Listening Effort in School-Age Children With Normal Hearing Compared to Children With Limited Useable Hearing Unilaterally

Objectives Children with limited hearing unilaterally might experience more listening effort than children with normal hearing, yet previous studies have not confirmed this. This study compared listening effort in school-age children with normal hearing and children with limited hearing unilaterally using behavioral and subjective listening effort measures. Design Two groups of school-age children (aged 7–12 years) participated: 19 with limited hearing unilaterally and 18 with normal hearing bilaterally. Participants completed digit triplet recognition tasks in quiet and in noise (−12 dB SNR) in three loudspeaker conditions: midline, direct, and indirect. Verbal response times during the recognition task were interpreted as behavioral listening effort. Subjective ratings of “task difficulty” and “hard to think” were interpreted as subjective listening effort. Participant age was included as a covariate in analysis of behavioral data. Results Noise negatively affected digit triplet recognition for both groups in the midline loudspeaker condition and for participants with limited hearing unilaterally in the direct and indirect conditions. Relative to their peers with normal hearing, children with limited hearing unilaterally exhibited significantly longer response times and higher ratings of effort only in the noisy, indirect condition. Differences between groups were evident even when age differences were controlled for statistically. Conclusions Using behavioral and subjective indices of listening effort, children with limited unilateral hearing demonstrated significantly more listening effort relative to their peers with normal hearing during the difficult indirect listening condition. Implications include classroom accommodations to limit indirect listening situations for children with limited useable hearing unilaterally and consideration of intervention options.

Lessons From Research for Implementing An Instructional Accommodations Model in Secondary Inclusion

Inclusion teachers at the secondary level need research-based guidance on how to support students with disabilities using accommodations in the classroom. A team of general education and special education teachers developed a model for planning, implementing, and monitoring instructional accommodations. The model calls for students’ active engagement. Findings from two studies on students with high incidence disabilities learning a strategy for “self-accommodating” inform on how general educators and special educators can implement the Secondary Classroom Accommodations Model with active student involvement.

Higher Education for Students with Disabilities in India: Insights from a Focus Group Study

Higher education plays a vital role in the employability of people with disability. It promises an independent existence for the person in the society. Understanding this, stakeholders are moving towards an inclusive environment in educational institutions. But the reality is quite alarming in that only a very small number of people with disabilities have access to higher education in developing countries like India. This study conducted through focus group discussions systematically explores the challenges, existing facilities and needed accommodations in a higher education set-up for the benefit of students with disability (SwD). The qualitative study was conducted in six major metropolitan cities across India among adults with disability who had higher education opportunities. Themes such as accessibility, functions in the classroom, accommodations for examinations, communication, social attitude and employment challenges were highlighted as major aspects that needed attention. The results reflect on poor planning, implementation of disability policies, lack of disability sensitization in the society and inadequate availability of resources in a developing country. Reports of support networks provided by friends in colleges, underscored the strength of humanity in the midst of inadequate disability accommodation facilities. Voices of people with disabilities resonates over the lack of available policies and services in a developing country like India.

Integrating UDL Strategies into the Online Course Development Process: Instructional Designers' Perspectives

This qualitative case study design examined the perspectives that instructional designers at a 4-year research institution in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States have about integrating UDL strategies into the online course development process. The participants were six individuals involved in the online course development process: four of the participants were instructional designers working for the Instructional Design Team, one participant was an assistant program manager in the Office of Distance Education, and the other was an instructional designer working in the College of Health and Human Services. The interviews focused on the participant’s perspectives on the integration of UDL strategies and how they believe faculty perceived such practices. Using a series of semi-structured interviews and document analysis, three distinct themes emerged: (a) the importance of the instructional designer/faculty member partnership, (b) the number of factors impacting faculty adoption of UDL strategies in their online courses, and (c) faculty resistance to changes in how classroom accommodations are addressed in the higher education classroom. In addition to highlighting factors impacting the integration of UDL strategies, the findings also revealed techniques that could be useful in improving faculty adoption of such practices.

Preliminary Investigation of a Tribal College’s Educational Supports for Individuals with Disabilities

Native Americans have experienced a long history of colonization and genocide, which has had a devastating effect on the health, both physical and emotional, of native people (Young, 1994). This has ultimately affected many aspects of their lives including education. The aim of this qualitative study was to understand the perceptions of faculty and staff on a Midwestern Tribal College campus regarding disability and historical trauma. Participants completed an open-ended questionnaire related to disability, student accommodations, and historical trauma. Five themes emerged, including novel themes such as minimal disability knowledge, unidentified mental health issues, limited accommodations for students, recognition of historical trauma and variation in understanding historical trauma. The participants’ responses indicate a need for professional development to improve disability-related educational support. Further research is needed on Native American student effects of historical trauma to understand implications of retention and classroom accommodations. Implications for educators, researchers and rehabilitation counselors are discussed.

Integrated Postsecondary Services and Supports for College Students with Psychiatric Disabilities

The enrollment of individuals with psychiatric disabilities in American postsecondary institutions has grown substantially in recent years, and universities and colleges are struggling to meet the treatment and academic support needs of these students that will enable them to achieve their educational goals. In this article we examine (a) the in-college experiences (e.g., substance use, use of campus mental health services and classroom accommodations, academic integration, social integration) of these students, (b) the role that rehabilitation counselors can play to facilitate student achievement, and (c) emerging practices that have been implemented to better address their needs.

Creating more dangerous safe-spaces: A performative remedy for classroom solipsists?

“I worry more and more that we are creating an atmosphere where our students can remain in their own little worlds.” Although I cannot remember my exact turn-of-phrase, this approximates what I scribbled down on my notecard and tacked on the wall during our unit on Individual Differences and Classroom Diversity. It was nearing the end of the semester and each of us were instructed to prepare for a lively discussion of one chapter from Price’s (2011) Mad at School. Rhetorics of Mental Disability and Academic Life. My comment, casually hanging next to several others under the heading “Doubts/Questions,” was in fact more sharply directed toward some suggestions in the article we had read and not toward my colleagues, who were co-participants in the course and fellow associate instructors – I didn’t dare to think any of my compatriots would be guilty of such a thing. Price, in her chapter titled “Presence, Participation, and Resistance in Kairotic Space,” attempts to push back against what she deems overly “rationalist” assumptions in both theory and praxis as they relate to classroom accommodations. The claim is that we, as educators and theorists, tend to only consider formal accommodations for students with various disabilities ...