Time: Saturday, August 24th, 13:00-14:30
Place: Dalur
Chair: Elsa Sigríður Jónsdóttir
Paper Session 24: Families
"Parents for Inclusion" fighting for the rights of their children
in the Flemish speaking part of Belgium
Name: Geert Van Hove
Title: Prof.dr.
Organisation: Ghent University
Postal Address: Henri Dunantlaan 2
City: 9000 Ghent
Country: Belgium
E-mail: Geert.VanHove@rug.ac.be
Tel: 0032-264.64.65
| In Flanders about 12.000 children are following courses in special schools.(total population: about 6 million people). Despite all these special services some families do not want to have their kids in a separate school system. These parents found each other and they organised themselves in an organisation called 'Parents for Inclusion'. Our University Department is one of the major 'companions' for this group of parents (we 'lend' students to do their practice with the kids, we guide some of the school teams in the starting period of inclusion projects). Through networking, exchange of information and 'battles' with politicians this family organisation manages to get on the Flemish welfare map. (They receive a little bit of subsidies from the Ministry of Equal Opportunities.) In this paper: - we will bring information about the strategies this organisation is using - we will report about a research project we worked out together with the parents and we will use one case study to illustrate how 'social networking ' can be metamorphosed from a boring concept in academic theoretical frameworks to a powerful tool for some of the families |
Family quality of life in families challenged with disability in Israel
Name: Shimshon Neikrug
Title: Ph.D.
Organisation: College of Judea and Shomron
Address: Ariel
City: Ariel
Country: Israel
E-mail: neikrug@bezeqint.net
Tel: 972-3 9712377
Co-author: Dana Roth, Ph.D; Jean Judes, M.A.
| Family is the primary environmental influence on the quality of life for persons challenged by disability. The objective of this paper is to present the initial results of family quality of life research carried out in Israel. This study is part of a three-country project Israel, Canada, Australia. The study identified 9 key domains of family life that were considered especially to contribute to family quality of life: 1) health of the family, 2) financial well-being, 3) family relationships, 4) family support from other people, 5) support from disability related services, 6) spiritual and cultural beliefs, 7) careers and preparing for careers, 8) leisure and enjoyment of life, and 9) community and civic involvement. Each of these 9 domains is examined in the survey for 5 concepts: attainment, stability, availability of opportunities for improvement, initiative to improve, and satisfaction Results: Results will be reported for the 9 domains of life that are examined in the conceptual framework and the 5 concepts are addressed in each domain Family quality of life for older persons is compared to FQOL for children. Both factors that strengthen and those that detract from family quality of life will be presented. |
Family-centeredness - rhetoric or reality
Name: Anja Rantala
Title: Research Associate, Master of Education
Organisation: University of Jyväskylä/ Department of Special Education
Postal Address: P.O. Box 35 (PiC)
City: Jyväskylä
Country: Finland
E-mail: anjarant@edu.jyu.fi
Tel: +358 14 260 1749
| The aim of this paper is to examine, how professionals in early intervention cooperate with families. The professionals are classified on the basis of their work into four groups: day care, working in child welfare clinic, social work, and therapy. The ecocultural theory is the underlying theory in this research. The study is done from the viewpoint of 229 professionals. The data were collected by two questionnaires and analysed mainly by quantitative methods: cross-tabling, varianceanalysis, and factor analysis. The open questions were analysed by qualitative methods by organizing them by themes. Four central areas of family-centeredness were found: paying attention to the well being of the whole family, respecting the expertise of parents, joining knowledge and responsibility, and asking the opinions of parents. Three quarters of professionals see that their lines of action are family-centered enough, but although most the professionals found much to change in their work with families. Finally, this study has indicated that the work in early intervention is not always family-centered but also has characters of professional-centered and sector based work, in other words the ecocultural theory is not the basic principle in the practices of cooperation with families. |
Parents of ADHD children in Iceland
Name: Jónína Sæmundsdóttir
Title: Assistant professor
Organisation: Icelandic College of Education
Postal Address: Kennaraháskóli Íslands, 105 Reykjavík
City: Reykjavík
Country: Iceland
E-mail: joninas@khi.is
Tel: 5634827, 5520918
| The purpose of this paper is to present the results from a study of the experience of being a parent of a child with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Iceland, their need for information/knowledge of ADHD and need and usage of various kinds of support. Data was collected through interviews with 4 parents and a questionnaire that 207 parents answered. Main results show that being a parent of a child with ADHD is stressful and the parents have much need for information. There seems to be a similarity between the experience of parents of ADHD children and the experience of parents of chronically ill and handicapped children. |
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