These findings are discussed as a possible intervention for children with difficulties in strategy selection in a classroom setting.
Stakeholder Attitudes Toward ADA Title I
Authors: Clarke Nancy E. , Crewe Nancy M.
Published: December 2007

The indirect method error-choice technique was adapted to develop the ADA Information Survey (ADA-IS), which assessed the attitude of 57 master's level rehabilitation counseling students, 62 college students with disabilities, and 83 small business employers, toward the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title I. Students with disabilities held the most favorable attitudes; rehabilitation counseling students' attitudes were more favorable than employers' attitudes. The construct validity and reliability of the ADA-IS were examined. Discussion of and suggestions for using the ADA-IS for advocacy and educational purposes and for future research are presented.
Self-Efficacy and Quality of Life in People with Spinal Cord Injuries in China
Authors: Zhang Hampton Nan
Published: December 2007

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between self-efficacy beliefs and the quality of life (QOL) in Chinese individuals with spinal cord injuries (SCI) and to examine whether health status and demographic variables correlated with the QOL in this population. One hundred individuals with SCI in China participated in the study. The results indicated that self-efficacy beliefs accounted for a substantial variance in the QOL of the participants. Moreover, health status, income, educational level, and time spent on voluntary work were correlated with the QOL in this population. The results are discussed in line with the Chinese culture and its influences on psychosocial adjustment to SCI and rehabilitation services for people with disabilities in China.
A Systems Analysis of the Case Coordinator Model and an Outcomes Analysis in Supported Employment
Authors: Faubion Clayton W. , Andrew Jason
Published: December 2007

This study examined a state-operated mental retardation service delivery system and conducted a systems analysis of the case coordinator referral system to determine the characteristics of individuals who were likely to be referred to supported employment. It also performed an outcomes analysis of the system's supported employment program to determine who was likely to be successful in the program. This examination was conducted by building prediction models using existing case file information. This study provided some evidence that empirically derived prediction models (i.e., logistic and multiple regression) can be a functional evaluation tool for supported employment managers, administrators, and rehabilitation counselors.
Predicting Vocational Rehabilitation Acceptance Based on Race, Education, Work Status, and Source of Support at Application
Authors: Wilson Keith B.
Published: December 2007

The relationship of vocational rehabilitation (VR) acceptance to race, education, work status, and primary source of support at application was examined using logistic regression. Using a stepwise entry method, the categories of primary source of support at application and race were statistically significant. Moreover, within the variable of primary source of support at application, customer earnings were significant. As customer earnings increased, the likelihood of being accepted for VR decreased. As the type of primary support at application changed, the likelihood of being accepted for VR changed. Finally, European Americans were more likely than African Americans to be accepted for VR services.
Causal Attributions of Disabilities and the Choice of Rehabilitation Approach
Authors: Williams Dorothy T. , Hershenson David B. , Fabian Ellen S.
Published: December 2007

In a sample of 125 college students, statistically significant relationships were found between three causal attributions of disabilities and the rehabilitation approach chosen. Attributions to fate, or predestination, correlated with choosing to get the person to accept the disability as one's lot in life; attributions to natural or medical causes correlated with choosing medical or retraining services; and attributions to societally imposed barriers correlated with choosing the removal of those barriers, rather than trying to change the individual with the disability. A fourth predicted relationship between attribution to personal responsibility and the denial of public funds for rehabilitation was not supported.
Improving the Employment Self-Concept of Persons with Disabilities
Authors: Saunders Jodi L. , Leahy Michael J. , Frank Kenneth A.
Published: December 2007

Research has indicated that self-concept can be an effective predictor of rehabilitation outcomes. The Comprehensive Labor and Employment Opportunities (CLEO) program was designed as a psychoeducational intervention to increase self-concept in persons with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to determine if participation in the CLEO program had a positive effect on the self-concept of persons with disabilities who were being served by the public rehabilitation program in Michigan. A quasi-experimental design with a nonequivalent control group was employed for this study. Pre- and postmeasures of self-concept were taken using the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale: 2nd edition (TSCS:2). Results revealed significant growth within the treatment group and significant difference in growth between treatment and control groups in the area of Total self-concept at the time of posttest. No significant differences were found in the area of Academic/Work self-concept. Implications for practice, education, and further research are discussed.
Toward a Cultural Anthropology of Disability and Rehabilitation
Authors: Hershenson David B.
Published: December 2007

The author reviewed both the anthropology literature and the literature of disability and rehabilitation, examining the extent to which the concepts, theories, and methods of cultural anthropology have been applied to the conceptualization and understanding of "disability and rehabilitation" as a cultural phenomenon. Future directions for investigation are suggested, with particular reference to its application in rehabilitation counseling practice and research.
Science and Engineering as Viable Career Choices for Students with Disabilities
Authors: Alston Reginald J. , Hampton Joseph L.
Published: December 2007

Although the availability of jobs in science and technology fields are abundant, awareness has increased that certain populations (e.g., persons with disabilities) have fewer opportunities to pursue these careers and, consequently, are underrepresented as employees in these fields. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of parents and teachers concerning the following variables as they relate to career entry of persons with disabilities into science and engineering: (a) facility access, (b) expense of accommodations, (c) role models, (d) teachers' understanding of students' academic needs, (e) length of learning time, (f) student aptitude and educational preparation, (g) career guidance, and (h) employer attitudes. A MANOVA indicated significant differences between parents and teachers on several variables. Psychometric properties of the scale developed for the study are described, and implications of the findings for rehabilitation counselors providing career development to secondary school students are discussed.
Utility of the Functional Assessment Inventory in a Post-Stroke Sample
Authors: Heinemann Allen W. , Crown Deborah , McMahon Rita
Published: December 2007

The objectives of this study were to describe the psychometric properties of the Functional Assessment Inventory in a sample of vocational service clients who had sustained strokes. Using rating scale analysis, we found that a 4-point rating scale was not useful in distinguishing performance on four items; rescoring these items enhanced the reliability of the measure. Four strata of clients could be distinguished: high, above average, below average, and low. The Inventory shows evidence of concurrent validity because it distinguishes stroke subtypes. It also has predictive validity—it distinguishes clients with different vocational outcomes. With only minor modifications, the instrument is useful in describing the vocational potential of clients following stroke.
Ethics in Rehabilitation Education and Research
Authors: Falvo Donna R. , Parker Randall M.
Published: December 2007

This article reviews ethical issues that rehabilitation educators may face in meeting their everyday teaching and research responsibilities. Issues presented include dual relationships ; selection of students; measurement of student competence; supervision of students ; confidentiality concerning student information; faculty competence; multicultural issues; and the design, conduction, and publication of research. Applicable ethical codes are described, and appropriate actions are suggested.
Modeling Rehabilitation Counselor Clinical Judgment
Authors: Strohmer Douglas C. , Leierer Stephen J.
Published: December 2007

To evaluate three proposed models of the rehabilitation counselor judgment process, we asked a sample of master's level rehabilitation counselors selected from a random list provided by the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification to engage in a series of judgment tasks. Counselors made multiple judgments about a large number of clients whose information we systematically varied across three dimensions: severity of disability, degree of psychosocial adjustment, and IQ level. These data were then analyzed using path analytic techniques to determine which of the three models (complex, fully mediated, or simple) was the best description of the process rehabilitation counselors followed to make two predictive judgments (likelihood of progress in counseling and likelihood of obtaining employment) about clients with disabilities. In both instances, the fully mediated model was the most parsimonious yet most explanatory model of the process. Implications for theory, research, practice, and education are discussed.
Predicting Client Employment Outcomes from Personal History, Functional Limitations, and Rehabilitation Services
Authors: Bolton Brian F. , Bellini James L. , Brookings Jeffrey B.
Published: December 2007

This investigation assessed the predictability of two client employment outcomes from personal background information, counselor-rated functional limitations of the client, and rehabilitation services provided. The research sample consisted of more than 4,000 vocational rehabilitation (VR) clients representing five disability categories: orthopedic, chronic medical, psychiatric, mental retardation, and learning disabilities. The results of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis supported four conclusions: (a) Competitive employment at closure is more predictable and thus more amenable to improvement through the provision of VR services than salary, (b) rehabilitation counselors should use an estimate of case difficulty based on client personal history data in their service planning, (c) rehabilitation education programs should put more emphasis on training in job placement activities, and (d) rehabilitation counselors should evaluate clients' functional limitations during the diagnostic phase of the service delivery process.
Validity and the Employment Expectation Questionnaire
Authors: Millington Michael J. , Leierer Stephen , Abadie Margo
Published: December 2007

This article considers the validity of the Employment Expectation Questionnaire (beta version; EEQ-B) from construct-, content-, and criterion-related perspectives. Experimental and nonexperimental designs were incorporated into this study to address the following two research questions: Does the EEQ-B model predict worker satisfactoriness? and Are disability label-related biases identified in the EEQ-B related to differential judgments of worker satisfactoriness? A convenience sample of 316 students was analyzed. Results indicate that the factors of the EEQ-B accounted for 33% of the variance in predicting worker satisfactoriness and that people with cognitive disability labels were rated significantly higher than other groups. The authors contend that this supports the construct- and criterion-related validity assumptions of the instrument, and they suggest directions for further efforts at validation and related attitude research.
Predicting Research Interest Among Rehabilitation Counseling Students and Faculty
Authors: Bard Christine C. , Bieschke Kathleen J. , Herbert James T. , Eberz Amy B.
Published: December 2007

To develop a clearer understanding of the variables that contribute to research interest and involvement among rehabilitation counseling students and faculty, the results of two studies examining research self-efficacy beliefs, research outcome expectations, and elements of research training environments were compared. Differences were found in research outcome expectations and research self-efficacy between students and faculty. Social-cognitive career theory is used as a framework for explaining these differences, and implications for the research training of rehabilitation counseling students are discussed.
Communication Strategies of Adults with Severe Disabilities
Authors: Olney Marjorie F.
Published: December 2007

Individuals with significant developmental disabilities are often considered by others to be dependent and incompetent. They are frequently defined by their deficits rather than their abilities. New concepts such as self-determination have challenged researchers and service providers to think differently about the abilities of individuals considered to have severe intellectual disabilities. Analysis of communicative events between individuals with and without severe disabilities provides evidence that individuals who are often considered least able to do indeed communicate, asserting control over their environments and activities. Careful attention to communication reveals that behaviors that on the surface appear to be random, maladaptive, or challenging are purposeful, even useful. The author proposes that embedded in each communicative act, there is a drive toward self-determination, but that in order for self-determination to be actualized, communication partners must learn to apprehend, and respond appropriately to, the messages.
The Meaning of Work in the Lives of People Living with HIV Disease and AIDS
Authors: McReynolds Connie J.
Published: December 2007

Many individuals with HIV disease and AIDS are living longer, experiencing improved health, and planning for their futures due to the increased efficacy of new drug therapies and drug combinations for the treatment of HIV disease and AIDS. Learning more about how individuals with HIV disease and AIDS are managing their illness in regards to work was the focus of this study. A core phenomenon emerging from this study centered on the importance that work held in the lives of people living with HIV disease and AIDS. Within this core phenomenon, four categories were identified: (a) providing access to affordable insurance and health care, (b) providing a distraction from the disease, (c) allowing one to be a contributing member of society, and (d) serving as a measure of health. Implications for rehabilitation practitioners and directions for future research are discussed.
Occupational Congruence in the Placement of Injured Workers
Authors: Dunn Patrick L.
Published: December 2007

This study examined the congruence of occupations into which injured workers were placed in comparison to those performed in the past. The congruence of demographic and injury characteristics of participants and their worker traits demonstrated during previous employment was explored through discriminant analysis. The analysis indicated that three variables—demonstrated temperament for working with people, loss of strength capacity after the injury, and case velocity (the number of days elapsed from injury to case closure)—correctly classified 37.9% of participants into the observed occupational congruence category.
Functions and Knowledge Domains for Disability Management Practice
Authors: Currier Kenneth F. , Chan Fong , Berven Norman L. , Habeck Rochelle V. , Taylor Darrell W.
Published: December 2007

The importance of job functions and knowledge domains to the practice of disability management was examined by systematically obtaining the opinions of a panel of 44 recognized experts in disability management. As proposed by Habeck and Kirchner (1999), disability management was conceptualized at two levels of practice. Level I (DM) was defined as administrative and managerial in nature, with an organizational focus. Level II (dm) was conceptualized as human-service oriented, involving the direct provision of services to individual clients. The results indicated that many functions and knowledge domains that appear to be generally important to disability management practice, while others appear to have greater or lesser salience depending on whether services are focused at the organizational or individual level of intervention.
Ethical Issues in Disclosure of Test Data
Authors: Blackwell Terry L. , Autry Tara L. , Guglielmo Doris E.
Published: December 2007

This article provides an overview of some of the ethical issues rehabilitation counselors may face relevant to the disclosure of test data. The authors discuss maintaining confidentiality of test data, preventing misuse of test data, releasing test data without impairing test security or copyright interests of third parties, and conforming to legal mandates and rules pertaining to test data. The authors also describe a number of strategies that practitioners may consider in addressing issues related to the disclosure of test data.
Essential Knowledge and Skills for Effective Clinical Supervision in Rehabilitation Counseling
Authors: Thielsen Virginia A. , Leahy Michael J.
Published: December 2007

This study begins the inductive process of identifying the supervisory knowledge and skills that are necessary for effective field-based clinical supervision of rehabilitation counselors. A total of 774 randomly selected certified rehabilitation counselors (CRCs) completed the Rehabilitation Counseling Supervision Inventory, an instrument developed via a Delphi method specifically for this investigation. Principal components analysis of their responses yielded 6 supervisory knowledge and skill domains essential for effective field-based supervision of rehabilitation counselors. The results of this study empirically demonstrate that there is a substantial body of supervisory knowledge and skills that CRCs perceived to be important for effective field-based supervision of rehabilitation counselors.
Structural Analysis of the Consumer-Directed Theory of Empowerment
Authors: Kosciulek John F. , Merz MaryAnn
Published: December 2007

This investigation tested the hypothesized structural model of the consumer-directed theory of empowerment (CDTE). Participants were 159 consumers with disabilities who were receiving services at a Clubhouse Model community rehabilitation program (CRP) in a large midwestern city. Data were gathered through participant completion of a self-report questionnaire designed to assess the level of consumer direction in the CRP service provision process, as well as the level of participant community integration, empowerment, and quality of life. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to test the structure of the CDTE. Although model respecification was necessary to obtain adequate fit, results provided support for the hypothesized CDTE structure. Additional longitudinal data on larger samples are required to further assess the structure of the CDTE and enhance its usefulness to rehabilitation counselors for service delivery, program evaluation, and policy analysis applications.
Physical Impairments as Risk Factors for the Development of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Authors: Martz Erin , Cook Daniel W.
Published: December 2007

The case-control method, a retrospective design useful in studying the etiology of rare diseases, was utilized to examine the relative risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among individuals with six types of traumatic physical impairments. Odds ratios and associated confidence intervals were calculated for each impairment in a group of 45,320 veterans receiving medical services. Four of the six impairments were found to be risk factors for PTSD. Implications for rehabilitation counseling and research are discussed.