The quality of life of individuals with intellectual disability: Differences between Denmark and Japan.

Despite recent developments in measurement tools to assess the quality of life of individuals with intellectual disability, little is known about the cultural aspects that affect their quality of life. This study examined the universal and cultural characteristics of the quality of life of individuals with intellectual disability in Denmark and Japan through a factor analysis of the Personal Outcomes Scale and analysing qualitative comments in both self-report and report-of-others components of the scale. Factor analysis and qualitative comments in self-report showed that personal development and self-determination, as well as well-being and social participation, were experienced as important components of quality of life in Denmark. Conversely, personal development and self-determination were less frequently mentioned in Japan. The findings reflect the general characteristics of quality of life in each culture and the current conditions of independence and available support for individuals with intellectual disability in Denmark and Japan.

Key elements of disaster mitigation education in inclusive school setting in the Indonesian context.

Children with special needs are one of the most vulnerable groups when disasters occur. They are often excluded from any risk reduction conducted during such situations; therefore, introducing disaster mitigation education at the early stage has numerous benefits. This study aims to explore the critical elements of disaster mitigation education, limiting the scope to primary schools in an inclusive setting in Yogyakarta. A qualitative methodology involving focus group discussions and interviews was applied for in-depth exploration and insight into stakeholders' perspectives on education. This study identified six key elements of inclusive disaster mitigation education in schools: (1) strong initiative to conduct self-initiated disaster risk reduction (DRR) education for all students; (2) modification of infrastructure and learning environment to accommodate children with special needs and other students; (3) broadening learning methods in DRR; (4) child empowerment and meaningful participation; (5) school management awareness and strategies for conducting DRR; (6) extensive stakeholder involvement within disaster mitigation education. These elements are expected to improve implementation of such programmes, thereby increasing the quality and accessibility of children's disaster mitigation education, as well as increasing their capacity in the risk reduction process through teacher support.

Communication styles of persons with ALS as recounted by surviving partners.

The purpose of this study was to describe the communication patterns of individuals with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) as reported from the surviving spouses' perspectives. Six surviving spouses of people with ALS participated in semi-structured interviews after the deaths of their partners. The interviews were transcribed and coded. Data analysis revealed four primary themes: communication styles, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) use, decision-making, and lifestyle changes. Spouses described unique changes in communication styles as their partners began to use augmentative communication strategies and devices. AAC devices were described as essential for individuals with ALS with respect to decision making and maintaining social roles. Spouses stated the importance of adapting social activities in order to maintain involvement in the community as well as with family and friends.

Communication attitudes of Japanese school-age children who stutter.

UNLABELLED: Past research with the Communication Attitude Test (CAT) has shown it to be a valid and reliable instrument for assessing speech-associated attitude of children who stutter (CWS). However, in Japan, the CAT has not been used extensively to examine the communication attitude of CWS. The purpose of this study was to determine if a Japanese version of the CAT could differentiate between the communication attitude of Japanese elementary school CWS and children who do not stutter (CWNS). A Japanese translation of the 1991 version of the Communication Attitude Test-Revised (CAT-R) was used in this study. Eighty Japanese CWS and 80 gender- and grade level-matched CWNS participated in the study. The results showed that CWS had a significantly more negative communication attitude than CWNS. Both CWS and CWNS in 1st grade showed significantly more positive communication attitudes than children in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. Furthermore, a link between stuttering severity and CWS' communication attitude was found. Additional research is needed to confirm the results of the current study, which indicate that the communication attitude of Japanese CWS becomes more negative as they get older. LEARNING OUTCOMES: The reader will be able to: (1) Describe the process that was used to develop a Japanese version of the Communication Attitude Test (CAT-J). (2) Discuss attitude differences between Japanese children who stutter and those who do not and how grade level impacts a negative attitude toward communication. (3) Explain the link between stuttering severity and attitudes of Japanese children who stutter.

Discrimination of differences in digitally manipulated phoneme length during speech.

The present study investigated differences in the thresholds of phoneme duration in word and sentence contexts by participants' sex. In the word condition, 27 participants listened to two pairs of words in a dual pair discrimination task. One pair contained the same durations of /s/, and the other pair contained different durations of /s/. Participants were to select the pair which contained different durations of /s/ in the words. In the sentence condition, the other set of 27 participants listened to two pairs of sentences and selected the pair containing different durations of /s/ in the sentences. Throughout these tasks, the participants' just-noticeable-difference and trials-to-completion were analyzed. The results showed that the participants demonstrated better performance in detecting just-noticeable-difference in the sentence condition than in the word condition. In addition, a sex difference was found in just-noticeable-difference in both conditions with better performance in men than women. No significant differences in trials-to-completion were found in either condition.

The effects of duration and frequency of occurrence of voiceless fricatives on listeners' perceptions of sound prolongations.

UNLABELLED: The present study examined listeners' identification and rating of words in passages as stuttered when the duration and frequency of occurrence of sound prolongations were manipulated. Thirty-six participants listened to a 219-word passage containing voiceless fricatives digitally increased from their normal durations to 200, 300, and 420ms. Listeners heard one of three passages that contained 5%, 10% or 15% altered stimuli within the passage. In Condition 1, listeners identified words considered stuttered. In Condition 2, listeners rated specifically selected words in the passage relative to the extent they considered the words stuttered. The results showed that (1) both the duration and the frequency of occurrence of the altered phonemes within the paragraph length material had an impact on listeners' perception of words identified as a sound prolongation; (2) listeners gave significantly higher ratings in Condition 2 than Condition 1 when determining if a word was stuttered or produced fluently. The implications of these results are discussed. LEARNING OUTCOMES: After reading this article, the reader will be able to: (1) Describe the past literature on listener perceptions of stuttering. (2) Differentiate between listener's perceptions of sound prolongations that are altered in duration and frequency of occurrence. (3) Describe how paragraph-length speech material compares to past research that has used isolated utterances.

Middle school students' perceptions of a peer who stutters.

UNLABELLED: Little is known about how middle school students perceive a similar-aged peer who stutters. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the influence of stuttering frequency, Likert statement type (affective, behavioral, cognitive), and the gender of the listener on middle school students' perceptions of a peer who stutters. Sixty-four middle school students (10-14 years) individually viewed a video sample of a teen telling a joke at one of four stuttering frequencies (<1%, 5%, 10%, 14%). After the students viewed one of the video samples, they were asked to rate 11 Likert statements that reflected their affective, behavioral, and cognitive perceptions of a peer who stuttered. The results revealed an interaction between stuttering frequency and Likert statement type. Ratings of behavioral statements (speech production characteristics) were significantly more positive for the sample containing <1% stuttering than 10% and 14% stuttering. Ratings for cognitive statements (thought and beliefs) were significantly more positive for the sample containing <1% stuttering than 10% and 14% stuttering. The stuttering frequency of the peer did not significantly influence how students rated affective statements (feelings and emotions). It was also found that male and female middle school students did not significantly differ in their perceptions of a male peer who stutters. Clinical implications are discussed relative to peer teasing, friendship, listener comfort, and social acceptance within a middle school setting for a student who stutters. Future research directions are also discussed. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: The reader will be able to: (1) summarize how middle school students perceive stuttering; (2) explain how the frequency of stuttering influences middle school students' perceptions of a peer who stutters; and (3) provide clinical implications of the data from this study.

Listeners' identification and discrimination of digitally manipulated sounds as prolongations.

The present study had two main purposes. One was to examine if listeners perceive gradually increasing durations of a voiceless fricative categorically ("fluent" versus "stuttered") or continuously (gradient perception from fluent to stuttered). The second purpose was to investigate whether there are gender differences in how listeners perceive various duration of sounds as "prolongations." Forty-four listeners were instructed to rate the duration of the // in the word "shape" produced by a normally fluent speaker. The target word was embedded in the middle of an experimental phrase and the initial // sound was digitally manipulated to create a range of fluent to stuttered sounds. This was accomplished by creating 20 ms stepwise increments for sounds ranging from 120 to 500 ms in duration. Listeners were instructed to give a rating of 1 for a fluent word and a rating of 100 for a stuttered word. The results showed listeners perceived the range of sounds continuously. Also, there was a significant gender difference in that males rated fluent sounds higher than females but female listeners rated stuttered sounds higher than males. The implications of these results are discussed.