Moral Development Among Mildly Mentally Handicapped School Children

Abstract

According to the cognitive‐developmental theory, intellectual development is best understood in terms of age‐related changes. This has been found to be a valid theory in the case of mentally subnormal subjects as well, although their development proceeds at a speed and up to a level different from their normal age‐mates. The same theory has been applied to moral development and describes it, likewise, as a stage‐like progress of moral reasoning with age. The present study tries to answer the following question: Does the moral reasoning of the subjects classified as subnormal change with age so that it can be said to develop? According to the results obtained (dealing with subjects nine‐, 11‐, 13‐, 15‐ and 17‐years‐old), the cognitive‐developmental hypothesis of moral development is only partially confirmed. Namely, there is a development from the less to the more mature forms of moral reasoning, but the course of that development is not entirely such as the theory assumes. Moreover, moral reasoning of the subjects in this study is more advanced than their intelligence level as expressed by the IQ score.     

Educational Provision for Mildly Intellectually Disabled Children in Queensland: Development and Decline

From the mid‐twenties to the early seventies children now designated as mildly intellectually disabled were the recipients of the greater part of the special education budget and the energies of special education staff in Queensland. These students were by far the largest category of children with special needs catered for by the Department of Education's special education section. The thrust towards separate provision for this group came from within the Department itself supported by visiting experts, with no apparent need for parent advocacy. The integration debate and expansion of services to more severely intellectually disabled children appear to have directed the mildly disabled group back into the educational mainstream, raising the question of whether the expertise and support developed over the years within special education have accompanied them.     

Integration of Mildly Handicapped Cerebral Palsied Children into Regular Schools

Eighty‐five mildly handicapped cerebral palsied children integrated into regular schools were assessed in order to identify characteristics associated with academic success and social acceptance. About 50 percent of the children were successful in reading accuracy and comprehension, 45 percent in arithmetic and 60 percent were socially acceptable to peers. Academic achievement was associated with cognitive ability rather than with degree of handicap, while social acceptance was related to affective variables. Cognitive, affective and behavioural mean scores were all within the normal range. Commonality analysis of data derived from the experimental subjects and a contrast group enrolled in a special school indicated that educational placement did not contribute significantly to academic success.     

听觉障碍儿童融合教育语言教学模式论析

听觉障碍儿童随班就读作为融合教育的创新形式,丰富了听觉障碍儿童安置于聋校之单一形式。历经口语教学与手语教学纷争的聋校语言教学模式影响了听觉障碍儿童随班就读的教学模式。综观国内外听觉障碍儿童融合教育的语言教学模式,主要包括听语教学模式、视话教学模式、手语教学模式与综合语言教学模式。本文通过对这些语言教学模式的解析,以期为我国听觉障碍儿童的随班就读提供可资借鉴的参考体系。     

智障教育工作的信念

特殊教育是伴随着社会的进步而逐渐产生和发展起来的,在这一进程中,尤以人们对智障者态度的改变进行得最为缓慢.     

A Feasibility Study of a Full Integration Model Developed for a Group of Students Classified as Mildly Intellectually Disabled

The feasibility of a functional full‐time integration model was examined by comparing the academic and social achievement of two groups of 13 students with mild intellectual disabilities who had been randomly allocated to either age‐appropriate mainstream classes or to a segregated special class. Both groups of students had previously attended special classes in a support unit catering for students with mild intellectual disabilities and had been taught by two special education teachers. During the experimental phase, one teacher remained in the unit while the other acted as a resource teacher for both integrated students with disabilities and regular low progress students in mainstream classes to which the students with disabilities had been allocated. After a 16 week intervention, the results indicated that the integrated students improved significantly more than their segregated counterparts on measures of decoding and mathematics as well as in time spent playing with regular peers. Furthermore, in one regular classroom where the resource teacher had established a mastery learning/cooperative group procedure, both regular students and those with disabilities improved significantly more in academic skills than a parallel group in a traditionally organized classroom. While it is recognised that teacher effects cannot be partialled out in such an intervention, the implications of these results for extending special education services into the mainstream rather than isolating them within special classes are discussed.     

Siblings of Handicapped Children

The needs of the siblings of handicapped children tend often to be overlooked. Dr. Jessie Parfit, information officer, National Children's Bureau, from 1970 to 1974 suggests how these can be met     

A Model for the Behavioural Assessment of Developmentally Handicapped Children

This paper describes a model for assessing young children who have developmental handicaps. The design and implementation of instructional programs are presented as integral components of assessment. The involvement of parents and teachers in all aspects of assessment is a feature of the model, which also stresses evaluation of the physical and social contexts of child behaviour, and suggests long term evaluation of both the intended and unanticipated effects of intervention.     

Research Supplement: The Prospects on Leaving School for the Mildly Mentally Handicapped

Dr David May is senior lecturer in sociology and Dr David Hughes is a research fellow in the Department of Psychiatry, Dundee University. They present results of a three-year study of the post-school experiences of young people from special schools and units for pupils with moderate learning difficulties, in one Scottish region. The research was supported by a grant from the Chief Scientist's Office of the Scottish Home and Health Department.     

Intelligibility of Computer Synthesized Speech Among Mildly Handicapped and Nonhandicapped Youth

No abstract available for this article.     

Consultation with Parents of Handicapped Children

One of the most important responsibilities facing professionals in the educational setting is consultation with parents; few areas are as sensitive as consultation with parents of handicapped children. Various stages of adjustment tend to be experienced by these parents, and these need to be taken into consideration when consulting with them. Professionals should become more cognizant of the emotional factors which may be present in the lives of parents of handicapped youngsters.     

Siblings of Handicapped Children: A Population at Risk?

This paper examines the effects of a handicapped child on normal siblings. The complexities of family networks are explored in terms of Farber's (1975) model of arrest of the family cycle. Major sibling studies undertaken since the early sixties are reviewed, and methodological short‐ comings discussed in relation to future research needs. The possibility of identifying both siblings “at risk” and characteristics of adequately coping families is canvassed. Currently available research findings are interpreted in terms of their implications for professionals working with handicapped children and their families.     

A Comparison of Method Effects in Two Confirmatory Factor Models for Structurally Different Methods

It is well known that measurement error in observable variables induces bias in estimates in standard regression analysis and that structural equation models are a typical solution to this problem. Often, multiple indicator equations are subsumed as part of the structural equation model, allowing for consistent estimation of the relevant regression parameters. In many instances, however, embedding the measurement model into structural equation models is not possible because the model would not be identified. To correct for measurement error one has no other recourse than to provide the exact values of the variances of the measurement error terms of the model, although in practice such variances cannot be ascertained exactly, but only estimated from an independent study. The usual approach so far has been to treat the estimated values of error variances as if they were known exact population values in the subsequent structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis. In this article we show that fixing measurement error variance estimates as if they were true values can make the reported standard errors of the structural parameters of the model smaller than they should be. Inferences about the parameters of interest will be incorrect if the estimated nature of the variances is not taken into account. For general SEM, we derive an explicit expression that provides the terms to be added to the standard errors provided by the standard SEM software that treats the estimated variances as exact population values. Interestingly, we find there is a differential impact of the corrections to be added to the standard errors depending on which parameter of the model is estimated. The theoretical results are illustrated with simulations and also with empirical data on a typical SEM model.     

中、美"残疾人高等教育法"比较

接受高等教育是公民享有的一项重要的公法权利,对残疾公民意义更为重大。各国为保证残疾公民获得平等的发展权,对其受教育权、包括受高等教育权均给予明确规定。中美两国对此都做了大量工作。然而,一旦将两国有关残疾人高等教育法进行比较,便可看出,中国在保障残疾人高等教育权方面存在许多不尽人意之处,需要进一步改进和努力。     

卢梭儿童年龄分期教育思想对0-6岁儿童教育的启示

在卢梭的教育思想中,自然主义教育思想最为大家熟知.相比之,卢梭的儿童年龄分期教育思想则鲜为人知.在笔者看来,儿童年龄分期教育思想值得探究.在其观点中的第一、第二阶段前半期基本与0-6岁儿童,即我国的学前儿童年龄段刚好相符.本文是在儿童年龄分期教育思想的基础上,结合0-6岁儿童的身心发展特点,为教育者提供些许适宜的教育建议或策略.     

特殊儿童心理健康教育的思考

近年来,由于种种社会因素影响,特殊儿童数量持续增长.在分析了我国特殊儿童存在的主要心理问题的基础上,结合工作实践,认为应加强特殊儿童心理健康教育的观点,并提出了对特殊儿童开展心理健康教育的措施和方法.     

Quality of Life Outcomes for Young Children with Disabilities: Legislative and Service Delivery Implications

Improving the quality of life for people with disabilities through early intervention has been a major focus over the past 20 years. However, much of the direction of intervention has been upon quality of process rather than upon quality of outcome. If early intervention is to have a significant impact upon the lifestyles of people with disabilities, it is important that a longitudinal perspective be adopted and quality of life defined and appropriate measures developed. In this paper a longitudinal perspective on early intervention is discussed along with quality of outcome and programmatic features of quality programs.