The intergenerational connectedness that has traditionally bound members of the Deaf community to each other is changing amidst the current technological and cultural landscape. This study explores perceptions of Deaf retirees concerning their usefulness to younger generations and their need to stay connected to each other despite increasing…

This article presents a process of collective formation of a new concept of mobility between home care workers and their elderly clients, who are at risk of losing physical mobility and functional capacity. A new tool called mobility agreement was introduced to facilitate the inclusion of regular mobility exercises in home care visits and in the…

The odds that a school district might be asked to allow a service dog or miniature horse into one of its facilities have increased tremendously in light of new legislative changes. With those changes comes a host of fresh challenges for school administrators and policy makers--not the least of which are complex disability discrimination laws and…

This study examined the relationship between energy expenditure and wrist accelerometer output during walking in persons with and without Down syndrome (DS). Energy expenditure in metabolic equivalent units (METs) and activity-count rate were respectively measured with portable spirometry and a uniaxial wrist accelerometer in 17 persons with DS…

Mobility is fundamental to active aging and is intimately linked to health status and quality of life. Although there is widespread acceptance regarding the importance of mobility in older adults, there have been few attempts to comprehensively portray mobility, and research has to a large extent been discipline specific. In this article, a new…

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between self-reported and professionally assessed functional limitations in community-dwelling very old individuals. In total, 306 single-living adults aged 81-90 years were included in this cross-sectional study. The main outcome measure was the presence and absence of self-reported and…

In this work we studied and evaluated the effects of aging in a group of individuals with Down syndrome, using gait analysis as tool of investigation. 32 individuals suffering from Down syndrome (DS) were enrolled in this study as group of pathological participants. The control group (CG) was composed by 36 healthy subjects (10 children, 15…

This article reports on the content range and measurement precision of an upper extremity (UE) computer adaptive testing (CAT) platform of physical function in children with cerebral palsy. Upper extremity items representing skills of all abilities were administered to 305 parents. These responses were compared with two traditional standardized…

Universal design is the design of environments and products to be used by people of all ages and abilities. The goal is to use design to reduce physical effort, regardless of some of the frailties that may be acquired due to an accident, health, or age. EasyLiving Homes[R] is a non-profit organization that advocates making all homes visitable and…

Low bone mineral density (BMD) and fractures are common in people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Reduced mobility in case of motor impairment and the use of anti-epileptic drugs contribute to the development of low BMD. Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) measurement of the heel bone is a non-invasive and radiation-free method for measuring bone…

To perform from a state of lassitude is to reside on the edge of action. Like the limbo, the dance of lassitude is a negotiation between confinement and mobility. But edges, middle spaces and absences can be undesirable, stigmatised terrain in performance: the prompter hides the absence of speech whilst cloaked by the proscenium wings, the walk-on…

Aim: The objective of this study was to assess the validity of a mobility questionnaire (MobQues) that was developed to measure parent-reported mobility limitations in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Method: The parents of 439 children with CP (256 males and 183 females; age range 2-18y; Gross Motor Function Classification System [GMFCS] levels…

This study was an effort to extend the evaluation of orientation technology for promoting independent indoor traveling in persons with multiple disabilities. Two participants (adults) were included, who were to travel to activity destinations within occupational settings. The orientation system involved (a) cueing sources only at the destinations…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate perceptions of quality of life after a 4-month progressive resistance training program for individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). A second purpose was to examine participants' views about factors that facilitated or impeded exercise behavior. Qualitative interviews were conducted with eight females…

Self-injurious behavior (SIB) is a devastating condition associated with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Efforts to understand its development are focused on early childhood when the behavior first emerges. Limited prevalence data on SIB during early childhood are currently available. The purpose of this study was to determine…