Disability Studies Commons^™

Nebraska Public Guardianship Of Unbefriended Patients: A Preliminary Review Of Health Outcomes And Cost Savings, Emily N. Berzonsky

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

Unbefriended patients often experience an extended length of stay in the hospital while their medical providers await legal appointment of a public guardian to make their medical decisions. The medically unnecessary days the unbefriended patient spends in the hospital equates to high costs for the hospital, but more importantly, negative health outcomes for the patient. The purpose of this study is to provide literature and data to support recommendations for possible changes in Nebraska’s public guardianship appointment process. A literature review seeks to answer: (1) What is the median hospital length of stay for an unbefriended patient without a guardian …

Perceived Maternal Stress, Coping Strategies, And Suggested Interventions In Caring For Children With Both Medical Complexities And Developmental Delays, Lisa Poff

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This qualitative study highlights caretaker stress and coping in mothers of children with complex medical needs in addition to developmental delays. Areas of stress were complex, affecting emotional health, careers, and even vacations. Burnout theory was utilized to address the increased stress levels in these mothers. However, this theory was supplemented with Stress and Coping theory after qualitative data analysis as there were other factors that allowed these mothers to persevere—in particular, a type of coping identified as “meaning-based coping,” where situations are positively re-appraised and ordinary events are imbued with positive meaning. The mothers expressed their desire for more …

Parent Perceptions Of Service Animals Impacts On The Language Skills Of Their Children With Autism, Rachel Mcmanamon, Tim Brackenbury, Megan Wilson

Honors Projects

This study found multiple areas within the broad field of pragmatics in which a therapy dog can benefit the child that they are partnered with. In general, it appears that having a trained service dog for individuals with ASD may be a good tool to support the developmental of a variety of skills. Specifically, within the areas of socializing and use of language, the dog can provide the child with opportunities for conversations, as well as topics to discuss and experiences to share.

Everyday Memory In People With Down Syndrome, Yingying Jennifer Yang, Zachary M. Himmelberger, Trent Robinson, Megan Davis, Frances Conners, Edward Merrill

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Although memory functions in people with Down Syndrome (DS) have been studied extensively, how well people with DS remember things about everyday life is not well understood. In the current study, 31 adolescents/young adults with DS and 26 with intellectual disabilities (ID) of mixed etiology (not DS) participated. They completed an everyday memory questionnaire about personal facts and recent events (e.g., school name, breakfast). They also completed a standard laboratory task of verbal long-term memory (LTM) where they recalled a list of unrelated words over trials. Results did not indicate impaired everyday memory, but impaired verbal LTM, in people with …

St. Augustine Parish Sunday Bulletin, April 25, 2021

Saint Augustine Parish Sunday Bulletin

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Cleveland, OH

Saint Augustine Parish Sunday Bulletin Finding Aid

St. Benedict Parish For The Deaf Church Bulletin, April 25, 2021

Saint Benedict Parish for the Deaf Church Bulletin

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in San Francisco, CA

Saint Benedict Parish for the Deaf Church Bulletin Finding Aid

St. Francis Borgia Deaf Center Church Bulletin, April 25, 2021

Saint Francis Borgia Deaf Center Church Bulletin

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Chicago, IL

Saint Francis Brogia Deaf Center Church Bulletin Finding Aid

Racial-Ethnic Disparities In Educational Attainment Among Adults With Intellectual Disability, Erin Bisesti

Population Health Research Brief Series

Racial-ethnic minorities with intellectual disability experience compound disadvantage because of the intersection of their disability and racial minority group status. This research brief examines whether birth cohort trends (from the early-1900s to late-1990s) in educational attainment among adults with intellectual disability differed among non-Hispanic Whites, non-Hispanic Blacks, and Hispanics. Results show that although all racial-ethnic groups saw a substantial increase in the probability of attaining a high school degree or more over subsequent birth cohorts, the timing and amount of education attained varied across racial-ethnic groups.

Bridging Barriers In Inclusive Classrooms: Avenues For Communication Between General Education Teachers And Families, Nicole M. Wack

Education Doctorate Dissertations

Family-teacher communications have proven beneficial for the academic, social and behavioral success of students at all levels. Research studies have specifically examined this dynamic as it relates to general education teachers and general education families, teachers and families at the primary level, and special education teachers and special education families. However, there is minimal research regarding communication strategies between families of students with disabilities (FSWDs) and general education teachers of inclusive classrooms (GETINs) at the high school level. In order to address this gap in the literature, this action research study investigated the following research questions: 1) To what extent …

Prevalence Of Common Disease Conditions In A Large Cohort Of Individuals With Down Syndrome In The United States, Brian Chicoine, Anne Rivelli, Veronica Fitzpatrick, Laura Chicoine, Gengjie Jia, Andrey Rzhetsky

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: Given the current life expectancy and number of individuals living with Down syndrome (DS), it is important to learn common occurrences of disease conditions across the developmental lifespan. This study analyzed data from a large cohort of individuals with DS in an effort to better understand these disease conditions, inform future screening practices, tailor medical care guidelines, and improve utilization of health care resources.

Methods: This retrospective, descriptive study incorporated up to 28 years of data, compiled from 6078 individuals with DS and 30,326 controls matched on age and sex. Data were abstracted from electronic medical records within a …

St. Augustine Parish Sunday Bulletin, April 18, 2021

Saint Augustine Parish Sunday Bulletin

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Cleveland, OH

Saint Augustine Parish Sunday Bulletin Finding Aid

St. Benedict Parish For The Deaf Church Bulletin, April 18, 2021

Saint Benedict Parish for the Deaf Church Bulletin

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in San Francisco, CA

Saint Benedict Parish for the Deaf Church Bulletin Finding Aid

St. Francis Borgia Deaf Center Church Bulletin, April 18, 2021

Saint Francis Borgia Deaf Center Church Bulletin

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Chicago, IL

Saint Francis Brogia Deaf Center Church Bulletin Finding Aid

Becoming Human? Ableism And Control In Detroit: Become Human And The Implications For Human-Machine Communication, Marco Dehnert, Rebecca B. Leach

Human-Machine Communication

In human-machine communication (HMC), machines are communicative subjects in the creation of meaning. The Computers are Social Actors and constructivist approaches to HMC postulate that humans communicate with machines as if they were people. From this perspective, communication is understood as heavily scripted where humans mindlessly apply human-to-human scripts in HMC. We argue that a critical approach to communication scripts reveals how humans may rely on ableism as a means of sense-making in their relationships with machines. Using the choose-your-own-adventure game Detroit: Become Human as a case study, we demonstrate (a) how ableist communication scripts render machines as both less-than-human …

St. Augustine Parish Sunday Bulletin, April 11, 2021

Saint Augustine Parish Sunday Bulletin

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Cleveland, OH

Saint Augustine Parish Sunday Bulletin Finding Aid

St. Francis Borgia Deaf Center Church Bulletin, April 11, 2021

Saint Francis Borgia Deaf Center Church Bulletin

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Chicago, IL

Saint Francis Brogia Deaf Center Church Bulletin Finding Aid

St. Benedict Parish For The Deaf Church Bulletin, April 11, 2021

Saint Benedict Parish for the Deaf Church Bulletin

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in San Francisco, CA

Saint Benedict Parish for the Deaf Church Bulletin Finding Aid

An Intervention To Increase Detection Of Developmental Delays In Wic Programs, Mohadeseh Solgi, Julie A. Reeder, Sherri Alderman, Katharine E. Zuckerman

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

Background: Low-income children are at risk for under-detection of developmental disabilities DD. WIC clinics see low-income children regularly in early childhood and could be an important source of referrals to developmental services.

Objectives: To increase the number of referrals to EI/ECSE from non-primary care settings such as WIC.

Methods: This was a site-randomized trial of an intervention to train WIC staff in early identification of DD’s, using CDC’s LTSAE developmental monitoring materials. 7 county WIC agencies in Oregon enrolled; 4 intervention agencies and 3 control agencies. The intervention consisted of an on-site, half-day training regarding signs of developmental delays, use …

The Issue Of Unemployment Among People With Disabilities, Angelina C. Pagano

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

The rate of unemployment for people with disabilities continues to rise greatly above that of people without disabilities. The issue seems to be exacerbated by employer biases and concerns which are not supported in the face of evidence. A lack of employer education on disability related subjects causes this misconception among both employers and the public as a whole. To resolve the underlying problem of miseducation, an increase in the self-identification of people with disabilities is necessary to provide researchers with data to assist in the formation of a revised curriculum.

Developing Power Skills And Effective Partnerships With Individuals With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Madison Mclean

OTD Capstone Projects

This project partnered with Friends Life Community of Nashville, TN, in effort to advocate for, increase meaningful participation in, and promote independence in individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities through the implementation of several training tools. Staff and families at Friends Life expressed a need for more classes in a virtual capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to tools to guide Friends Life staff from an occupational therapy perspective. An occupational therapy-based training module was introduced to promote inclusion and teach activity analysis, goal-setting, and how to adapt tasks and the environment to maximize engagement and independence in …