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Chaloupka, Evan M. "Cognitive Disability and Narrative." Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1522063781558934.
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Hetrick, Nicholas M. "Making Bodies Matter: Disability Narrative After the ADA." The Ohio State University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1306377901.
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Purcell, Elizabeth Bowie-Sexton. "Flourishing Bodies: Disability, Virtue, Happiness." Thesis, Boston College, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/3040.
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Thesis advisor: Richard KearneyThe pursuit of living a good and moral life has been a longstanding ideal of philosophy, an ideal that dates back to the writings of Plato, and more specifically, Aristotle. This ideal establishes that a good life as a happy and flourishing life is pursued by developing the right motives and the right character. And in order to live this life, one must, then, develop a virtuous character, i.e., be a virtuous person, who desires the good. Finally, in the pursuit of the good, one must not do so alone; rather, one should pursue the virtuous life with others, i.e., friends, because they enhance our ability to think and to act. This specific position which is taken up by Aristotelian virtue ethics, however, has recently come under scrutiny by certain studies in social psychology. Particularly, the concept of character has been discredited by empirical studies. Furthermore, the classic model of the virtuous person has assumed only persons with able-bodies. As a result of these two criticisms, Aristotelian virtue ethics has been discredited as a fantasy ethics available for only a few to achieve. The principle aim of this dissertation is to develop and defend an account of Aristotelian virtue ethics which is grounded in empirical psychology and enables people with disabilities to flourish as moral exemplars within a society. The value of virtue and character for ethical debate is imperative for human happiness within moral life. Instead of happiness being something an individual strives to acquire or feel, Aristotelian virtue ethicists have argued that true happiness is human flourishing. In other words, in order to be happy, humans should focus not just on what it is good to do, but also, and more importantly, focus on who it is good to be. To live a good life, then, it is necessary that one is a good person, or has a good character. Thus, to acquire virtues such as charity, benevolence, honesty, and generosity and to shun vices such as dishonesty, cruelty, or stinginess, is the task, Aristotelian virtue ethicists have argued, that leads to eudaimonia, i.e., human flourishing. The person who has acquired virtuous character traits, then, is the person who is most happy in life. However, the attempt to understand human happiness as a result of a virtuous character has become vulnerable to criticism from philosophical positions grounded in empirical psychology and disability theory. In light of the charge that virtue ethics is a fantasy ethics, many philosophers argue that Aristotelian virtue ethics should be abandoned because it is an ethics with little or no scientific basis. In my defense of Aristotelian virtue ethics, I first address the objection that Aristotelian virtue ethics is a "fantasy ethics" which has no grounding in empirical psychology, and thus, as a result, should not be used for moral theory. This objection has been put forth by certain "Situationist" philosophers, who cite psychological studies which demonstrate that the idea of a virtue as a "global character trait" is something that humans do not actually, or very rarely, possess. This objection to Aristotelian virtue ethics has dealt a devastating blow. In response to this objection, philosopher Nancy Snow has mounted a defense of Aristotelian virtue ethics which is grounded in empirical psychology. Snow's defense, though superficially appealing, has two intractable problems. I address the failure of her proposal in Chapter One: The Problem of Virtue as Social Intelligence. The first problem Snow faces concerns her use of CAPS as a method for virtue ethics to be used throughout life. I call this problem the longitudinality problem, which argues that Snow's proposal for the constancy of virtue for longer than a period of six weeks is overreaching. The second problem Snow faces concerns her reliance on virtue as social intelligence for the actual achievement of being virtuous in daily living. This problem turns on the empirical criteria for what makes a person capable of virtuous action and I call this problem the exclusivity problem, which excludes people with "Autism" form being virtuous. As an alternative to Snow's account, I begin my defense of Aristotelian virtue ethics by developing the following account of empirical virtue based on a narrative identity which desires and actively pursues the good in life-long striving. This moral desire is encouraged through the shared dialogue of virtuous caregiving, which enables a moral novice to flourish and grow into a moral expert. This pursuit of the good enables everyone to flourish and incorporates insights from disability, embodied cognition and social psychology. To accomplish this task, I begin with an examination of the first of two foundational components of character, i.e., the four processing levels of CAPS theory in Chapter Two: Moral Perception. Although CAPS theory provides a solid beginning for an account of virtue, it is not a sustainable theory throughout life. This theory of social-cognitive moral psychology needs to be supplemented by developmental moral psychology. CAPS theory also assumes the individual's perspective in the dynamic interaction between situation and character. It assumes a person's intentions, and this assumption of intentionality - desires, intentions, and beliefs - assumes a person's embodiment in that situation. In other words, CAPS theory assumes lived embodiment. In this chapter, I turn to the method of phenomenology used by both psychologists and philosophers of embodied cognition to account for the moral "interpretation of the situation" experienced by people with illness or impairment. As a complimentary to CAPS and the second foundational component for character, certain moral psychologists have argued for the narrative development of Event Representations for virtuous character. This development begins with the shared dialogue of the caregiver and dependent asking the dependent to recall events which have just occurred. In this practice, the caregiver's aim is to help the dependent form memories and incorporate those memories into the creation of a narrative identity. In Chapter Three: Representations of Moral Events, I extend the caring relation to this practice of shared dialogue to incorporate certain forms of intellectual disability, such as "Autism" and Alzheimer's disease. To accomplish this, I incorporate the roles of narrative and trust in order to construct the relation of dependency and interdependency as trusting co-authorship rather than reciprocal capability. After establishing the importance of the caregiver in the development of one's narrative identity, I employ the life narrative longitudinal psychological approach to moral development as a structure for the moral event representations and schemas guided by the caregiver. Finally, I argue that the co-authorship of one's life story animates one's moral desire for the good and as a result, leads to the development of interdependent virtues. In Chapter Four: Moral Self-Coherence through Personal Strivings, I examine the importance of personal strivings for a sense of lived self-coherence for character over time. My argument is that our personal strivings are unified by the life story which animates and directs those strivings throughout our lives. Although our personal strivings may be altered or deterred due to life transitions including accident, illness, and "disabling injury," they still retain a sense of unity through our overarching life story. It is this narrative which gives unity to both our psychological intentions and bodily intentions, even when they are experienced as a phenomenally lived dualism due to illness, stroke, or impairment. In order to make my argument, I examine ten case studies from medical patients. I argue that our personal strivings toward the good guide our growth of character from a moral novice to become a moral expert. In Chapter Five: Flourishing Bodies, I develop an empirically grounded model of a virtuous character which begins with interdependent virtues and eventually grows into independent virtues. To do this, I draw on the two foundational components of character: CAPS theory and event representations. From the caring relation and shared dialogue of the caregiver, an individual begins to develop basic moral schemas, tasks, and scripts. This is when the individual is a moral novice. As the novice pursues excellences in these practices, the novice grows into a moral expert according to those virtues and becomes virtuously independent. The moral expert, unlike the moral novice, executes virtuous action with ease. Having acquired skills of virtue and knowledge, the moral expert knows the right thing to do at the right time and does so with the right reasons. MacIntyre, however, acknowledged the limit of ethics and turned to politics to address specific needs for people with disabilities such as care, financial support, educational support, and political proxy. The purpose of the final chapter, The Virtue-Oriented Politics of Interdependence, is to follow MacIntyre's endeavor and to propose a virtue-oriented politics of interdependence as an initial solution. First, I examine the various forms of oppression facing people with disabilities in society. In order to address these forms of oppression for people with disabilities, I argue that a shift in the central component of a political framework is needed. Instead of focusing on distribution or recognition, one should focus on education in the broad sense. In conclusion of my dissertation, The Fragility of Virtue, I provide a perspective of our human condition that is a vulnerable one. In this final section, I discuss the role of our collective vulnerability and the fragility of human goodness with regard to illness and impairment. And that our interdependence is strengthened through the virtue of friendship. I finish with a proposal of the role of sacrifice as a way to reconcile the pursuit of a flourishing life in the face of our own fragility
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Philosophy
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Gabel, Sheila Lynn. "Healing words, narrative themes in journal writing and disability." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2000. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape3/PQDD_0017/MQ48212.pdf.
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Lipenga, Ken Junior. "Narrative enablement : constructions of disability in contemporary African imaginaries." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/86304.
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Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis examines depictions of disability in selected African films, novels and memoirs. Central to the thesis is the concept of narrative enablement, which is discussed as a property that texts have for enabling the recognition of disability by the reader or viewer. In the thesis, I investigate the ways in which narrative enablement manifests in the texts. The motivation for the study comes from the recognition of several trends in current literary disability studies. Firstly, the study attempts to expand the theoretical base of current literary disability studies, which consists of ideas formed from a narrow epistemic archive. Similarly, the study also recognises that scholarship in the field mostly relies on a limited canon of texts, almost wholly drawn from the Western world. This study therefore allows a glimpse at an under-acknowledged archive of disability representation, which is then used to suggest the possibility of alternative ways of understanding disablement on the African continent and globally. The first chapter is meant as an entry point into some of the complex lives depicted in the thesis. In this chapter, I explore the intersection that the texts draw between disability and masculinity, illustrating the way this intersection evokes questions about how we understand the relationship between the two concepts. In the second chapter, I examine the way socio-political violence on the continent is represented as a cause of both disablement and disenablement. This chapter is an exploration of how disability is enmeshed with other social realities in people’s lives. The term disenablement is employed in order to capture the presentation of disablement amidst various forms of violent oppression. As it is portrayed in the majority of the texts studied in the thesis, disablement is a factor of social attitudes. My third chapter examines how these texts create dis/ability zones, areas where the reader/viewer witnesses the fluidity of socially constructed disablement in particular societies. As it is portrayed in the texts, and discussed in the thesis, this zone is a space where disabled characters encounter the ableist world. It is a space that allows the destabilization of entrenched notions about disability, and consequent recognition of disabled characters. The most explicit manifestation of narrative enablement occurs through creative intervention, which is the focus in the fourth chapter. In this chapter, I examine the role of various forms of creativity as they are enacted by the characters, arguing that they are manifestations of the characters making use of narrative enablement. In the texts, the disabled characters use unique modes of storytelling – not exclusively verbal – to narrate their story, but also to assert their belonging to particular familial, cultural, as well as national worlds.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek uitbeeldings van gestremdheid in geselekteerde films, romans en memoirs uit Afrika. Die konsep van narratiewe bemagtiging – ‘n konsep wat ondersoek word as ‘n kapasiteit van tekste wat die erkenning van gestremdheid bemoontlik vir die leser of kyker – staan sentraal in hierdie studie. In my tesis ondersoek ek die maniere waarop narratiewe bemagtiging in die tekste manifesteer. Die beweegrede vir hierdie studie kom uit die realisering van verskeie strominge in kontemporêre letterkundige gestremdheidstudies. In die eerste plek onderneem hierdie studie die taak om die teoretiese basis van huidige literêre gestremdheidstudies, wat bestaan uit idees wat op hul beurt uit ‘n enge epistemiese argief gevorm is, uit te brei. Op soortgelyke wyse erken die studie dat akademiese navorsing binne hierdie studieveld meestal berus op ‘n relatief klein kanon van tekste, feitlik geheel-en-al uit die Westerse wêreld. Hierdie studie bied dus ‘n kyk op ‘n onder-erkende argief van gestremdheidsvoorstellings, wat op sy beurt gebruik word om die moontlikheid van alternatiewe maniere waarop gestremdheid binne Afrika asook wêreldwyd begryp kan word, aan te toon. Die doel van die eerste hoofstuk is om ‘n intreepunt te skep waardeur sommige van die komplekse ervaringswêrelde wat in die tesis ondersoek word, betree kan word. In hierdie hoofstuk ondersoek ek die oorvleuelings tussen gestremdheid en manlikheid wat deur die tekste uitgebeeld word, om sodoende aan te toon dat hierdie oorvleueling vrae oproep in verband met hoe ons die verhouding tussen hierdie twee konsepte kan verstaan. In my tweede hoofstuk ondersoek ek die manier waarop sosio-politieke geweld op die kontinent uitgebeeld word as ‘n oorsaak van gestremdheid sowel as van ontmagtiging. Hierdie hoofstuk ondersoek die wyses waarop gestremdheid verwikkeld is met ander sosiale werklikhede in mense se lewens. Die term disenablement [hier: ‘ontmagtiging’] word gebruik om die uitbeelding van gestremdheid midde-in verskillende vorme van gewelddadige onderdrukking vas te vang. Soos uitgebeeld in die meeste van die tekste wat in die studie ondersoek word, is gestremdheid ‘n aspek van sosiale houdinge. My derde hoofstuk ondersoek hoe die gekose tekste areas van be/ontmagtiging skep; gebiede waar die leser/kyker die vloeibaarheid van sosiaal-gekonstrueerde ontmagtiging in spesifieke gemeenskappe waarneem. Soos uitgebeeld in die tekste en soos wat die studie die saak bespreek, is hierdie zone ‘n gebied waarbinne gestremde persone die bemagtigde wêreld ervaar. Dit is ‘n area waarbinne die versteuring van vasgelegde konsepte van gestremdheid, en gevolglike erkenning van gestremde persone, kan plaasvind. Die mees eksplisiete ontplooiïng van narratiewe bemagtiging gebeur deur middel van skeppende intervensies, wat die fokus vorm van my vierde hoofstuk. In hierdie hoostuk ondersoek ek die rol wat gespeel word deur verskillende vorme van kreatiwiteit soos beoefen deur die karakters, in die loop van my argument dat hiedie skeppingsvorme voorbeeelde is van hoe narratiewe bemagtiging plaasvind. In die tekste gebruik die gestremde karakters unieke metodes van vertelling – nie uitsluitlik verbaal nie – om hulle verhale te vertel, maar ook om aan te toon dat en hoe hulle aan partikuliere familiale, kulturele en nasionale wêrelde behoort.
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Birri, Nicole L. "A Personal Narrative Intervention for Adults with Autism and Intellectual Disability: A Single Subject Multiple Baseline Design." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1539079809808646.
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Welch, Melissa Jane. "Decreased Visibility: A Narrative Analysis of Episodic Disability and Contested Illness." Scholar Commons, 2018. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/7378.
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In the United States alone, disability touches the lives of a tremendous amount of people. An increased prevalence of chronic illness, coupled with an aging population means it is likely and perhaps inevitable that everyone will experience disability in one way or another over the course of their lifetime. However not everyone who is disabled is recognized as such. Culturally, the narrative of “the healthy disabled person,” – or someone who is healthy, permanently, predictably, and visibly disabled renders many people with chronic and episodic pain, fatigue, and illness as unrecognizable as disabled. Even though increasing numbers of disability scholars have begun to acknowledge that the embodied experiences of disability are far more fluid than the theoretically static divisions between healthy or ill, abled or disabled allow for, there has been little research that explores the experiences that exist in between these spaces In this dissertation I use narrative analysis to examine “who counts” as disabled in the United States, and why by exploring the interconnected narratives of disability at the cultural, institutional, and personal levels of society.
In the first of three substantive chapters I examine cultural narratives about contested illness published in The New York Times between 1999 and 2016. I argue that stigmatization of episodic illness and disability occurs when the reality of lived experiences contradict the cultural assumptions and expectations; namely that health and illness, disability, and ability are natural, discrete, and static states of being for physical bodies. In the second chapter I examine institutional narratives of disability as they are told in town hall meetings for the Americans with Disabilities Amendment Act. I argue that these narratives serve to distinguish between morally good people with disabilities who deserve to be protected and accommodated in the workplace, and those who would use disability as an excuse to take advantage of their employers. In the final substantive chapter, I examine how women with chronic and contested illness reconstruct their identities through narrative in an online forum. I argue that these online spaces are an important site from which these women are able to counter the stigmatization and isolation that results from the dominant narrative that portrays them as morally corrupt. In each of these three chapters I find that the shifting and unpredictable reality of bodies that appear normal, healthy, and abled sometimes, and periodically ill, impaired, and disabled others are at best culturally unrecognizable as disabled and at worst, subject to disbelief and hostility regarding their claims as such. I argue that in order to overcome the stigmatization and disbelief of invisible and episodic disability, we need a cultural reorientation towards the story of disability; one that moves away from the belief that it is something that only happens to a small number of people in society, and towards an understanding of disability as an inevitable experience for the majority of the population; and in doing so works towards a more inclusive society that is designed to meet the needs of an ever changing and diversifying population.
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Motiimele, Mapheyeledi. "Disability and violence : a narrative inquiry into the journey of healing." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/2982.
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Genders, Nicky. "Making a difference? : understanding the working lives of learning disability nurses : 30 years of learning disability nursing in England." Thesis, De Montfort University, 2016. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.705060.
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The study aimed to explore the lived experience of the careers of learning disability nurses in England. The methodology was informed by Hermeneutic Phenomenology, and the study design utilised narrative interviewing techniques based on an adapted model of the Biographic Narrative Interpretive Method (Wengraf 2001) in order to explore the career choices, experiences and beliefs, and values about learning disability nursing. Twenty in-depth qualitative interviews with learning disability nurses, who had been in practice in the 30-year period between 1979 and 2009, were undertaken in 2010 across nine counties in England. The data was interpreted using a narrative analysis approach. Key findings indicated that nurses, working in a diverse range of settings with varying degrees of experience, are motivated by working with people with learning disabilities and narrate their experiences of building relationships with people articulating the meaning of this for them as nurses. The initial reasons for choosing learning disability nursing as a career formed a key theme within the findings, with complex influences on their career choice. Additionally, all participants in this study created a narrative of change, focusing on the ways in which change in policy, practice and in societal views have impacted upon their working lives and their identity. The individual narratives have also been interpreted to form a collective narrative of learning disability nursing to specifically explore the identity of learning disability nurses and nursing in a changing context of health and social care provision.
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Marita, Samantha. "Understanding the Educational Experiences of Individuals with Learning Disabilities: A Narrative Perspective." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1522320041872335.
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Peta, Christine. "Voices from the periphery : a narrative study of the experiences of sexuality of disabled women in Zimbabwe." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20354.
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This thesis is located within a conceptual framework which integrates related theoretical concepts under an overarching critical feminist disability studies lens. The study sought to explore within an African context, the experiences of sexuality of 16 disabled women in Zimbabwe by using a narrative methodology. The Biographic Narrative Interpretive Method was used to generate data and a three phased approach to analysing data was used by employing narrative analysis in the first level to produce whole life stories and analysis of narratives at the second level to produce distinctive themes from the stories. The third level of analysis builds on the second level of analysis and in this study it is embedded in the discussion of findings where it represents a latent and deeper layer of analysis which seeks to further understand the data. The findings that emerged from the narrative analysis illuminate the biographic specificity of the experiences of sexuality of disabled women, albeit drawing belief systems from the wider national context. At the second level, the cross-case analysis generated thematic findings which revealed that all participants dynamically engage in intimate partner relationships, albeit being vulnerable to gender based violence, including in matrimonial relationships, in a setting where contextual silences that surround issues of sexuality are detrimental to the well-being of participants. The third level of analysis illuminates the fact that disabled women are not passive recipients of disability and sexuality stereotypes but they claim their agency and create opportunities for themselves in the area of sexuality. Participants value heterosexual marriage in a context where different sexual orientations are despised by culture and same sex marriages are prohibited by the constitution of Zimbabwe. The complex intersection of culture, disability and normative gender roles and power relations within heteronormative relationships facilitate the vulnerability of disabled women to unsafe sexual practices which exacerbate their vulnerability to HIV infection, in a context which is characterised by a lack of sexuality education.
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Murtaza, Naveed. "Perceptions of Students with Learning Disabilities Learning Science: A Narrative Study." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/37820.
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While there has been research regarding the effectiveness of teaching strategies to teach science to students with learning disabilities (LD), the viewpoints and experiences of students with learning disabilities using narratives have not received the same attention. This study was conducted to explore the beliefs and feelings of students with learning disabilities about their science learning experiences during their high school years. Vygotsky’s theory on Social Constructivism was used to examine the interaction of cognitive processes such as perceptions and attributions; behavioral features such as social skills and communication difficulties; and, environmental factors such as teaching techniques and peer interactions. These factors are interacting determinants of learning and classroom participation. Due to the social nature of schooling and disability, the social model of disability approach was considered the most efficient way to address this issue of learning of science with learning disabilities.
Eight undergraduate students with LD were interviewed about their experiences of learning science in mainstream science classrooms. Four themes emerged after thematic analysis of the narrative interview data: a) understanding of learning disability; b) finding resources and strategies for learning science with LD; c) overcoming difficulties in learning science with technology; d) learner autonomy and science learning experiences with LD.
The salient feature of these themes showed that the participants had an adequate understanding of their LDs, and the difficulties they faced in learning of science subjects due to their learning disabilities. The stigmatizing experiences of low achievement in science subjects and the initial reaction of some teachers triggered sad and angry feelings, and all the students longed to be more pushed to their higher potential in science learning. Participants then sought help from More Knowledgeable Others (MKO), they used assistive technology and developed their own strategies to overcome difficulties they were facing in learning science. The difficulties in learning of science subjects indicated by the participants have consequences; these difficulties may result in student’s reduced motivation in learning, disengagement from school, leaving school prematurely, and may cause depression in students who drop out of school. These possible consequences and the dissatisfaction expressed by the participants in this study implicate a need to continually assess students with LDs knowledge of, perceptions of, and experiences with their science learning, both in research and actual practice. In turn, this greater consideration of participant’s viewpoints may have a positive influence on the success of high school science education programs and the social-emotional development of students with LD.
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Crawford, Betsy Lou. "Lights up when plugged in, the superpower of disability: an arts-based narrative." Diss., Kansas State University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/36212.
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Doctor of EducationDepartment of Special Education, Counseling and Student Affairs
Warren J. White
The purpose of this case study was to explore how two people with language-based learning disabilities, who have graduated from Masters of Fine Arts Master’s (MFA) programs describe their coping mechanisms, career aspirations, and identity development as a result of being involved in the creative arts. This qualitative study was conducted with purposeful and criterion-based sampling. The participants must have graduated from a MFA program with a focus on a studio art and have a language-based learning disability. Arts-based narrative inquiry research was used to explore the manner in which each participant negotiated their path through multiple educational settings from K-12 to a terminal master’s degree. The participants’ narratives were articulated using a Bildungsroman format to share their coming of age story as their identities developed. Findings indicate the participants with language-based learning disabilities used multiple coping mechanisms to negotiate their path through the education settings they encountered as they grew into adults and completed terminal MFA degrees. They relied on extra time, isolation, help from others, and their creativity in an attempt to hide their language-based learning disabilities. The study raised implications about the amount of support students with learning disabilities have at each level of education. It also raised questions about what help students with disabilities need for long term success as they transition from one level of education to the next, this includes mental health support.
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Richardson, Emma V. "Resisting disablism in the gym : a narrative exploration of the journey from disabled client to disabled instructor." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2017. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/26422.
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It is imperative that individuals with physical impairments maintain an active lifestyle to enhance various aspects of well-being and overall quality of life. This population, however, are also one of the most sedentary in society. One identified reason for this is the ableism which exists in many fitness establishments that promotes acceptance of one particular body; the strong, physically athletic, muscular body is given value. Individuals who do not align to his particular physical reality may be subject to discrimination which can have a detrimental effect on their psycho-emotional well-being and deter them from exercising. Surprisingly, there is an increasing number of disabled individuals who are becoming gym instructors and further integrating themselves into a space which is deemed to oppress them. The purpose of this PhD is to explore these individuals' journey from gym clients to gym instructors. Framed by interpretivism and with particular focus on narrative inquiry, various qualitative analysis techniques were applied to explore 1) participants experiences exercising in the gym, 2) participants' motivations to be gym instructors, 3) how participants made sense of their gym instructor training and, 4)what impact participants perceived they had in the gym as instructors. This thesis has made original contributions to the literature by crafting a deep understanding of disabled people s experiences in the gym and why people enact social missions. For example, this thesis contextualizes disability in the gym and identifies that despite the numerous health benefits disabled people experience by exercising in this space, the psycho-emotional disablism they are subject to acts as a barrier for individuals to exercise here. Importantly, although disablism acted as a barrier to continued exercise for participants, it was also a facilitator in their decision to become a gym instructor. Essentially, participants described their own negative gym experiences as fuelling their desires to enact positive change in this space and do social missions in the gym. To be a gym instructor, participants went through a training programme specifically designed to train disabled people to embody this role. At this training, participants initially experienced a sense of validation and belonging through peer group exercise and were able to craft a collective story which allowed them to resist the oppressive disablism they experienced in the gym. However, as training continued and evolved so too did the narratives participants crafted to make sense of their experiences. Instead of one united story, participants crafted two conflicting narratives which redefined their relationship with each other and InstructAbility, and ultimately determined why some participants continued their training and others did not. For those who did continue to become fully qualified gym instructors, they felt they had a positive influence in promoting inclusion, exercise and diversity in the gym. In light of these findings, there are several practical recommendations for exercise practitioners, rehabilitation specialists, gym managers and those prescribing exercise to disabled people. Implications are aimed at improving exercise promotion and experiences of exercise in the gym for disabled people. For example, disabled gym instructors could be a way to bridge the perceived experiential gap between disability and the gym as they exhibit an alternate way of being which is accepted in this space. Through their experiential knowledge of disability and practical knowledge of exercise, these individuals can also relate to disabled clients in a way that non-disabled instructors cannot. Disabled gym instructors, however, can educate non-disabled gym instructors in how to train someone with an impairment. Equally, a more critical attitude to promoting exercise to disabled people is called for. Specifically, to steer away from disabling expectations and narratives of disabled people s motivations to exercise and move towards more realistic, enabling strategies and narratives to facilitate disabled peoples exercise behaviour.
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Kirkby, Joanna. "Resilience in people with spinal cord injury : a narrative approach." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2016. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/23385.
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This PhD thesis explores the phenomenon of resilience in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). The purpose of this research is to understand how resilience is experienced and given meaning in people with SCI, as well how resilience is fostered, how it impacts upon health and well-being, and how it can be managed to achieve maximum benefits with regard to health and well-being. It is the first in depth narrative investigation of resilience in people with SCI. Using both life story interviews and the process of timelining, participants stories were collected. Following this they were then analysed using dialogical narrative analysis (Frank, 2010, 2012). This enabled participants stories to be examined with regard to their effects on resilience and health and well-being. The analysis shows that firstly, due to the intangible nature of resilience, participants had trouble in articulating exactly what resilience meant to them. Instead, resilience was shown through participants stories which could be grouped into four different narrative types: loss, adaptation, posttraumatic growth (PTG), and life-as-normal. Together, these narrative types constructed resilience, and as such, resilience in people with SCI has four facets or faces , like a four-sided dice. The process of resilience in people with SCI worked by participants drawing upon the different narrative types at different times depending upon the demands being placed upon them. The loss narrative was drawn upon immediately following injury, and was concerned with the narration of the physical, psychological and social losses participants incurred following SCI. The loss narrative fostered resilience by enabling participants to talk about their losses, enabling participants to survive the hardest time of their lives. The second narrative type was the adaptation narrative. This narrative type focussed upon rehabilitation in both the spinal unit and in the community. This narrative type built resilience via progression through rehabilitation towards a quality of life comparable to pre-injury levels. The PTG narrative was concerned with the ways in which participants had developed following SCI and built resilience by shifting the focus onto the positives to come out of participants experiences of SCI. The life-as-normal narrative was used by two participants across their entire life story and enabled participants to continue with their lives with minimal disruption. It built resilience by placing disability in the background and therefore making it unimportant. This thesis then concludes with the empirical, theoretical, methodological and practical implications arising from this research. The potential for resilience to help improve the health and well-being of people with SCI is discussed, as well as the ways in which resilience can have a maximum benefit on health and well-being of people with SCI.
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Chaloupka, Evan M. "“That Damn Looney”: Illuminating Benjy and his Narrative with Objects and Autism." University of Akron / OhioLINK, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1334687361.
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Davis, LaVerne A. "A Narrative Examination of the Perception of Employment by the Visually Disabled." Thesis, Grand Canyon University, 2018. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10748707.
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It was not known how the visually disabled perceived gaining employment or how perception affected employment seeking behaviors within this population. The purpose of this qualitative narrative study was to explore how the visually disabled perceived gaining employment and how perception affected employment seeking behaviors within this population. Action in Perception, and the enrichment perspective were used for this study. Data collection consisted of a list of questions for employed or unemployed participants, offered in print or braille, a demographics questionnaire, and interviews conducted face-to-face or by Zoom Pro. Research participants were 10 visually disabled participants 18 years and older residing in Texas. Theoretical thematic coding with an inductive analysis, hand coding, and NVivo were used for data analysis. Themes chosen prior to research were academic achievement, assistive technology, communication, self-advocacy, independence, interdependence, higher education, perception, vocational rehabilitation, and employment achievement. New themes that emerged during data collection were role models, networking, demonstration, emotional impact, self-employment, telework, and enrichment. Results showed the visually disabled perceived gaining employment as financial independence and perception affected employment seeking behaviors strongest through networking.
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Akande, Abigail O. "Rehabilitation Counselor Narratives on Factors Affecting Vocational Goal Acquisition of Female Immigrant Clients: Incorporating Policy." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/321310.
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This dissertation examines factors affecting the service outcomes of immigrant women with disabilities who received vocational rehabilitation services, from the perspectives of their rehabilitation counselors. The participants were eight rehabilitation counselors who had received their Master's degrees from programs accredited by the Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE). Three counselors had Worker's Compensation caseloads, while the other five provided return to work rehabilitation services. Counselor perspectives on client experiences were obtained through the narrative inquiry method. Eight prevailing themes arose across the stories, regarding contributing factors,: immigrant status, amount of time spent providing services, level of client self-confidence, motivation, collaborative team member relationships and a strong client/counselor working alliance, counselor cultural sensitivity, the establishment of rapport, and counselor altruism. The theme of client immigrant status contained a number of related subthemes, including issues regarding acculturation, education level, legal status, refugee status, migrant femaleness, and English proficiency. Counselor disability policy knowledge was also explored as a basis for resources and services potentially valuable to this particular client group. The counselors' responses helped to identify a need for post-Master's continuing education on the topic of disability legislation. The narrative process also introduced reflection on practice to the field of rehabilitation counseling, as an effective research, education, and practice method.
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Percy, Lucelia McClain. "Seeing learning disability through a re/claimed book : a narrative inquiry drawing on arts-based methodologies to visually represent experiences of learning disabilty." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2017. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.730884.
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Coates-Dutton, Nicola Teresa. "Syndrome without a name? : the experience of living without a diagnosis for parents of disabled children." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/19481.
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This thesis explores the experiences of parents with disabled children living without a diagnosis. Through thematic and narrative analysis of an in-depth qualitative interview study with 26 parents of disabled children, and by considering absent diagnosis in the context of sociological and other relevant theory, this thesis contributes to knowledge about diagnosis and about the experiences of families of disabled children without a diagnosis. The process of diagnosis, categories of diagnosis, and the consequences of living without a diagnosis are examined. Using interview data, including parent narratives and personal reflections, this thesis tells multiple stories revealing a play of diagnosis journeys: that of the parent participants living without a diagnosis; that of the researcher’s exploration of diagnosis; and that of the sociological significance of diagnosis. The hermeneutic journey of the literature review process is described, as the domains of sociology and medicine have shifted shape over the years of the study. I make sense of the sociological relevance of the empirical data generated, with a particular focus on the sociology of diagnosis, ethnographic studies of paediatric genetic diagnosis, and research with families with disabled children. Despite the estimated high prevalence of disabled children without a diagnosis, there is, as yet, little research with families and to date absent diagnosis in this context has not been considered by the sociology of diagnosis. That the absence of diagnosis can hold a mirror to diagnosis, and how absent diagnosis acts to expose the meanings of diagnosis, is proposed. And further, to know the nucleus of diagnosis we must look at what happens in its absence, considering the space non-diagnosis leaves and the differentiality on which diagnosis abuts. I embrace a natural history approach to methodology describing the methodological journey. Further depth is added to thematic data analysis by using a narrative approach to consider parents’ stories, and by punctuating the thesis with interludes of self-reflexive accounts of the researcher’s own story of living without a diagnosis. Key themes from the thematic and narrative analysis are reported: parents commonly conducted an intensive quest for diagnosis; perpetuity was a feature of this process of diagnosis, although searching for and interest in diagnosis commonly decreased over time; parents were active contributors to the process of diagnosis; parents had difficulty making sense of living without a diagnosis, and themes of fracture and deferral were identified; parents’ narratives had features of the chaos, quest and restitution typologies reported by Arthur Frank (1995), with an unresolved quest narrative as the core typology across parent accounts; a common metaphor of stasis of movement was identified in parent narratives. Key areas parents perceived not having a diagnosis had impacted on were: aetiology (not knowing what caused their child’s disability and what the risk of recurrence was); prognosis (not knowing what to expect in the future from their child’s health and development); access to support and services (including formal services and informal parent-to-parent support); and managing social interaction (how to describe their child’s disability to others). Living without a diagnosis has material effects and the study’s findings are relevant for theory and practice in and beyond medicine.
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Westerveld, Marleen Frederike. "Examining the relationship between oral narrative ability and reading comprehension in children with mixed reading disability." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Communication Disorders, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/1389.
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Oral narrative ability has received increasing attention over the past three decades, and the importance of children's oral narrative skills to academic achievement has been well established. Children with reading disabilities are known to demonstrate difficulties in the ability to produce and comprehend oral narratives (Roth & Spekman, 1986; Snyder & Downey, 1991). However, the nature of the relationship between oral narrative ability and reading comprehension performance in children with reading disability is not clear. The experiments reported in this thesis aim to address this issue. The following questions are asked: 1) Do deficits in oral narrative ability contribute to reading comprehension difficulties? and 2) What is the likely direction of the relationship between aspects of oral narrative ability and reading comprehension performance in children with reading disabilities? Fourteen children (aged between 6;4 and 7;8 at the initial assessment) with mixed reading disability (MRD: i.e., children who demonstrate both word recognition and listening comprehension deficits) participated in the study. Their oral narrative skills were compared to those of their chronological age-matched peers with typical development (TD) and their reading-age-matched peers with typical development (RMTD). The study consisted of three phases: 1) A longitudinal phase in which the children's oral narrative performance was assessed on three occasions over a two-year period; 2) An intervention phase (using a nonequivalent pretest-posttest control group design) in which 10 children participated in an oral narrative intervention program that focused on enhancing children's story structure knowledge; and 3) A follow-up assessment phase conducted eight months post-intervention. Oral narratives were elicited in a personal narrative context and in a story retelling context. Oral narrative production ability was analysed at macrostructure (story quality) and microstructure (morpho-syntax and vocabulary) levels. Oral narrative comprehension was assessed in a fictional story context through questions relating to story structure elements. Reading comprehension performance was assessed using a standardised test of reading ability. The results from the longitudinal study showed that the children with MRD demonstrated inferior oral narrative production and oral narrative comprehension performance compared to their peers with typical reading development at each assessment occasion. When comparing the poor readers' performance to the RMTD group at the third assessment trial, the results suggested that the children with MRD demonstrated a specific deficit in oral narrative comprehension. In contrast, a pattern of delay was observed on the microstructure measures of oral narrative performance. The results from the intervention indicated significant treatment effects with large effect sizes for oral narrative comprehension performance. Despite this improvement in oral narrative comprehension, there was little change in oral narrative production ability, and transfer to reading comprehension was not evident. Although the follow-up assessment indicated sustained improvement in oral narrative comprehension for the children with MRD, accelerated reading comprehension progress was not evident. The findings from the longitudinal case study highlighted the benefits of oral narrative intervention for a child considered at high risk of continuing academic difficulties. This thesis provides evidence of the persistent oral narrative difficulties in children with MRD. The findings also provide support for the importance of narrative structure knowledge to these poor readers' oral narrative comprehension performance. The results demonstrate that oral narrative comprehension ability explains only a small amount of the variance in reading comprehension performance. Rather, the persistent word recognition difficulties of the children with MRD exert the biggest influence on their reading comprehension performance. These results are discussed in terms of current models of reading and language development. Implications for clinical practice are also addressed.
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Cleto, Sara Baer Cleto. "Bodies of Stories: Disability and Folklore in Nineteenth-Century British Literature." The Ohio State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1534683947720131.
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Dolyniuk, Chrystina A. "Using narrative to promote the conceptual development of adolescents with learning disability and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1998. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/NQ31020.pdf.
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Topper, Kegan. "Narrative play therapy and the journey of a boy diagnosed with a learning disability: a case study." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/313.
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This study offers a detailed exploration of the personal narrative of a nine year old boy diagnosed with a learning disability, and explains how the nature of the therapeutic relationship facilitated shifts in his personal understandings of himself, others and the world. Children diagnosed with learning disabilities experience a range of challenges in their different life contexts, and particularly within the school context. This is often because of constant evaluation and surveillance from teachers, family members and peers, who define the child within rigid and limiting frameworks. Soon enough children diagnosed with learning disabilities develop problem-saturated narratives that can significantly influence their relationship with themselves and others. This is because the individualising effects of having a disability cause them to feel different or isolated from their peers. This study illustrates an eight session case study, facilitated by a narrative play therapy approach, between a counsellor, a child and his parents. The therapeutic encounters were intended to assist the child in moving away from problem-saturated narratives of incompetence and inferiority towards more preferred narratives that would positively influence his self esteem. Key words: learning disability, dyslexia, narrative, narrative therapy, identity, self esteem. Children Diagnosed with a Learning Disability Children who have been diagnosed with a learning disability often experience themselves and their world very differently from other children (Rodis, Garrod, & Boscardin, 2001). Within the educational system a considerable amount of pressure is placed on children to succeed. The educational discourse of achievement that professes itself to be the only direction from which a successful future can be attained, marginalizes and rejects those children whose knowledge and skills exist outside this rigid and oftentimes insensitive system of evaluation. As a result, children soon create problem saturated narratives, believing themselves to be the problem. However, in the last two decades there has been a move from reductionism to constructivism and as a result research in the field of learning disabilities has started to focus on children’s non-traditional strengths and talents, which are often misunderstood and ignored by schools. Armstrong (1987) sums it up as follows: The schools allow millions of imaginative kids to go unrecognised
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Neithardt, Leigh Anne Neithardt. "Narrative Progression and Characters with Disabilities in Children’s Picturebooks." The Ohio State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1500310695900109.
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Deroo, Cristina. "A Visual CV to Empower Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Entering The Canadian Workforce." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/34438.
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Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) have faced continual barriers to achieving social inclusion within their communities and are often excluded from many avenues of community life. While segregated institutionalized living—and the social exclusion associated with it—has declined, individuals with IDD continue to face barriers to achieving social inclusion linked to restrictions placed upon them that inhibit opportunities to obtain meaningful paid employment. One of the first steps necessary to pursue employment opportunities is a coherent, effective and professional curriculum vitae (CV). For individuals with IDD, preparing and using a traditional text-based CV may be unrealistic. Therefore, the goal of this thesis was to equip a sample of young adults with IDD with a visual photograph-based CV and to help them practice using it in an interview. This thesis used photovoice narrative in order to visually document the strengths and skills that a person with IDD could offer to a potential employer through the communication tool of a visual CV. By engaging participants in producing and using a visual CV, this research project explored options for increasing channels of communication between prospective employees and employers in hopes of encouraging inclusion of people with IDD in Canadian labour markets.
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Guerin, Annette Patricia. "'The Inside View' Investigating the use of Narrative Assessment to Support Student Identity, Wellbeing, and Participation in Learning in a New Zealand secondary school." Thesis, University of Canterbury. School of Educational Studies and Leadership, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/10486.
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New Zealand education policies and documents (Ministry of Education, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011a, 2014a) situate students at the centre of assessment processes that are underpinned by the New Zealand Curriculum. They identify building student assessment capability as crucial to achieving improvement in learning. Documents recognize the impact of quality interactions and relationships on effective assessment. However these core beliefs about assessment are not observed to guide teaching practices for all students. Disabled students remain invisible in assessment data and practices within New Zealand secondary schools. There appears to be little or no assessment data about learning outcomes for this group of students. This thesis investigates possible ways to recognize the diversity of student capability and learning through the use of narrative assessment. It challenges the absence of disabled students in assessment landscapes as educator roles and responsibilities within assessment, teaching and learning are framed within an inclusive pedagogy.
This research project focuses on how a team of adults and two students labeled as disabled make sense of assessment and learning within the context of narrative assessment in the students’ regular high school. The project examines the consequences of narrative assessment on student identity, wellbeing and participation within learning. The study offers opportunities to observe how specialists from outside of the school respond to the use of narrative as they work with the two student research participants.
This study undertakes a critical inquiry that recognises the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi – partnership, protection and participation – as pivotal to inclusive practice where all students are valued as learners. It investigates how narrative assessment can honour these principles in everyday teaching practice.
The project aims to inform education policy and practice, with a view to enriching learning outcomes and opportunities for disabled students who are frequently marginalized by inequitable assessment processes.
It is argued that narrative assessment can support the construction of student identity and wellbeing. It can support the recognition of disabled students as partners in their learning. However the value of narrative assessment can be undermined by the responses of educators and other professionals who continue to work within deficit models of assessment, teaching and learning.
Within this thesis adult participants from family and education contexts have clear ideas about the value and validity of assessment practices and processes that do not respect a presumption of competence or a need to establish a relationship with a student being assessed. Their views challenge everyday practices that fulfill assessment contracts, but ignore Treaty of Waitangi and New Zealand Curriculum commitments. Their views can inform better ways of working between specialists and schools supporting disabled students.
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Saaiman, Louise. "An exploration of the Sandtray Play Approach for narrative skills development in first language Afrikaans-speaking Grade 3 learners with specific learning disability." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/96025.
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Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Children with specific learning disability (SLD) struggle with reading, spelling and/or writing, and tend to have poor narrative skills (Fey, Catts, Proctor-Williams, Tomblin & Zhang, 2004; Scanlon, 2013). Although learners with SLD mostly use grammatical sentences after discharge from conventional speech-language therapy, they often still struggle with creating narratives and find comprehension tasks challenging. For this study, I chose an action research design (McNiff & Whitehead, 2013). I used a lesser known therapy approach with some of these learners, in an attempt to ascertain whether kinetic methods of teaching language can improve their narrative skills. The research question posed was: What changes in narrative skills (if any), measured in terms of micro and macro structure, are brought about by the Sandtray Play Approach (STPA) in first language (L1) Afrikaans-speaking Grade 3 learners with SLDs? I used the STPA with four L1 Afrikaans-speaking Grade 3 boys with SLD over a course of six weeks (on average two therapy sessions per week). During each session, they each choose a variety of miniature objects with which they individually built a so-called “Sandworld” in their own sandtray. After each Sandworld was built, the boys took turns telling their story and listening to those of the other group member. After each narration, each listener made one positive comment and asked one question about the story. During the intervention period, I regularly presented mini-sessions teaching the participants how to create, improve and expand their narratives. The Language in Multilingual Society: Multilingual Assessment of Narratives (LITMUS: MAIN-Afrikaans) (Gagarina, Klop, Kunnari, Tantele, Valimaa, Baluciuniene, Bohnacker, & Walters, 2012) was used to analyse pre- and post-intervention narratives in terms of story structure components; (in)completeness of episodes; mean length of utterance (in words); and use of subordinating and co-ordinating conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs and internal state terms. The pre- and post-intervention results of the four boys in the experimental group were compared to those of four boys who did not receive any STPA intervention and who formed the control group. All eight participants had been clinically diagnosed as presenting with an SLD. Comparisons of the LITMUS: MAIN-Afrikaans scores indicated inter-group differences: Post-intervention, the experimental group used a higher number of story structure components, internal state terms, words, and utterances (those linguistic aspects introduced and practised during STPA intervention) than the control group. The experimental group’s Sandtray narratives also increased in multiple areas of structural complexity – e.g., in the use of conjunctive adverbs; subordinating and co-ordinating conjunctions; and embedding. These results have implications for speech-language therapy practice, showing that the STPA is potentially a valuable resource for teaching narrative skills to learners with SLD, and that positive changes can be observed in as little as six weeks. The STPA has been used in Europe with learners with hearing or learning impairment and with mainstream learners. In the South African context, it appears only to have been used to teach oral language use to deaf learners; and no South African studies on the use of the STPA for narrative skill development could be traced. This study was the first of its kind and indicated that using the STPA can assist Speech-Language Therapists in developing narrative skills of children with atypical language development.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Kinders met spesifieke leergestremdheid (SLG) sukkel met lees, spelling en/of skryf, en neig om swak narratiefvaardighede te hê (Fey, Catts, Proctor-Williams, Tomblin & Zhang, 2004; Scanlon, 2013). Alhoewel leerders met SLG meestal grammatikale sinne gebruik ná ontslag uit konvensionele spraak-taalterapie, sukkel hulle steeds gereeld met narratiefproduksie en begripstake. Vir hierdie studie het ek gekies om ‘n aksienavorsingsmetode (McNiff & Whitehead, 2013) te gebruik. Ek het ‘n minder bekende terapiebenadering met sommige van hierdie leerders gevolg, in 'n poging om vas te stel of kinetiese metodes van taalonderrig hulle narratiefvaardighede kan verbeter. Die navorsingsvraag was: Watter veranderinge in narratiefvaardighede (indien enige), gemeet in terme van makro- en mikrostruktuur, word teweeg gebring deur die Sandbak-Speelbenadering (SBSB) in eerstetaal- (T1) Afrikaanssprekende Graad 3-leerders met SLG? Ek het die SBSB met vier T1 Afrikaanssprekende Graad 3-seuns met SLG oor ses weke gebruik (gemiddeld twee terapiesessies per week). Tydens hierdie sessies het elkeen ‘n verskeidenheid miniatuur voorwerpe gekies waarmee elkeen individueel ‘n sogenaamde “Sandwêreld” in hulle eie sandbakkie gebou het. Nadat elke Sandwêreld gebou is, het die seuns beurte geneem om hulle storie te vertel en na die stories van die ander groeplede te luister. Nadat elke storie vertel is, het elke luisteraar een positiewe punt van kommentaar oor die storie gelewer en een vraag oor die storie gevra. Gedurende die intervensietydperk het ek gereeld mini-sessies aangebied om die deelnemers te leer hoe om narratiewe te skep, te verbeter en uit te brei. Die Language in Multilingual Society: Multilingual Assessment of Narratives (LITMUS: MAIN-Afrikaans) (Gagarina, Klop, Kunnari, Tantele, Valimaa, Baluciuniene, Bohnacker, & Walters, 2012) is gebruik om voor- en ná-intervensie-narratiewe te ontleed in terme van storiestruktuurkomponente; (on)volledigheid van episodes; gemiddelde lengte van uiting (in woorde); en die gebruik van onderskikkende en neweskikkende voegwoorde, verbindingsbywoorde en interne toestand-terme. Ek het hierdie tellings vergelyk met dié behaal deur 'n kontrolegroep (vier manlike klasmaats van die eksperimentele groep). Ek het ook 'n seleksie van drie verteenwoordigende sandbaknarratiewe per eksperimentele groepdeelnemer in terme van hierdie metings geassesseer Al ag deelnemers is klinies gediagnoseer met SLG. Vergelykings van die LITMUS: MAIN-Afrikaans-tellings het inter-groepsverskille aangetoon: Die eksperimentele groep het ná intervensie ‘n groter aantal storiestruktuurkomponente, interne toestand-terme, woorde en uitinge (d.i. daardie linguistieke aspekte wat bekendgestel en geoefen is tydens SBSB-intervensie) gebruik as die kontrolegroep. Die eksperimentele groep se sandbaknarratiewe het ook toegeneem in terme van veelvuldige areas van strukturele kompleksiteit – byvoorbeeld in die gebruik van verbindingsbywoorde, onderskikkende en neweskikkende voegwoorde, en inbedding. Hierdie resultate het implikasies vir spraak-taalterapiepraktyk: Dit toon aan dat die SBSB potensieel ‘n waardevolle hulpbron is vir die leer van narratiefvaardighede aan leerders met SLG, en dat positiewe veranderinge in so min as ses weke waarneembaar is. Die SBSB word in Europa met leerders met gehoor- of leergestremdheid gebruik asook met hoofstroomleerders. In die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks is dit skynbaar nog slegs gebruik om gehoorgestremdes te leer praat; geen Suid-Afrikaanse studies oor die gebruik van die SBSB vir narratiefvaardigheidsontwikkeling kon gevind word nie. Hierdie studie was die eerste van sy soort en toon aan dat die gebruik van die SBSB Spraak-Taalterapeute kan help om narratiefvaardighede te ontwikkel in kinders met atipiese taalontwikkeling.
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Darnell, Whittney H. "NAVIGATING THE MICHELLE P. WAIVER: A NARRATIVE EXAMINATION OF THE IMPACT OF PARENT CAREGIVER-RELATED UNCERTAINTY AND DECISION MAKING FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES." UKnowledge, 2019. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/comm_etds/82.
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The Michelle P. Waiver (MPW) is the primary means of health insurance for more than 10,000 people in the state of Kentucky. The waiver is especially popular among families with young children with disabilities because it is robust in its benefit offerings and also one of the few Medicaid resources that does not include parental income as a qualifying factor in eligibility. Through the waiver, children receive a medical card as well as additional coverage for medical expenses that fall beyond the scope of traditional health insurance. For these young children to gain access to the comprehensive offerings of the MPW, their parents must apply for the waiver, negotiate the terms of service, and make critical health care decisions on their behalf, or at least until they reach adulthood—although this responsibility often extends throughout the child’s life. The present study builds upon recent research on parental uncertainty in caregiving for children with complex care needs. By combining two ecological approaches to health communication research, Brashers’s (2001) uncertainty management theory (UMT) and Ball-Rokeach, Kim, and Matai’s (2001) communication infrastructure theory (CIT), my aim in this dissertation was to explain how meso-level (e.g., community organization) interactions influenced parental caregivers’ experiences of uncertainty. I collected data through narrative interviews with 31 parents of children who are currently receiving services through the MPW and analyzed them using narrative thematic analysis. The analysis focused on the community-level communication that contributes to parent caregivers’ ability to successfully access and negotiate care within the MPW system. Findings show that parents experience unique personal, social, and medical uncertainties related to the MPW. In addition, the findings demonstrate that MPW-related uncertainty and decision making are managed with a variety of strategies aimed to decrease, increase, or maintain desired levels of uncertainty. Finally, findings showcase how one’s connectedness to community storytelling at the meso level, particularly within online communities and disability network communities supports their adaptive management of MPW-related uncertainty. This project contributes to the health communication literature theoretically by (a) expanding the conceptualization of the uncertainty in illness framework to include the means of health care (i.e., Medicaid) as a consequential element of an individual’s illness experience, (b) identifying two additional strategies of uncertainty management (i.e. advocacy and vigilance), and by (c) extending existing notions of residency, connectedness, and belongingness within the CIT framework to include membership in online and disability-specific networks. Practically, this project offers important insights that can guide future research exploring the role of meso-level communication in parent caregivers’ management of waiver-based care, such as in identifying the need for a systematic communication process that introduces potentially eligible families to the MPW.
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Eva, Gail E. "Spinal cord compression secondary to cancer : disability and rehabilitation." Thesis, University of Stirling, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/245.
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Introduction This thesis describes a research study designed to examine the consequences of disability arising out of spinal cord compression secondary to cancer, and to examine the rehabilitation services available to patients. Research aims and questions The study was intended to achieve the following: 1. To ascertain what might constitute effective rehabilitation interventions for patients with metastatic spinal cord compression. 2. To identify the conditions in which these intervention might be delivered. 3. To ground proposals in spinal cord compression patients’ experience of disability. The following research questions were posed: 1. What are the consequences of disability for patients with metastatic spinal cord compression? 2. What strategies do patients themselves use to manage disability? 3. What do health care staff, particularly rehabilitation professionals, understand to be the consequences of disability for this patient group, and correspondingly, what are their views on the significance and provision of rehabilitation? 4. To what extent is rehabilitation being provided to these patients, and with what effect? 5. Where rehabilitation is not being provided, why is this the case? Study design The study had two components: • A series of nine in-depth interview-based case studies, which involved talking to patients about their experiences of living with spinal cord compression, as well as gaining the perspectives of family members and the health professionals who provided care and services. • A retrospective audit of the medical records of 73 spinal cord compression patients admitted to a radiotherapy in-patient unit (the Frank Ellis Unit at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford) over a two year period (July 2003 – June 2005), identifying disability-related problems and the measures taken to address them. This was a Phase I modelling study in terms of the Medical Research Council’s framework for evaluating complex interventions, with Pawson and Tilley’s (1997) Context-Mechanism-Outcome configuration adopted as a conceptual basis for data collection. Within-case analysis was informed by George and Bennett’s (2004) account of process tracing, and between-case analysis was modelled on the constant comparative method of Glaser and Strauss (1967) with an analysis of narrative as a variation on that theme. Results Disability is a serious problem for patients with spinal cord compression, but it is one problem among many others, not the least of which are the physical and emotional consequences of life-threatening illness. In response to disability, patients ‘twin-track’ their attitudes to it, acknowledging but also resisting the idea of themselves as disabled, and adopting a series of psychological devices to manage the tension. In effect, patients recognise that something significant has changed and that, as a consequence, new self-management skills must be learned, functional boundaries must be explored, useful information must be sought. At the same time, they display a determination to hold on to an established identity, associated with a sense of normality. This identity embraces the idea of competence and resourcefulness, the events, activities and pleasures that one looks forward to, and the wish to avoid burdening others. It is not a ‘disabled’ identity. To some extent, these two attitudes are in tension, as one acknowledges disability while the other, implicitly or explicitly, resists it. Consequently, patients try to find ways of resolving this tension, by ‘revising downwards’ their expectations, by constantly deferring the anticipated pleasures, and by avoiding situations in which their abilities might be put to the test, or the sense of normality be disconfirmed. Health care professionals are likely to construe the patient’s response as indicative of a certain type of character – ‘realistic’ on one hand, and ‘unrealistic’ on the other. They do not see ‘acknowledging / not acknowledging’ as twin facets of a complex response to circumstances, or as something which every patient engages in to one degree or another. Patients are motivated not to recognise rehabilitation as something they need, a view which is confirmed by the cursory form of rehabilitation experienced in hospital, and by the marginal significance attributed to it by nursing and medical staff. On discharge, hospital staff assume that rehabilitation needs will be identified in the community, although the way in which community rehabilitation services are organised virtually guarantees that this will not happen, unless a specific referral is made (as it is in only 5% of cases). The patient, meanwhile, remains unaware of the potential value of rehabilitation, and has no incentive to request rehabilitation if no-one offers it. They are consequently unprepared for life post-discharge, and assume that they (and their families) must manage on their own. Conclusions Like the patients, health care professionals may have to ‘twin-track’ if they are to provide rehabilitation in a way that is acceptable to patients with metastatic spinal cord compression. Instead of categorising patients as ‘realistic’ or ‘unrealistic’, they should work towards sustaining patients’ ‘positive illusions’, while at the same time taking whatever opportunities arise to enhance the patient’s day-to-day ability to function in a ‘safe’ space. This entails revising some deeply entrenched ideas about working with patients who have a disability: patient-centredness, the importance of goal setting, and the need for adjustment.
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Salay, Joanne K. MS. "A Narrative Inquiry of Volunteer Experiences at a Midwestern Equestrian Facility For Individuals With Disabilities." Kent State University / OhioLINK, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1259024444.
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Galiana, Abal Maria Pilar. "Hyperreligiosité post-lésionnelle et rétablissement du sentiment de soi par la psychothérapie narrative médiatisée : diagnostic et traitement psychothérapique des syndromes avec hyperreligiosité secondaires à un traumatisme cranio-cérébral sévère chez des sujets en situation de handicap cognitif." Thesis, Paris 8, 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017PA080065.
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Cette thèse s’intéresse à la question du diagnostic et du traitement à travers la psychothérapie narrativemédiatisée de syndromes avec hyperreligiosité consécutifs à un traumatisme crânio-cérébral sévère. Desétudes neuroscientifiques ont proposé l’hypothèse que hyperreligiosité post-lésionnelle constitue unetentative de réorganisation de la psyché dans un contexte d’ébranlement du sentiment de soi (Persinger,1993a ; 1993b ; 2003) et ont exploré différents postulats explicatifs de la récurrence de l’expériencereligieuse chez le sujet avec traumatisme crânio-cérébral. Mais un regard psychanalytique permetd’apporter des éléments essentiels à la compréhension de la psychopathologie post-lésionnelle marquéepar l’hyperreligiosité. Le démantèlement de l’appareil psychique, la régression psychique du patientavec une primauté des processus primaires, le retour en force d’agonies primitives, l’émergence detraumatismes antérieurs et l’expérience du handicap sont des conséquences de la lésion cérébrale àconsidérer dans le diagnostic et le traitement de ces syndromes.Cette thèse présente une méthodologie composée de trois enquêtes distinctes.Une enquête phénoménologique (# 1) sera ici présentée afin de pallier au manque de recherchescliniques au sujet des différentes manifestations sémiologiques de l’hyperreligiosité post-lésionnelle.Partant d’un échantillon de trente-deux sujets, elle aura pour objet (1) le recueil de données concernantl’expression sémiologique des syndromes avec hyperreligiosité et (2) l’identification de thématiquesexpérientielles chez des sujets ayant présenté une hyperreligiosité post-lésionnelle. Elle s’appuiera surla passation de deux questionnaires crées dans le cadre de cette étude : le questionnaire de l’expériencereligieuse et le questionnaire de l’émergence de de l’hyperreligiosité post-lésionnelle et des entretiensde recherche qui seront analysés selon la méthode de l’analyse phénoménologique interprétative. Uneenquête fondée sur des sources littéraires (# 2) aura pour objet l’analyse de la thématique existentiellede biographies religieuses écrites par de survivants devenus hyperreligieux après un traumatisme crâniocérébralsévère. Enfin, une enquête en clinique psychothérapique (# 3) sera centrale au sein de cetteétude parce que cette thèse s’intéresse à l’hyperreligiosité en tant que processus potentiellementréorganisateur de la psyché. A travers cinq études de cas et des mesures réalisées à travers des outils(échelle de pensée magique, échelle pensée-action-fusion et test BNIS), la partie clinique de cette thèseaura pour objet de mettre en avant la fonction adaptative de l’expérience religieuse et montrera commentle rétablissement du sentiment de soi est possible par l’utilisation d’actes créatifs, comme le dessin,l’écriture (biographique, poèmes) et le choix d’images, activités qui serviront d’appui restructurationpsychique et cognitive de ces patients. L’utilisation du questionnaire de l’expérience religieuse en tantque grille thématique permettra de considérer les données issues des trois enquêtes de cette étude selondes critères communsThis dissertation focuses on the diagnosis and psychotherapeutic treatment of patients withhyperreligiosity secondary to a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). The methodology of this workhas required three separate investigations. A first phenomenological survey (#I) based thirty-twosubjects sample had as an aim (1) to identify the clinical manifestation of syndromes withhyperreligiosity, and (2) to identify experiential themes in subjects who experienced post- lesionalhyperreligiosity. Two questionnaires were created and administered as part of this study: thereligious experience questionnaire, and emergence of post-lesional hyperreligiosity questionnaire.Research interviews analyzed following the interpretative phenomenological analysis method willcomplete the clinical data collection for this survey (#I). A second survey (#II) will consider theanalysis the existential themes of religious biographies written by TBI survivors who reportedrecurrent religious experiences secondary to a traumatic brain injury. A third and main survey(#III) provides a clinical analysis of the therapeutic support of patients with post-lesionalhyperreligiosity. Through five case studies and consistent (every 6 months) administration ofmeasurement tools (magical thinking scale, thought-action fusion scale and test BNIS), this surveydisplays through detailed case studies the adaptive function of religious experience and therestoration of the sense of self though the use of creative acts (drawing, writing biographicalnarratives and poems, commenting on images).Key
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Kim, Joanne. "Towards a New Understanding: Complex Familial Constructs of Autism." Chapman University Digital Commons, 2016. http://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/ces_dissertations/5.
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The focus of this dissertation was to gain a better understanding of how families construct autism. Studies have overwhelmingly used the medical model or the institutional narrative to interpret how autism is understood in families. More recently, a counter-narrative has emerged resisting this medical model. Both narratives, however, simplify the intricate nature of the disability construct within families. Additionally, the term “family” has been used euphemistically to refer to mothers, fathers or siblings of children who have autism. This study explored the constructs of the whole family through shared stories of their day-to-day lives.
Through a narrative inquiry, this study used semi-structured interviews and participant observational data collected in homes and communities of three families who have elementary school-aged children diagnosed with autism. Selection criteria consisted of English-speaking families who completed a university-based early intervention program. Attempts were made to select multidimensional or diverse families. Resulting data were analyzed using NVivo software. Five findings emerged. First, contexts and the interactions held within them played a significant role in the type of narrative that was used to construct disability. Second, constructs of disability were in process and fluid. Third, families held competing constructs of disability at both the group and individual levels. Fourth, the dominant cultural narrative of disability founded upon the medical model was used by families; however, its use was predicated on the desire to protect family members (i.e., child with disability as well as siblings) from perceived and directly-experienced exclusions from mainstream society. Fifth, a dominant construct of disability existed within families and was contingent upon the strength of that construct within various contexts with which the family engaged.
Knowledge was added to the current literature on the complexity and fluid nature of the disability construct at the group and individual levels. In addition, these constructs were argued to be influenced by the interactive contexts and the embedded narratives of disability. Knowledge generated by this study can be used to integrate different lenses within professional training programs, and help to re-imagine the methods and aims of research that explore families who have children with disabilities.
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Mccain, Chase Landes. "Looking at Levels of Medicalization in the Institutional Narrative of Substance Use Disorders in the Military." Scholar Commons, 2015. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/5740.
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The purpose of this research is to examine the institutional narrative of substance use disorders (SUDs) in the U.S. military and the extent to which it reflects the medicalization process. Three general research questions guided my analysis of the narrative surrounding SUDs in the military: (1) How does the military characterize the problems and resolutions of SUDs? (2) How and to what extent does this narrative reflect medicalization? (3) What are the limitations inherent in the institutional narrative of SUDs in the military? In order to address these questions, I draw on three conceptual lenses: (1) The work of Loseke (2007) and others on the powers of institutional narratives; (2) The work of Conrad and Schneider (1980) in which they propose that medicalization can be understood in multiple ways and on at least three distinct levels (the conceptual, the institutional, and the interactive); and (3) The work of disability scholars on the limitations of the medical model and the importance of adopting a social model of the causes and consequences of disability (Oliver and Barnes 2012; Shakespeare 2014; Berger 2012).
In this study, I use these lenses to conduct a textual analysis of the VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for Management of Substance Use Disorders. This manual was developed under the auspices of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) pursuant to directives from the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). The document was designed to provide recommendations for the performance or exclusion of specific procedures or services related to identification and response to substance use among active duty personnel and veterans in all branches of the US military. The information and recommendations presented in the document were then disseminated throughout all branches of the military for implementation. This document is, therefore, a powerful codification of the institutional narrative of substance use in the military. Using Conrad and Schneider’s model as a template (1980), I examined the document in order to see how the military has framed the discussion surrounding SUDs.
My analysis began with a close reading of the manual several times without much reflection in order to get a general feeling for the story being constructed by the text. However, as I continued with the close reading, I began making comments about the practices and overall impressions the manual puts forth. After several readings and thorough note taking, it became clear that there was a significant amount of medicalization occurring throughout the military manual, and evidence for medicalization could be seen on all three of the levels suggested by Conrad and Schneider. Words and phrases of text were eventually coded and categorized into the three levels of medicalization.
The narrative within the document depicts a specific story of how the military addresses matters involving SUDs through a system of screening, assessment and treatment. First, the document’s language relating to diagnostic assessments, laboratory biomarkers and other screening devices used to categorize and measure one’s substance use can all be considered evidence for medicalization at the conceptual level. Multiple segments of text have been identified and categorized on a conceptual level. Second, clear indications of medicalization on the institutional level can be seen with references to specialty treatment, “specialty care” and “other clinics.” Again, multiple text segments have been identified as being representative of medicalization at the institutional level. Finally, evidence for interactive medicalization can be seen through the use of medical referrals, pharmacological treatments and the ongoing monitoring of medical consequences of substance use.
The findings suggest that the military has adopted what many now consider a medical model approach toward understanding substance use and evidence can be found at all three levels of medicalization proposed by Conrad and Schneider. Strengths and weaknesses of exclusive reliance on a medicalized narrative of the causes of substance use among military personnel and veterans are discussed in light of the lessons learned from the social model of disability and other critiques of medicalization. I conclude that the success of a medicalized response to substance use may be hampered by the tension between the two widely circulating cultural narratives that intersect in the case of substance use among military personnel.
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Macartney, Bernadette Christine. "Disabled by the Discourse: Two families’ narratives of inclusion, exclusion and resistance in education." Thesis, University of Canterbury. School of Educational Studies and Human Development, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/5307.
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This qualitative study is based on the narratives of two families who each parent a young disabled child. It focuses on the children’s and families’ experiences of inclusion and exclusion within educational settings and the implications of these experiences for pedagogical change. New Zealand’s policy and curriculum contexts are considered in relation to education, disability and inclusion. I examine how the families’ perspectives and experiences interact with dominant, deficit discourses of disability. In my interpretation of the family narratives I identify particular disciplinary mechanisms that operate as tools and tactics of disabling power-knowledge production (Foucault, 1977, 1980). I argue that the policing of disabled children and families’ participation are primary processes and outcomes of these disciplinary mechanisms.
The study uses a Disability Studies in Education (DSE) framework to understand and approach disability as socially, politically and culturally constructed. The assumptions underlying traditional Western educational knowledge and norms are critiqued from a counter-narrative based on experiences of disability. I use DSE research and literature to challenge knowledge regimes that interpret disability as an individual deficit requiring ‘special’ intervention and treatment. I argue that a ‘disability critique’ makes an important contribution to understanding the workings and effects of Western, Eurocentric knowledge traditions on children and families. This research further argues that exclusion is experienced by those within and outside of the dominant culture.
I envisage the main research audience of this thesis to be early childhood and primary school teachers, teacher educators, early intervention and special education personnel, therapists and medical professionals. The stories and experiences of the families in this research may support teachers and other professionals to critically reflect on, and make changes to their thinking and practices. I hope to contribute to the growing body of research that can be used to support parents and families of disabled children in their efforts to promote educational change and to support the full inclusion of their children as valued people and learners within their educational contexts.
I develop two main arguments in this research. The first is that in order to transform education, deficit discourses and their effects must be named and understood. The second is that New Zealand educationalists can build on existing, local frameworks to develop critical, narrative and relational pedagogies to transform exclusionary power relations and support inclusive experiences for all children and their families. I argue that approaches to disability and education based on a belief that exclusion is ‘inevitable’ and that creating a fully inclusive education system and society is an impossible dream, should be challenged and rejected. A lack of optimism and vision reproduces exclusion, and leads to weak reforms at best. Disabled children and their families deserve and have a right to an inclusive life and education and this requires people at all levels of society to take responsibility.
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Hood, Rebekah Michele. "Invisible Voices: Revising Feminist Approaches to Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Including the Narrative of Mental Illness." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2017. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6678.
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Since 1973, the year in which Elaine Hedges's groundbreaking edition of "The Yellow Wallpaper" was published, Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story has been read primarily as one of America's leading feminist texts. With potent symbolism and a fragmented style of narration, it is easy to understand why many feminist scholars fashion the story's narrator into a proactive feminist, a courageous heroine who rebels against patriarchal oppression. While this trend of interpretation compellingly attempts to empower the narrator, it often overlooks her perspective of disability and projects the characteristics of a nondisabled, high-functioning feminist on a mentally ill woman. This paper reads Gilman's short story as a narrative of mental illness and applies the research of feminist disability scholars Anita Silvers, Jenny Morris, and Susan Wendell to a close reading of the story. Approaching the story from this perspective, we can identify the systems of oppression that disable the narrator and read "The Yellow Wallpaper" in a way that validates the subjective reality of depression and invites disabled voices into feminism's exploration of womanhood.
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Anderson, John. "Different Bodies, Different Selves: The Role of Physical Disability in the Formation of Personal Identity." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2006. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/1203.
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This item is only available in print in the UCF Libraries. If this is your Honors Thesis, you can help us make it available online for use by researchers around the world by following the instructions on the distribution consent form at http://library.ucf.edu/Systems/DigitalInitiatives/DigitalCollections/InternetDistributionConsentAgreementForm.pdf You may also contact the project coordinator, Kerri Bottorff, at kerri.bottorff@ucf.edu for more information.Bachelors
Arts and Sciences
Philosophy
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Grigoratos, Angelik. "A narrative exploration into the world of ill fathers who have lost a limb due to diabetes." Diss., Pretoria : [s.n.], 2006. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-11052007-104428/.
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Smith-Chandler, Natalie. "A Narrative Inquiry into the Professional Identities of Individuals with Disabilities." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/17927.
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Thesis (MEd )--Stellenbosch University, 2011.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Employment in capitalist society forms the foundation of social, economic and political order where most individuals between the ages of 18 and 65 are assumed to be in a position to procure gainful employment in their areas of personal interest. Despite the move to democracy, based on the principles implicit in the Human Rights Movement, individuals with disabilities continue to exist as among the most economically disadvantaged groups in society where they are subject to the sustained effects of discriminatory and prejudicial attitudes in the workplace. This is compounded by the pervasive impact of lack of skills development; poor access to education and training; lack of awareness from employers; disabling environments and poor policy development. The purpose of this narrative inquiry was to explore the alternative stories of six individuals with disabilities who are currently employed in the mainstream labour sector as a means to gain insights into individual experiences of obstacles and facilitators to inclusion in the world of work. A narrative inquiry approach, embedded in a critical, emancipatory research paradigm formed the methodology for this study. This thesis was considered through the lens of an integrated theoretical approach, drawing on poststructuralist and social constructionist thought, interspersed with "episodes" of Lacanian psychoanalysis to attend to aspects of internalized oppression. Six individuals with disabilities, employed in the mainstream labour sector, were selected from three sites, using a purposive sampling method. Data were collected by way of two in-depth unstructured narrative interviews, constructed by way of personal experience stories (Squire, 2008; Riessman, 1993) and life stories (Atkinson, 1998) as a means to explore participants‟ unique life experiences and how they have constructed and asserted their professional identities in the world of work. A dual analysis process (first descriptive, then interpretive) was employed to bring structure and interpretation to the collected texts. Descriptive analysis involved the re-telling of participants‟ personal experience and life stories, using Clandinin and Connelly‟s three dimensional narrative inquiry space, whilst interpretive analysis sought to attend to the universal stories of disability using thematic analysis and synthesis. The key messages from the narratives revealed that in spite of the fact that many individuals with disabilities demonstrate immense loyalty, low rates of absenteeism, commitment and a range of skills, talents and abilities, disability continues to be conceptualized as an inferior status which inevitably creates widespread marginalization due to the pervasive effects of stigma, fear and ignorance. Many are not privy to vital education and training options as a precursor to entry into the labour market, and unequal salary structures, environmental barriers and physical accessibility are additional constraints which preclude full and equal participation in the mainstream labour sector. This study identified the efficacy of narrative inquiry etched within an integrated theoretical approach as the promise that disability studies has been waiting for. A crucial step in re-writing the historically disabling scripts related to the “disabled identity”, as a means to lobby for more inclusive strategies in the workplace, involves truly listening to the polyphony of individual voices from an emancipatory perspective.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Gelyke werksgeleenthede en indiensneming vorm die grondslag van die sosiale, ekonomiese en politieke bedeling in 'n kapitalistiese samelewing. Die aanname is dat die meerderheid individue tussen die ouderdomme van 18 en 65 besoldigde betrekkings kan beklee waarin hulle belangstel. Ten spyte van die verskuiwing na 'n demokrasie wat gebaseer is op die beginsels van die Menseregtebeweging, is individue met gestremdhede steeds deel van 'n ekonomies benadeelde groepering as gevolg van diskriminasie en vooroordele in die werksplek. Hierdie situasie word vererger deur die deurlopende impak van 'n tekort aan vaardighede, beperkte toegang tot onderwys en opleiding, werkgewers se beperkte bewustheid van individue met gestremdheid se behoeftes en potensiaal, ontoeganklike werksomgewings en leemtes in beleidsontwikkeling. Die doel van hierdie narratiewe ondersoek was daarom 'n verkenning van alternatiewe verhale van ses individue met fisiese gestremdheid wat werksaam is in die ope arbeidsmark ten einde insig te kry in hul individuele ervarings van hindernisse en ondersteuning in die werksplek. Die metodologie van hierdie studie kan tipeer word as 'n narratiewe ondersoekbenadering wat gevestig is in 'n krities-emansipatoriese navorsingsparadigma. Die lens van die studie was dus 'n geïntegreerde teoretiese benadering van post-strukturalistiese en sosio-konstruksionistiese denke en "episodes" van Lakan se psigoanalise om aspekte van geïnternaliseerde onderdrukking te verstaan. Ses individue met fisiese gestremdheid wat werksaam is in die ope arbeidsmark is doelbewus gekies uit drie werksplekke. Data is gegenereer deur twee ongestruktureerde narratiewe onderhoude in die vorm van vertellings oor persoonlike ervarings (Squire, 2008; Riessman, 1993) en lewensverhale (Atkinson, 1998). Die deelnemers se unieke lewenservarings en hul konstruksie en handhawing van hul professionele identiteit in die werksplek was die fokus van die datagenerering. 'n Tweeledige proses van analise (eers beskrywend, daarna interpreterend) is gevolg om die teks te struktureer en te interpreteer. Beskrywende analise, gebaseer op Clandinin en Connelly se driedimensionele narratiewe ruimte, behels die oorvertel van deelnemers se persoonlike ervaring en lewensverhale. Die interpreterende analise daarenteen gebruik tematiese analise en sintese van die universele stories. Die sentrale tema van die narratiewe is dat gestremdheid steeds gekonseptualiseer word as minderwaardig, ten spyte van hierdie individue se ongekende lojaliteit, min afwesigheid, toegewydheid en omvang van vaardighede, talente en vermoëns. Die stigma, vrese en onkundigheid wat daarmee gepaard gaan lei tot marginalisering. Baie persone met gestremdhede het steeds nie toegang tot onderwys en opleidingsgeleenthede nie en voldoen dus nie aan die vereistes wat gestel word vir toegang tot die arbeidsmark nie. Oneweredige salarisstrukture, hindernisse in die omgewing en fisiese toeganklikheid belemmer volledige en gelyke deelname in die ope arbeidsmark. Hierdie studie bevestig die bruikbaarheid van narratiewe navorsing en 'n geïntegreerde teoretiese benadering in gestremdheidstudies. 'n Belangrike stap is die herskryf van die historiese beskouings van onbekwaamheid en “gestremde identiteit” as 'n poging om te onderhandel vir meer inklusiewe strategieë in die werkplek. Dit behels opregte luister na die individuele stemme vanuit 'n emansipatoriese perspektief.
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Doménech, Vidal Ana. "Sorteando barreras hacia la inclusión. Una historia de vida." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Jaume I, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/403663.
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Partiendo de un concepto amplio de diversidad, esta tesis doctoral focaliza su atención en las respuestas sociales y educativas que las personas con diversidad funcional encuentran en sus respectivas trayectorias vitales. El objetivo de esta investigación es explicar y analizar la trayectoria vital de un adolescente con diversidad funcional desde los ámbitos educativo, familiar y social. A través del método biográfico-narrativo, concretamente las historias de vida, y con la participación de 17 participantes del entorno del protagonista, se realiza un análisis de datos estructural y narrativo que permite la construcción de la historia de vida. Algunas de las principales conclusiones apuntan al cuestionamiento de las etiquetas, la necesidad de los apoyos adecuados y la importancia de la familia.Starting from the concept of diversity, this doctoral thesis focuses on social and educational responses that people with functional diversity find in their respective life trajectories. The objective of this research is to explain and analyze the life trajectory of an adolescent with functional diversity from educational, family and social levels. Through the biographical-narrative method, specifically life stories, and with 17 participants, a structural and narrative data analysis is carried out that allows the construction of this life history. Some of the main conclusions point to the questioning of disability labels, the need for supports and the importance of the family.
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Quinlan, Margaret M. "Narrating Lives and Raising Consciousness Through Dance: The Performance of (Dis)Ability at Dancing Wheels." View abstract, 2009. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3371581.
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Brace, Heather J. "Lived Experience: Diverse Perspectives on Raising a Child with Autism." [Tampa, Fla] : University of South Florida, 2009. http://purl.fcla.edu/usf/dc/et/SFE0003003.
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Bohman, Malin. "Self-Harm and the Pursuit of Control in Shadowhunters Fan Fiction." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för språkstudier, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-167420.
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Five fan fictions based on the TV-series Shadowhunters are used to analyze the self-harming behaviors of the character Alec Lightwood, as a response to losing, and a method of regaining, control. In addition, this paper explores self-harm in relation to upbringing and culture, self-punishment, and the mental health disorders depression and anxiety. Furthermore, it employs a disability narrative perspective and utilizes two four-stage systems proposed by disability narrative theorist David A. Karp—the illness identity career and the process of adaptations—in order to demonstrate the similarities and differences between fictional and nonfictional disability narratives. The engagement in self-harm is posited to be driven by a desire to regain control, which inadvertently ends up providing the opposite: an increased loss of control, and a hindrance for recovery.
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Kamlager, Carolee. "Identity Making Process of Individuals with Mild Intellectual Disabilities." UKnowledge, 2013. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/csw_etds/8.
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The shadow of stigma theory typically surrounds the research investigation of the lives of individuals with mild intellectual disabilities. McAdams’ life story theory and methodology provide a human development framework as an alternative to the prevailing framework in the field of disability. This study moves out of the shadow of otherness and examines the personal identity making process of twelve individuals with mild intellectual disabilities in the light of human development theory. Findings dispel the assumption that individuals with mild intellectual disabilities construct their lives solely through their disability. Rather, the identity making process includes the influences of socio-cultural events, religion, mentoring, advocacy, and the lived experience of disability.
In this study, twelve adults with mild intellectual disabilities completed adapted life story interviews and four quantitative measures to explore the themes and patterns of agency, communion, redemption, contamination and generativity. Additional qualitative analysis expanded the range of discovery for influences in the identity making process. Following analysis of the quantitative scores, interviewees were placed in either the Higher Generativity Group or Lower Generativity Group. Analysis occurred at three levels: within case, within group and between group.
Differences between the groups emerged, such as, involvement in human rights advocacy, presence of mentors and spiritual guides, and religious beliefs. Human rights advocacy provided a rich source of generativity and meaningful connection to others, politically, socially and emotionally. Turning point narratives often contained religious and redemptive content themes. While interviewees did not narrate the majority of scenes with disability centric content, one-half of the interviewees narrated disability content in their high point scenes, suggesting the positive internalization of their disability into their personal identity. The major findings confirm the importance of studying the life stories of this population from the perspective of human development theory. This study presents conclusions that impact research methodology for this population, as well as, social work research, policy development, practice and education.
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Gous, Jennifer Glenda. "How inclusive education is understood by principals of independent schools." Thesis, University of Pretoria, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/24118.
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In recognition that every child matters, inclusive education has become a practice that has been adopted by many schools across the globe and most usually in first world countries. As a whole-school system it occurs less frequently in developing countries including South Africa which, unlike many developing countries, has a sound infrastructure and many excellent schools in both the state and the independent sectors. ‘Education White Paper 6: Special education: Building an inclusive education and training system’ was published in 2001 with the express intention of developing an inclusive education system in South Africa. Some independent schools have successfully implemented exemplary forms of inclusion in their schools and this is the phenomenon that has been studied by focusing on the understandings and experiences of the principals. As the researcher I interviewed eight principals who are practicing inclusive education as the norm in their schools. This study reveals various aspects of the inclusive process including the pivotal role that principals play in the transformation process of which inclusive education is the harbinger. It also analyses why principals choose to embrace a paradigm that on the surface is uncomfortable and not an easy option. I used biographical narrative research as methodology for this qualitative research and crystallisation as quality strategy in order to study the phenomenon that is the understandings of principals of independent schools of inclusive education. The basic tenet was that inclusion leads to belonging and excellence in education. The major findings and implications for action are of interest not only to principals, but to anyone who is seriously interested in innovative and more humane forms of anti-oppressive education.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010.
Education Management and Policy Studies
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Viljoen, A. J. (Albertus Johannes). "Tswaing, a place of commemoration and reminiscence : making the natural environment accessible to all." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/31584.
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The Tswaing Meteorite Crater, formed 220 000 years ago, on the farm of Zoutpan, (or also known as the Pretoria Saltpan), had been a topographic and geological riddle for a long period of time. The gathering of salt from the crater was its main attraction for many groups that flocked to the crater, which later became an important beacon of infrastructure, becoming the largest producer of Soda and Salt in the Transvaal in the early 1900’s. Knowledge is an intangible quality of the cultural landscape and its history which can be lost in the blink of an eye if it is not preserved, commemorated and conserved for future generations. Through the investigation of Inclusive Design and the application of its principles, the narrative which is Tswaing, can be made accessible to all by revealing the concealed narrative of the place, tangible and intangible, through time. The afterthought or lack of design for disabled individuals can be seen in many projects. By ensuring accessibility is part of the design process from the onset of the project, valuable resources are not needlessly wasted later. As a result the cultural landscape and its secrets can be uncovered and shared with all.Dissertation ML(Prof)--University of Pretoria, 2012.
Architecture
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Robin, Dominic. "The Inevitability of Decay: Disability in Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea." UNF Digital Commons, 2018. https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/833.
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With his suicide in 1961, Ernest Hemingway seemingly cemented into place his legacy as the classic image of the able-bodied, masculine man; he was, to many, the anti-disability writer, the author who lived for ability, lost ability, and took his life once he realized no chance of regaining his ability existed. Such a narrative, however, ignores the truly complicated and dynamic shape his understanding of the body took. Through an analysis of The Old Man and the Sea, I examine the form this ideology of ability took at the end of his life when, like the novella’s protagonist, Santiago, his failing health forced him to focus on the realities of the inevitable failure of his own body. Through the application of research such as David T. Mitchell and Sharon L. Snyder’s theory of narrative prosthesis, Tobin Siebers’ work on the ideology of ability, and Andrew Farah’s research on Hemingway’s declining physical condition, I demonstrate the ways The Old Man and the Sea legitimizes the disabled body, avoiding, in the process, several common narrative tropes such as the overcoming narrative or the kill-or-cure dichotomy and creating a space in which the inevitable decay of the human body must be seriously and honestly addressed. Through this research, a new more nuanced picture of Hemingway emerges, one that recognizes the complicated and dynamic nature his view of the able-bodied individual took.
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浅野, みどり, and Midori Asano. "発達障害の子どもと生活する家族の強み -強みタイプ別の面接データ分析から-." 日本看護医療学会, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/2237/6941.
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Schuetze, Sarah. "More Than Death: Fear of Illness in American Literature 1775-1876." UKnowledge, 2015. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/english_etds/18.
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This dissertation argues that eighteenth- and nineteenth-century narratives about personal and collective experiences with disease train American readers to fear illness while warning them against the dangers of being afraid. Such narratives depict the way illness ravages the physical body, disrupts interpersonal relationships, and threatens to dismantle social or municipal organization. In other words, the story of sickness is a story of terror-inducing dis-order. I study disease with a lens informed by cultural and disability studies to show that what makes disease historically and culturally significant is its power—through the body—to dis-order relationships, society, and knowledge. Anxieties about this dis-order did not go dormant when an epidemic faded; they continued to circulate in writing, their vigor magnifying with each new outbreak.
Through extensive archival research into representations of disease in ephemera, popular publications, and medical writing, my dissertation proffers a new reading of canonical works depicting sickness. Literary works gothicize disease by dramatizing its possible effects that make life unrecognizable, thus feeding fears as they portray them. My analysis shows that works like John and Abigail Adams’s letters, Abigail Abbot Bailey’s memoir, editorials from Nathaniel Parker Willis, novels like Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Harriet Wilson’s Our Nig are as invested in the fear of illness as disease narratives by Charles Brockden Brown and Edgar Allan Poe that are traditionally read as gothic. While scholars may recognize the significance of disease-induced fear in any of these individual texts, they treat each example as unique whereas I show literary authors contribute to a broader cultural anxiety spawned on the pages of popular media and spread through belles-lettres.
To emphasize the relationship between the circulation of information and the circulation of disease, each chapter focuses on one disease and the written or print form that participated in sharing and shaping opinions about the disease as a terrifying event: smallpox and letters, yellow fever and pamphlets, cholera and periodicals, and tuberculosis and sentimental novels.
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Parsloe, Sarah M. "“Real People. Real Stories.”: Self-Advocacy and Collective/Connective Action on the Digital Platform, The Mighty." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1497536100831896.
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