22q11.2 deletion syndrome is a rare multisystem genetic disorder with over 200 associated characteristics, occurring in various combinations and severity. Extensive biomedical research has been undertaken on 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, however, there is a dearth of research on families' experiences of managing a family member with this condition.…

Students entering third-level higher education undergo a transformational learning journey. Learning in this context is defined as the need to understand key concepts (threshold) to engage with the academic content of the course. This learning journey is moulded by their experiences not only within the context of the third-level institution but is…

This paper explores contemporary Irish social policy for family caregivers with specific focus on the dynamic between the individual, the family and the state in terms of the social contract for care provision for people with intellectual disability. Drawing from Bacchi's analytical framework (Bacchi, 2009), the Irish National Carers' Strategy is…

Globally it is estimated that Down syndrome occurs in 1 in 800 live births (Bull 2020). It has also been estimated that the incidence of Down syndrome occurs in 1/444 live births in the Republic of Ireland. Given the prevalence of Down syndrome births in Ireland and the fact that care is provided by the majority of parents at home, this…

A National Wellbeing Project was developed following COVID-19 to promote wellbeing in children and young people (CYP). Two 8-week, awareness-based interventions, Breath-Body-Mind (BBM) and Creative Mindfulness (CM), were delivered by external facilitators over an 8-week period in primary and post-primary schools across 5 sites in the Republic of…

Little is known about the association between emotion regulation strategies and perceived stress in college students, and in particular, the strategies used by international students. The present research examined if differences exist in the use of emotion regulation strategies between Irish college students and Chinese international college…

The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has given rise to significant global challenges across education, and specifically in the physical education teacher education (PETE) community. Students attending teacher education programmes during the COVID-19 pandemic have experienced an abrupt and unprecedented pedagogical transition from a…

The quality of life of autistic children and their parents is impacted by the stress they experience, their coping strategies and the availability of professional health, social and educational support services. Recent changes in the structural organisation of child disability professional supports in Ireland mean that in-depth knowledge about…

A purposeful sample of 15 mothers of children with severe and profound intellectual disabilities participated in this hermeneutic phenomenological study through interviews and completion of a diary. The aim of the study was to explore mothers' lived experience of 'giving medicines' to children with severe and profound intellectual disabilities.…

The present study examined the efficacy of Hopeful Minds, a 12 week hope based school intervention programme in a sample of 153 pre- and early- adolescent secondary school children (11-14 years) in the North West of Ireland. This study used a one-group, pretest-posttest design to determine whether participants experienced changes regarding their…

This paper focuses on the diaspora Chinese community in Limerick--an Irish county town in the southwest of the Republic of Ireland--and examines how Chinese parents have responded to the education policy shift resulting from the 2017 Irish foreign language strategy, which added Chinese to the official educational curriculum. A semi-structured…

While the role parents play in supporting young people is well established, support from other caring adults also becomes important during adolescence, particularly when young people are facing problems in their lives. The goal of this paper is to reflect on youth support seeking when facing problems, exploring differences between youth who seek…

Many concerns exist about potential long-term psychosocial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people. While the school has been identified as having a vital role in psychological recovery post-disaster more generally, it is unclear as yet how young people have adapted to the return to in-person education. This paper reports on the…

Purpose: This secondary data analysis explores the unmet needs of adolescents experiencing maternal cancer in Ireland. Research has shown that one of the challenges adolescents deal with at the time of maternal cancer is having unmet needs that can impact negatively on their experience and their ability to cope through this difficult challenge.…

The UK government identified 'improving support within the criminal justice systems' as a priority for autistic people. There is a lack of quantitative research to enable policymakers to make evidence-based decisions on how to improve access to justice for autistic people. This study used a case-comparison design to compare the experiences of 145…