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This case study aims to describe how patients with autism and/or a learning disability detained in a psychiatric hospital were supported to register and vote in the 2019 UK general election.

A speech and language therapist supported patients to register and vote. Data on the number of patients who registered and voted are reported as well as feedback from patients about their experiences.

Forty-two per cent of patients registered to vote; 27% did not want to register; and 31% could not understand the information provided and/or state a clear preference because of the severity of their cognitive and communication difficulties. Fifteen per cent of patients voted and were all first-time voters.

This study demonstrates that it is possible to support significant numbers of autistic and learning disabled patients in a psychiatric hospital to register for and vote in a parliamentary election.

The first group focuses on climate change science. In the opening chapter of this section, Jerry Mahlman (Senior Research Fellow at the National Center for Atmospheric Research) describes what he terms the “global warming dilemma.” According to Mahlman, the scientific community has reached an effective consensus that immediate and quite aggressive steps would be required to avoid climatic changes that are large in comparison with those observed in the Earth's geological record. Stabilizing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, for example, would require permanent emissions reductions of roughly 60–80%. Moreover, the long lags in the Earth's response to changes in the composition of the atmosphere suggests that even this stringent scenario would be insufficient to prevent moderate temperature increases in the coming decades. Based on his reading of the scientific literature, Mahlman concludes that deferring action until climate change has broadly recognized deleterious effects would most likely “lock in” quite profound environmental impacts with effects lasting for centuries and even millennia. In terms of mechanisms, this argument appeals to the view that today's greenhouse gas emissions might use up the Earth's assimilative capacity, thus increasing the length of time that greenhouse gases remain in the atmosphere. On top of this, Mahlman notes that most scientific studies have emphasized time scales of one century or less in evaluating climate impacts. But impacts such as sea-level rise, which would be strongly affected by the melting and breakup of glacial formations such as the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, occur over much longer time horizons with a high degree of irreversibility. This makes climate change an issue of intergenerational fairness that pits present society's willingness to bear significant economic costs against the goal of protecting future generations from environmental harms that are hypothetical and yet potentially catastrophic.

The purpose of the paper is to measure the effectiveness of a highly interactive animated tutorial that aims to teach basic information literacy concepts to undergraduates and to determine which factors enhance online learning.

The tutorial was evaluated using 30 undergraduate students. Each test consisted of a pre‐tutorial questionnaire and a post‐tutorial questionnaire.

Data from the evaluative testing of the tutorial shows that the tutorial is effective in imparting information literacy concepts to undergraduate students. Students responded positively to the interactivity and game‐like nature of the tutorial.

The high degree of interactivity and the game‐like quality of the tutorial are key factors in its success. Thus, developers should aim to incorporate these elements into future online tutorials for undergraduate students.

To make the issue stark, let us begin with a few assumptions. I believe that these assumptions are probably roughly accurate, but none is certain, and I will not try to justify them here. Instead, I will simply take them for granted for the sake of argument.¹

Scoring procedures used during the measurement of task performance should be reliable and unbiased. Reliability means that evaluation of task performance will not vary over time, and different examiners will evaluate the examinee the same way in any given testing situation. Unbiased scoring procedures ensure that evaluations are not influenced by inappropriate factors, such as the human tendency to be lenient or overly generous.

Introduction Employers have often hired graduates of vocational training programmes based on their diplomas and certificates rather than on their capabilities. As a result, these employers do not frequently hold vocational education/training in the highest regard. Additionally, the profession itself is concerned about the discouraging outcomes of some vocational programmes. Employers, governing bodies and taxpayers are all insisting that vocational programmes become more accountable.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a commentary on the article “Political engagement in the 2019 UK general election of patients with autism and/or a learning disability detained in a psychiatric hospital”.

This paper considers the wider issue of political participation by persons with disabilities, especially those whose freedom is restricted.

Access to voting rights remains problematic for many disabled people. It is crucial that this basic form of political participation is ensured, but there is further to go.

This paper suggests the need for greater attention to and support for disabled peoples’ right to political participation, including people with learning disabilities and autism.

The theory of discounting is based on the assumption that people's observed behavior in markets for savings and investment reveals their subjective preferences regarding trade-offs between present and future economic benefits. A person who borrows money at the annual interest rate r, for example, shows a willingness to pay (1+r)t dollars t years in the future to obtain one dollar in the present. On the other side of this transaction, the lender demands (1+r)t future dollars in exchange for each dollar loaned out today. In the logic of this situation, both borrowers and lenders behave as if one dollar of future currency has a “present value” of just