Suchergebnisse

Background: In Asian culture, knowledge obtained at institutions of higher education contributes to heightened social status, greater respect in the community, and family prestige. As a result, Taiwan's central government sought to maximize opportunities for students to attend institutions of higher education, including students with disabilities. However, professional development and systems-capacity are needed to keep pace with the rapid expansion of higher education opportunities for students with disabilities. The purpose of this exploratory study was to expand the limited body of information on college students with disabilities in Taiwan. Method: In total, we conducted nine in-depth interviews with key stakeholders: (a) individuals with disabilities, (b) high school educators, and (c) university faculty and staff. Results: Five primary findings emerged from our analysis: (a) accessibility in college, (b) College Resource Rooms, (c) faculty involvement, (d) parent involvement, and (e) recommendations to enhance student outcomes. Conclusion: Findings reflect Taiwanese efforts to enact laws and implement regulations to secure rights for students with disabilities to participate in post-secondary education. However, as participants highlighted, there remains a need to determine how to best support students with disabilities in institutions of higher education, including effectively preparing students with disabilities for college, making environments accessible, supporting faculty to effectively teach diverse students, providing college staff support, and supporting parents to facilitate students' self-determination.

AbstractThe goals for special education policy in Taiwan are to enable students with disabilities to develop their capacities to the fullest, have equal opportunity to access an effective education, live independently, fully participate in their communities, and become economically as self‐sufficient as possible, thereby contributing to their communities in various ways. The authors compare these policies to three conceptual models, one international and two national, and ask: (1) to what extent do these policies have congruence with the recently promulgated United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) (a document that declares rights in an arguably culturally neutral way)? (2) to what extent are they congruent with the core concepts of U.S. disability policy? and (3) to what extent do these goals, adopted by a democratic government that is significantly different in culture from the United States, reflect U.S. policy as set out in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)? The authors also ask: To what extent might Taiwan policy be improved as a consequence of a comparison of it with U.S. and United Nations policy? In reflection, the authors conclude that in general, Taiwan's national special education policy coheres with IDEA, the core concepts, and UNCRPD. The differences between Taiwan's policy and those of IDEA and the core concepts occur mainly because of Taiwan's traditional values and beliefs toward disability. The authors propose more sophisticated elaborations of Taiwan's policies related to family participation, rights of privacy, and appropriate evaluation procedures.

This study documented the process of developing and validating the Family Needs Assessment (FNA), a seven-factor 73-item measure developed for research and practice, using a sample of Taiwanese families. In developing the FNA, the research team identified a theoretical basis for family needs, used literature and qualitative results in generating items, ensured culturally and linguistically accurate translation of the measure, and revised the measure based on results from pilot tests and cognitive interviews. Although a confirmatory factor analysis is necessary to support final validity, results from this study provide a foundation for understanding Taiwanese family needs. According to the results, the domains with highest needs are Hope (i.e., anticipating and achieving positive outcomes) and Disability-Related Services (i.e., getting services and teaching the child with disabilities). Findings from this study indicate that the FNA, developed as a comprehensive, contemporary, accessible, and culturally appropriate tool, can contribute to the disability-related field in research and practice.

AbstractBackgroundAs individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities age, their siblings are more likely to assume caregiving responsibilities. However, little is known about experiences of East Asian siblings with respect to their caregiving and future‐planning within their own country, as well as other East Asian countries.MethodsUsing a national survey, this study explored experiences of 576 siblings across South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.ResultsA common factor across the three countries was that siblings were less engaged in advocacy and future‐planning activities and felt less competent to play the role of caregiving. Korean siblings reported more negative views about disability, while Japanese siblings reported less engagement in future‐planning and Taiwanese siblings reported greater involvement in caregiving.ConclusionBased on 'universalism without uniformity', it is recommended to develop culturally sensitive sibling‐targeted intervention based on each country's context.

AbstractThere is a critical need to create a reliable, relevant, and culturally appropriate measure of Family Quality of Life (FQOL) in order to evaluate family outcomes and related national family support mechanisms in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This study explores Congolese conceptions of FQOL and examines the appropriateness of adapting a common FQOL measurement tool for use in a Congolese context. Data are derived from four focus groups, conducted with 21 family members of persons with disabilities and 2 family advocates in Kinshasa, DRC. Participant conceptions of FQOL were highly similar to common understandings of FQOL globally. Participant discourse identified poverty and resiliency as potentially crucial underlying factors in FQOL in the DRC. FQOL is an important concept to measure in the DRC. Measurement must take poverty and resiliency into consideration.