This article explores issues related to substance use disorders in persons with physical disabilities and the commonalities of the parallel research in recovery and adaptation to disability. An approach for converging these areas of research is presented. Parallel research in substance abuse counseling and rehabilitation counseling reveals that…

Purpose: Age-related changes in tongue function may contribute to dysphagia in elderly people. The authors' purpose was to investigate whether aged rats that have undergone tongue exercise would manifest increased protrusive tongue forces and increased genioglossus (GG) muscle fiber cross-sectional areas. Method: Forty-eight young adult,…

For children, the urge to move is a basic need. Movement is essential for the development of physical and mental abilities. Quite often, for children with intellectual and physical disabilities who require special supportive seating, other considerations receive priority over movement in seats. The result is an even greater reduction of their…

Children with physical or mental disabilities are a very diverse group, and many face challenges. This research brief presents data for the U.S. and all states on the number and percentage of children (ages birth through 17) who were identified as having at least one disability by the responsible adult in the household responding to the American…

The Working Alliance, consisting of building bonds, establishing goals, and developing tasks, has been deemed the cornerstone of helping professions, and has been found to significantly and reliably predict client outcomes. The importance of client characteristics and perceptions of working alliance has been established in the literature. Less is…

This study examined the prevalence rates of bully victimization and risk for repeated victimization among students with disabilities using the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study and the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 longitudinal datasets. Results revealed that a prevalence rate ranging from 24.5% in elementary school to…

This article documents the ways in which both pupils and care staff spent their time in a residential school for children with physical disabilities and mild learning disabilities in the 1960s. It is told from the perspective of the author, who worked at the school as an assistant housemother, and two of her co-workers who responded to an…

Rolf De Heer's 1997 Australian feature film "Dance Me to My Song" was devised with the late Heather Rose, a person with Cerebral Palsy. The film also features a central performance by Heather (as the character of Julia) and is clearly about "her world". The ethic of engagement exemplified by this film resonates with what Gerard Goggin has termed…

This article shares the story of Julie Davies, who was just 29 when complications to a long-term health condition obliged her to retire from her job as a post woman. Davies has Marfan syndrome, an inherited connective tissue disorder, which affects the eyes, the heart and the skeleton. She had no definite ideas about what to do next. A series of…

The purpose of this paper is to examine how physical and mental disabilities are addressed in children's literature. Many authors are able to integrate the issues into their work in a way that enhances the story and benefits the reader. As young readers learn about the issues and struggles faced by children with mental and physical disabilities,…

When the diagnosis of a physical disability or cognitive impairment is given, the parents begin to realize that their lives will never be the same from that day forward. Whether the parent knows it or not, they have entered a period of chronic sorrow. This article examines the life trajectory for a mother of a child with several disabilities and…

Aim: To investigate relationships between hand function, brain lesions, and corticomotor projections in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (CP). Method: The study included 17 children (nine males, eight females; mean age 11.4 [SD 2.4] range 7-16y), with unilateral CP at Gross Motor Function Classification System level I and Manual Ability…

Background: Sensory integration (SI) therapy is an intervention widely used with children with disability despite the lack of evidence regarding its efficacy. Method: A questionnaire was distributed to early intervention teachers in Malaysia and Singapore. Information was sought on how early intervention teachers learned about SI therapy, the…

Objective: To examine the roles of attachment, social support, and coping as psychosocial correlates in predicting happiness in people with spinal cord injuries. Design: Quantitative descriptive research design using multiple regression and correlation techniques. Participants: 274 individuals with spinal cord injuries. Outcome Measures: Happiness…

This article focuses on the application of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) to design a positive behavior intervention (PBI) for a boy with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) who encounters serious difficulties at the mainstream school because of behavioral problems and physical limitations. After the definition of problem behavior and its…