Twenty-four manufacturers of wheelchairs in the United States, along with one in Canada, are listed with addresses and telephone numbers, including toll-free telephone numbers when available. (PB)

A parent of a six-year-old son with spina bifida examines common accessibility problems in the form of six steps involved in taking the child shopping from finding a parking space to finding an entrance ramp and maneuvering in the store. (DB)

Explores the concept of lost pleasure of life for persons who become disabled, using Havighurst's developmental model. Highlights the importance of vocational rehabilitation for employment and life satisfaction. Reviews litigation and expert psychological testimony in cases claiming loss of pleasure. (SK)

Examines the terminology used for "physical disability" in proto-Bantu and contemporary Bantu languages. Support for differing regional and historical meanings is developed, with the most ancient meaning linking physical disability to "becoming heavy" and contemporary Bantu emphasizing categorization in both human and non-human…

Reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome (RSD) is a neurogenic pain syndrome characterized by pain, vasomotor and dystrophic changes, and often motor impairments. This study evaluated the effectiveness of brachial plexus blockade with local anaesthetic drugs as a treatment for this condition. Three patients responded well; three did not. (DB)

This study examined the attitudes and values of 47 able-bodied, 36 blind, and 44 wheelchair-using individuals toward various aspects of marriage including love, sexual life, parenthood, and infidelity. No significant differences were found in attitudes and views among groups. All valued marriage and family life highly and had similar expectations.…

Of 1100 children referred to a mainstream paediatric speech and language therapy service in a 15-month period (January 1999 to April 2000), 320 had primary speech impairment. No referred child had significant hearing impairment, learning disability or physical disability. This paper describes the nature of the subtypes of speech disability…

Conductive education is a distinctive style of teaching and learning for pupils with physical difficulties. It is practised in the UK in some maintained, non-maintained and independent special schools and centres (here collectively termed conductive-education schools). In this article Mike Lambert investigates the extent to which these…

The use of virtual environments for special needs is as diverse as the field of Special Education itself and the individuals it serves. Individuals with special needs often face challenges with attention, language, spatial abilities, memory, higher reasoning and knowledge acquisition. Research in the use of Virtual Learning Environments (VLE)…

This exploratory research studied middle-class mother's primary reason for registering their young children, mean age 6.9 years, in adapted motor and sports programs and their perceptions of their children upon entering the program and upon completion. Analyses also examined the possible relationship between mothers' age, education or children's…

Students with disabilities and special needs have faced challenges in accessing educational content, and in taking traditional pen-and-paper tests. How might technology improve the process, while making statewide tests truly accessible to all students? NimbleTools is the first computer-based test delivery system that incorporates principles of…

Drawing on the perspectives of pupils with physical disabilities, their parents and teachers, this study explored the adult support provided to pupils with physical disabilities in regular schools. Data were collected through observations at schools and qualitative interviews. In all, 49 individuals participated in this study: 14 pupils with…

This study examined the influence of information about children's disabilities on preschool teachers' responses toward integrating children with disabilities in their classroom. Of particular interest was whether the severity of the child's educational needs and information about diagnosis were related to teachers' responses. Data were collected…

This article reports the findings of a research study that investigated the knowledge base and the perceptions of professional competence of 115 general education teachers as they relate to the inclusion of students with physical disabilities. Members of the sample represented elementary and secondary teachers who were teaching in rural, urban,…

This paper describes how the occupational therapist's looking at the child and his/her play could build a basic history of the subjects, providing the occupational therapist with clues to guide his/her proposed assistance. The authors understand the activity of play as a dimension that enables the subject to creatively establish contact with…