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Article
Publication date: 25 March 2024

Angela Crocker, Jill Titterington and Michelle Tennyson

This study aims to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of dysphagia among adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) referred to speech and language therapy for swallow…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of dysphagia among adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) referred to speech and language therapy for swallow assessment, providing information on the demographic characteristics, referral trends, co-occurring health conditions and reasons for referrals highlighting the complex health-care needs of this population.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a standardised patient data extraction method over a six-month period involving 74 adults with ID referred to speech and language therapy for swallow assessment.

Findings

This study revealed a high prevalence of dysphagia among adults with ID referred to speech and language therapy for swallow assessment. Increasing age and severity of ID were associated with an increased likelihood of swallowing difficulties. Co-occurring health conditions such as mobility difficulties, epilepsy and gastrointestinal conditions were prevalent, suggesting that adults with ID and swallowing difficulties are often living with complex health conditions. Choking incidents and hospital admissions were primary reasons for referral.

Research limitations/implications

This study stresses the pressing need for strategies to mitigate risks associated with choking incidents and hospital admission among this vulnerable population. Possible limitations include a reliance on referral and the focus being on a single service over a short period which may limit generalisation to the wider ID population.

Practical implications

This study emphasises the need to understand each person’s unique profile of health needs and the value of a specialised speech and language therapy service.

Social implications

The importance of increasing awareness among caregivers and medical experts is highlighted.

Originality/value

The findings underscore the importance of tailored assessment, caregiver involvement and heightened interdisciplinary awareness to effectively manage dysphagia in individuals with ID.

Details

Tizard Learning Disability Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-5474

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 May 2022

Muhammad Inaam ul haq, Qianmu Li and Jun Hou

Special education is the education segment that deals with the students facing hurdles in the traditional education system. Research data have evolved in the domain of special…

Abstract

Purpose

Special education is the education segment that deals with the students facing hurdles in the traditional education system. Research data have evolved in the domain of special education due to scientific advances. The present study aims to employ text mining to extract the latent patterns from the scientific data.

Design/methodology/approach

This study examined the 12,781 Scopus-indexed titles, abstracts and keywords published from 1987 to 2021 through an integrated text-mining and topic modeling approach. It combines dynamic topic models with highly cited reviews of this domain. It facilitates the extraction of topic clusters and communities in the topic network.

Findings

This methodology discovered children’s communication and speech using gaming techniques, mental retardation, cost effect on infant birth, involvement of special education children and their families, assistive technology information for special education, syndrome epilepsy and the impact of group study on skill development peers or self as the hottest topic of research in this domain. In addition to finding research hotspots, it further explores annual topic proportion trends, topic correlations and intertopic research areas.

Originality/value

The results provide a comprehensive summary of the popularity of research topics in special education in the past 34 years, and the results can provide useful insights and implications, and it could be used as a guide for contributors in special education form a structured view of past research and plan future research directions.

Details

Library Hi Tech, vol. 41 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0737-8831

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 August 2023

Alireza Mirahmadizadeh, Alireza Heiran, Hamid Nemati, Shiva Aminnia, Fatemeh Azadian, Fatemeh Rezaei, Roya Sahebi, Ata Miyar, Mohammad Hossein Sharifi and Mojgan Tavasoli

Children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder need special attention for their mental and physical health and education. This study aims to investigate the effects of the…

Abstract

Purpose

Children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder need special attention for their mental and physical health and education. This study aims to investigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on them.

Design/methodology/approach

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on data collected from an online survey. Respondents were the parents or caregivers of autistic children aged 3–18. It measured opinions about the favorable and unfavorable behavioral changes related to their children during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Findings

In total, 131 respondents participated in the study. The mean age of their autistic children was 11.45 ± 4.26 years, of whom 78% were boys. Improved good behaviors during lockdowns included interaction with parents and siblings, eating healthy foods, quality of sleep, eye contact, pointing and asking for something, imitating sounds and phrases, sharing interests, reaction to emotions and empathy with family members, but sleep hours decreased.

Originality/value

Lockdown provided opportunities for examining the behaviors of children with autism taking into account its favorable and unfavorable effects, to improve communicating and behaving with these children.

Details

Advances in Autism, vol. 9 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-3868

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 January 2022

Rajashekhar U., Neelappa and Harish H.M.

The natural control, feedback, stimuli and protection of these subsequent principles founded this project. Via properly conducted experiments, a multilayer computer rehabilitation…

Abstract

Purpose

The natural control, feedback, stimuli and protection of these subsequent principles founded this project. Via properly conducted experiments, a multilayer computer rehabilitation system was created that integrated natural interaction assisted by electroencephalogram (EEG), which enabled the movements in the virtual environment and real wheelchair. For blind wheelchair operator patients, this paper involved of expounding the proper methodology. For educating the value of life and independence of blind wheelchair users, outcomes have proven that virtual reality (VR) with EEG signals has that potential.

Design/methodology/approach

Individuals face numerous challenges with many disorders, particularly when multiple dysfunctions are diagnosed and especially for visually effected wheelchair users. This scenario, in reality, creates in a degree of incapacity on the part of the wheelchair user in terms of performing simple activities. Based on their specific medical needs, confined patients are treated in a modified method. Independent navigation is secured for individuals with vision and motor disabilities. There is a necessity for communication which justifies the use of VR in this navigation situation. For the effective integration of locomotion besides, it must be under natural guidance. EEG, which uses random brain impulses, has made significant progress in the field of health. The custom of an automated audio announcement system modified to have the help of VR and EEG for the training of locomotion and individualized interaction of wheelchair users with visual disability is demonstrated in this study through an experiment. Enabling the patients who were otherwise deemed incapacitated to participate in social activities, as the aim was to have efficient connections.

Findings

To protect their life straightaway and to report all these disputes, the military system should have high speed, more precise portable prototype device for nursing the soldier health, recognition of solider location and report about health sharing system to the concerned system. Field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based soldier’s health observing and position gratitude system is proposed in this paper. Reliant on heart rate which is centered on EEG signals, the soldier’s health is observed on systematic bases. By emerging Verilog hardware description language (HDL) programming language and executing on Artix-7 development FPGA board of part name XC7ACSG100t the whole work is approved in a Vivado Design Suite. Classification of different abnormalities and cloud storage of EEG along with the type of abnormalities, artifact elimination, abnormalities identification based on feature extraction, exist in the segment of suggested architecture. Irregularity circumstances are noticed through developed prototype system and alert the physically challenged (PHC) individual via an audio announcement. An actual method for eradicating motion artifacts from EEG signals that have anomalies in the PHC person’s brain has been established, and the established system is a portable device that can deliver differences in brain signal variation intensity. Primarily the EEG signals can be taken and the undesirable artifact can be detached, later structures can be mined by discrete wavelet transform these are the two stages through which artifact deletion can be completed. The anomalies in signal can be noticed and recognized by using machine learning algorithms known as multirate support vector machine classifiers when the features have been extracted using a combination of hidden Markov model (HMM) and Gaussian mixture model (GMM). Intended for capable declaration about action taken by a blind person, these result signals are protected in storage devices and conveyed to the controller. Pretending daily motion schedules allows the pretentious EEG signals to be caught. Aimed at the validation of planned system, the database can be used and continued with numerous recorded signals of EEG. The projected strategy executes better in terms of re-storing theta, delta, alpha and beta complexes of the original EEG with less alteration and a higher signal to noise ratio (SNR) value of the EEG signal, which illustrates in the quantitative analysis. The projected method used Verilog HDL and MATLAB software for both formation and authorization of results to yield improved results. Since from the achieved results, it is initiated that 32% enhancement in SNR, 14% in mean squared error (MSE) and 65% enhancement in recognition of anomalies, hence design is effectively certified and proved for standard EEG signals data sets on FPGA.

Originality/value

The proposed system can be used in military applications as it is high speed and excellent precise in terms of identification of abnormality, the developed system is portable and very precise. FPGA-based soldier’s health observing and position gratitude system is proposed in this paper. Reliant on heart rate which is centered on EEG signals the soldier health is observed in systematic bases. The proposed system is developed using Verilog HDL programming language and executing on Artix-7 development FPGA board of part name XC7ACSG100t and synthesised using in Vivado Design Suite software tool.

Details

International Journal of Pervasive Computing and Communications, vol. 19 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-7371

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 5 February 2024

Humera Manzoor

Chronic illnesses often go unnoticed mainly due to their invisibility and lack of understanding both at home and in the workplace. In this chapter, I use an autoethnographic…

Abstract

Chronic illnesses often go unnoticed mainly due to their invisibility and lack of understanding both at home and in the workplace. In this chapter, I use an autoethnographic approach to engage with my “emotionally charged” lived experiences of living and working with a stigmatized chronic illness – irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) – in a highly patriarchal Pashtun society where women are expected to perform various social roles despite of illness and are often silenced to male domination. IBS is a functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by abdominal pain, abnormal bowel function, and bloating, in the absence of any structural abnormalities, and has a significant impact on one’s life. As I navigate through my experiences of suffering from a chronic illness and the emotional labor involved therein, I shed light on the challenges I face as a woman in managing work and life and as I silence my pain and emotions to fit into the roles of a “professional” academic, a “good” wife, a “good” daughter, a “good” sister-in-law, a “good” daughter-in-law, and so forth. I have used both the lens of stigma to reflect my sufferings and normalization to demonstrate my resilience and (re)adjustment to the new life. In doing so, pain and emotions do leak out during intense situations but silencing chronic illness is mostly strategic as it protects us from being excluded, marginalized, and stigmatzed both at work and home.

Details

Work-Life Inclusion: Broadening Perspectives Across the Life-Course
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-219-8

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 31 July 2023

Hillary Steinberg

Gender and disability are intimately connected as embodied experiences that young people navigate interactionally. Disabilities scholars have theorized that men and women with…

Abstract

Gender and disability are intimately connected as embodied experiences that young people navigate interactionally. Disabilities scholars have theorized that men and women with chronic health conditions face uniquely gendered challenges. Theories of gender and disability centered on youth continue to gain prominence as the population of children and young adults with chronic health conditions grows. This study draws on data from 22 in-depth interviews with young adults diagnosed with chronic health conditions in childhood in the United States. Women, men, and gender nonbinary individuals report that doing disability in interactions in childhood meant doing gender in expected feminine ways. Specifically, interviewees described increased empathy, a deep understanding of their own emotions, and the ability to use adversity to connect with and benefit others as expectations. Interviewees employed or resisted doing gender in ways that reflected individuals' gender locations. Women and nonbinary individuals saw feminine performance as a sign of weakness, often resisting demonstrating it in interactions. On the other hand, feminine performance reportedly impacted men in the sample in positive ways. This study takes a life course approach to illuminate how the ableist expectations expressed to disabled children are gendered and impact how disabled young adults negotiate an ableist world.

Details

Disabilities and the Life Course
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-202-5

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 September 2022

Allan Discua Cruz, Jose Mario Reyes Hernandez and Carlos Roberto Arias Arévalo

This study aims to focus on understanding the tensions experienced by government officials in introducing electronic government (e-government) policies to support entrepreneurs in…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to focus on understanding the tensions experienced by government officials in introducing electronic government (e-government) policies to support entrepreneurs in a developing Latin American country.

Design/methodology/approach

This study relies on an in-depth qualitative approach based on collaborative and analytic auto-ethnography. The authors concentrate on tensions experienced by a government official and how they were addressed when introducing e-government policies to support entrepreneurs during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Findings

The findings reveal that paradoxical tensions occur as changes are demanded, multiple concerns are expressed and decisions about resources have to be made. The findings reveal sources of tensions from government, business and external sources. Addressing such tensions revolves around a diverse form of paradoxes dealing with contradictions in terms of speed vs thoroughness and short- vs long-term implications.

Research limitations/implications

The authors’ study provides several contributions. It advances understanding on the source and management of tensions experienced by government officials introducing e-government policies to support entrepreneurs during the Covid-19 pandemic. It also delineates multiple paradoxes experienced by government officials as new policies and systems were introduced. Finally, it offers a conceptual model explaining how government officials deal with multiple tensions emerging from the introduction of e-government policies in a developing country.

Originality/value

The prior literature has suggested that e-government initiatives would be guided by a prescriptive and tension-free process, driven by the interest to enhance governmental efficiency. This study reveals that developing e-government initiatives for entrepreneurs and existing businesses during the Covid-19 crisis was not immune to contradictions between government officials and the public. A conceptual model, based on multiple sources of tensions (government-related, business-related and external sources) and their management, is proposed. Implications and opportunities for further research are presented.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 36 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 July 2022

Fatima Batool, Jihad Mohammad, Siti Rahmah Awang and Tahir Ahmad

The main purpose of this paper is to examine the direct effects of knowledge sharing and systems thinking on creativity and organizational sustainability in the hotel industry in…

1081

Abstract

Purpose

The main purpose of this paper is to examine the direct effects of knowledge sharing and systems thinking on creativity and organizational sustainability in the hotel industry in Malaysia. In addition, the study aims to examine the mediation effect of creativity between knowledge sharing, systems thinking and organizational sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey method based on a questionnaire was used to gather data from 407 middle managers in the hotel industry in Malaysia. The partial least squares technique was used to examine the hypotheses.

Findings

The study found support for the effects of systems thinking and knowledge sharing on organizational sustainability. It also found support for the impact of creativity on organizational sustainability. Besides, the mediating role of creativity between systems thinking and organizational sustainability, and between knowledge sharing and organizational sustainability was also supported by data.

Originality/value

This is a pioneer work that has combined various human resources (i.e. systems thinking, knowledge sharing, creativity) to examine their impacts on organizational sustainability. Moreover, this work has established comparatively new relationships, i.e. the impact of systems thinking and knowledge sharing on creativity and organizational sustainability. In addition, the mediation role of creativity between systems thinking, knowledge sharing and organizational sustainability is relatively new in the literature. Furthermore, this study has confirmed the validity and reliability of knowledge sharing and organizational sustainability at first and second orders in the hotel industry in non-Western context.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 27 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 2 October 2023

Cynthia Hawkinson

Witchcraft in Honduras is an unprotected marginalized woman’s efforts to gain social, economic, and political power through an informal economy by utilizing the cultural belief in…

Abstract

Witchcraft in Honduras is an unprotected marginalized woman’s efforts to gain social, economic, and political power through an informal economy by utilizing the cultural belief in the witches’ supernatural power. The Honduran post-colonial Latin American culture allows for a persistent informal economy, in part, based on the commoditization of witchcraft and exorcism. The case study provides a specific example through ethnographic interviews of this under-researched informal economy driven by fear and economic desperation. Further research and analysis of these poorly understood and rarely recorded modern phenomena and the associated informal economy is needed.

Details

Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology: Including a Selection of Papers Presented at the First History of Economics Diversity Caucus Conference
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-982-6

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Post-Migration Experiences, Cultural Practices and Homemaking: An Ethnography of Dominican Migration to Europe
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-204-9

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