Purpose: This study aims to investigate and propose guidelines to enhance the accessibility of virtual reality (VR) interfaces for all users within professional learning environments. Motivated by a lack of comprehensive accessibility guidelines for VR learning, the study delves into a case study of Edstutia's VR campus.…

Individuals with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are currently underrepresented in employment, and supported internships have been promoted to increase the likelihood of young people with SEND gaining paid employment. The SEND Code of Practice and the Preparing for Adulthood agenda emphasise the need to improve future outcomes…

Recent national and state-level policy changes have created an imperative for service providers to transform from sheltered work to competitive integrated employment. The current study sought to understand the impact of participation in a 1-year, comprehensive technical assistance pilot designed to support service providers to transform away from…

This study, inspired by a life course approach, examines how former students with special educational needs that were met with different types of support, succeed in finding employment with sufficient pay to sustain livelihood and, thus, made themselves economically independent. The individuals in the sample (N = 295) are a part of a Norwegian…

Could a transformative, inclusive and emancipatory educational framework like the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) advance academic success for all? Could racism and dis/ableism be dismantled through such an emerging educational trend that offers a redefinition of dis/ability abolishing oppressive pedagogical practices that perpetuate…

In higher education settings, the central function of a disability resource professional (DRP) is determining accommodations in collaboration with disabled college students, making their role in the outcomes of students with disabilities paramount. Despite this importance, research on the process of determining accommodations is minimal, and…

"A Quick Guide to Special Needs" is an easy go-to guide for busy teachers, SENCOs [Special Educational Needs Coordinator], practitioners and anyone else who is interested in pragmatic solutions to the challenges of teaching children and young people with additional needs. Detailing over 60 conditions which cause people to have additional…

The author of this opinion piece provides what he believes to be a definition of the present special education system at it's worst. Special education is described as a team of professionals gathered to plan for the individual. They assess, interpret, break down deficiencies into categories and divide those deficiencies to distribute among a…

As clinical psychologists, our role is to provide psychological and educational testing, and counseling for children and their families. Our job is to understand the developmental trajectories and expectations across areas of functioning (i.e., behavior, self-regulation, cognitive, academic, and social), differentiate typical versus atypical…

This article presents the framework of a dynamic approach to quality of life (QOL) enhancement based on the conceptualization and measurement of individual-referenced quality of life. Sections of the article summarize the premises of QOL enhancement, provide the rationale for a dynamic approach to QOL enhancement, discuss six components of QOL…

To meet current federal regulations and provide the opportunity for individuals to receive services in the least restrictive environments, states are focusing on providing day habilitation services in inclusive community environments, rather than traditional congregate facility-based programs. The two main services of day habilitation focus on…

Purpose: This study determined whether returning to the community from a recent hospitalization with unmet activities of daily living (ADL) need was associated with probability of readmission. Methods: A total of 584 respondents to the 1994, 1999, and/or 2004 National Long-Term Care Surveys (NLTCS) who were hospitalized within 90 days prior to the…

Program administrators and policy makers have placed a priority on expanding access to inclusive, center-based early care and education (ECE) for low-income children with special needs, a "doubly vulnerable" population characterized by academic and social-emotional achievement gaps at kindergarten entry. Yet, no research has documented…

Purpose: The health and social care sector is receiving growing attention due to the increased life expectancy and to the public demand for a better quality of life and better health services. New cost-efficient approaches are required, and the paper aims to present and discuss the main results of a study undertaken in a Portuguese municipality on…

This document, based on the statistical yearbook, "Children in Israel 2014," presents data on the population of young children in Israel. The document presents a current picture of the well-being of young children in Israel intended to assist policy-makers and practitioners to understand the situation of this group of children and to…