The aim of this study was to describe the social care provided for different age groups of people with intellectual disability, 55 years or above, and to investigate the association between such care and frailty factors for those with diagnosed level of intellectual disabilities. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were used. Commonest forms of social care among the 7936 people were Residential care, Daily activities and Contact person. Home help and Security alarm increased with age. The frailty factors significantly associated with increased social care were age, polypharmacy and severe levels of intellectual disabilities. Persons most likely to be in residential care were in the age group 65–79 with polypharmacy and severe disability. The results indicate a need for further research of how frailty factors are considered in social care and longstanding medication, especially then severe intellectual disability hinders communication. A national strategic plan for preventive interventions should be developed to ensure the best possible healthy ageing. © The Author(s) 2021.

BACKGROUND: Individuals with disabilities are often far removed from the labour market and research shows that employers’ negative attitudes toward persons with disabilities create a barrier to attaining employment. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate Swedish employers’ experiences and attitudes toward hiring persons with various disabilities. METHODS: A vignette method with accompanying questions was used. A total of 212 employers, who were actively seeking to hire, were recruited via an online employment site and participated in the study. RESULTS: The results indicated that there is some interest for employers to hire persons with disabilities and that this depended on the type of disability a person has. Other results demonstrated that previous experience of employing persons with disabilities was linked to greater interest in hiring, that employers had greater interest to hire than they thought other employers had, and that openness about the disability was deemed as an important factor in the hiring process. CONCLUSION: The novelty of this study is its use of a vignette design to investigate employers’ attitudes in Sweden. Moreover, the results are much in line with international research. This contributes to knowledge and development of increasing employment for persons with disabilities. © 2015 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved.

Electronic waste (e-waste) has a peculiar relation to space. It is well-documented how a large part of discarded electronic devices still remain in people’s homes, instead of reaching the recycling centres. This is especially true with digital media and communication technologies such as computers and mobile phones (ironically the devices with the shortest life cycles). This phenomenon has been described by the term “closet-fill” (as opposed to land-fill). However, representations of electronic waste in public discourse such as news reports, seldom focus on this aspect. Instead, they tend to portray e-waste dumping sites as strange, almost alien spaces. Sublime imagery invites the viewer to a contemplation over Western consumerism in a fashion recognizable from visual arts. Consequently, imagery of electronic waste has also become an object of aesthetic value in the works of renowned visual artists such as Pieter Hugo and David LaChapelle, who have gained recognition because of this inclusion of imagery of e-waste in their photographic art. The aim of this paper is to address these aesthetic qualities of electronic waste. The purpose is to contribute to the expanding literature on media materialities and waste with a conceptual understanding of manifestations of electronic waste in popular discourse. The paper draws on theories on media aesthetics, environmental communication and waste management to build an analytic framework that explores the benefits and limitations of presenting electronic waste as an aesthetic object. Empirically it engages in analyses of visual representations of electronic waste. The paper addresses the tension between aesthetic contemplation/appreciation, and critical information. It could be argued that if e-waste is to be presented and understood as an urgent topic, there might be a problem if it is portrayed as something strange, exotic or even beautiful. The concept ”toxic sublime” has been used in analyses of visual representations of pollution, and Peeples (2011: 383) argues that this construction of the toxic as sublime comes with a risk: “It may predispose people to look for toxins in the extraordinary, as opposed to on the shelves of their garages”. It could be argued that e-waste faces a similar problem. The focus on the sublime strangeness of e-waste “dumping sites” is an ineffective way of creating proximity and urgency to the e-waste problem, something that takes place somewhere else than in our homes. LeBel (2015) argues that e-waste aesthetics fails to address the temporal dimension of waste (e.g. planned obsolescence, toxicity). This paper intends to add to that argument by highlighting the tension between the closet-fill and the toxic sublime

This paper presents a discussion about the prospects and theoretical challenges that interventionist aesthetics have to face in the contemporary media culture. By “interventionist aesthetics” I mean a cultural form that builds on the idea of subversion through disruption. The aim is to reach a more informed understanding of what makes interventions an attractive and widely spread form of expression in contemporary culture. With artistic interventions in the TV medium as its empirical example, the paper argues that interventionist aesthetics often build on more or less spontaneous theories of the media, and in order to understand the critical potential and attraction of contemporary interventions, there are reasons for considering an update of its media theory.

This article presents and discusses results from a study of radical left-wing activism online carried out by the Swedish Media Council, a report that suggested that the Internet (i.e. the web, web 2.0, and social media) is not a prioritized arena for propaganda and recruitment for the radical left in Sweden. The purpose of this article is to re-evaluate some of these findings and add to the discussion on online activity and connectivity in political communication online, as well as to problematize simplified notions of radicalization and recruitment to pro-violent groups. Based on a hermeneutic inquiry regarding modes of communication, representations of political visions, and community, the article shows how the sites and groups studied favor one-way communication before interactivity, that political visions are limited to short-term goals in the immediate future, and that they give very little information about their activist activities to recruit supporters. © The Author(s) 2016

This paper presents an analysis of television news stories, aired on global networks, which have been reporting on the problems with electronic waste (e-waste). The main objective is to present a perspective on how a “low-frequency” emergency (i.e. a lengthy and ongoing state of environmental emergency) is presented as a news-worthy issue. Drawing on literature on televised “distant suffering”, the paper engages in a multi-modal text-analysis that addresses three questions:  By what techniques is the e-waste-problem presented as an urgent issue? How is the issue addressed? What relations between the spectator and the problem on display are established through the representation? The findings shows how on-location reports from e-waste dumping sites make use of sublime imagery in the visual representations; how e-waste dumping sites are presented as strange spaces, with no clear and comprehensible history; and finally, that the representations suggests an ambivalence and uncertainty when it comes to agency (who’s responsible, what can be done?). It could be argued that these modes of representation favor a (passive) “aesthetic contemplation” of the waste, rather than possibilities for action and relief.

This article analyzes how electronic waste (e-waste) gets represented in television news stories. The main objective is to present a perspective on how a “low-frequency” emergency (i.e. a lengthy and ongoing state of environmental emergency) is presented as a newsworthy issue. Drawing on literature on televised “distant suffering,” the article engages in a multimodal text analysis of four newsstories about e-waste. The findings show how on-location reports from e-waste dumping sites make use of sublime imagery in the visual representations; how e-waste dumping sites are presented as strange spaces, with no clear and comprehensible history; and finally, that the representations suggest an ambivalence and uncertainty when it comes to agency (who is responsible and what can be done?). The article ends with a discussion of the implications of this mode of representation and its effectiveness in eliciting an appropriate response to the harms caused by e-waste. © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

This paper presents findings from a review of articles about media literacy interventions, with the purpose to discuss the value of child participation in the design of such interventions. The findings indicate that while numerous studies present evaluations of media literacy interventions, it is rare that the design processes behind these interventions are described. The most popular form of media literacy intervention is a school curriculum aimed towards tweens and teens. We argue for a closer attention to the ways in which media literacy interventions are designed in order for us to better understand when child participation can be beneficial.

This paper presents the findings from a scoping review of articles about media literacy interventions, with the purpose to discuss the value of having children to participate in the design of media literacy interventions.

The findings indicate that while numerous studies present evaluations of media literacy interventions, it is rare that the design processes behind these interventions are thoroughly described. Furthermore, the review shows that even though child participation in the implementation of interventions is put forth as important by several studies, it is rare that participation in the design stage is discussed. Finally, the findings show that child participation in the design of media literacy interventions is not considered as a factor for successful media literacy interventions.

The paper ends with a discussion of the implications of these findings for further research on child participation in media literacy interventions. It is argued that we need to pay closer attention to the ways in which media literacy interventions are designed in order for us to better understand what makes them succeed or fail. More specifically, the role of child participation in this respect – not only in terms of listening to their various media-related questions and needs, but also in the sense of actual co-design – must be further examined.

This article addresses the phenomenon of mobile bystanders who use their smartphones to film or take photographs at accident scenes, instead of offering their help to people in need or to assist medical units. This phenomenon has been extensively discussed in Swedish news media in recent years since it has been described as a growing problem for first responders, such as paramedics, police, and firefighters. This article aims to identify theoretical perspectives that are relevant for analyzing mobile media practices and discuss the ethical implications of these perspectives. Our purpose is twofold: we want to develop a theoretical framework for critically approaching mobile media practices, and we want to contribute to discussions concerning well-being in a time marked by mediatization and digitalization. In this pursuit, we combine theory from social psychology about how people behave at traumatic scenes with discussions about witnessing in and through media, as developed in media and communication studies. Both perspectives offer various implications for normative inquiry, and in our discussion, we argue that mobile bystanders must be considered simultaneously as transgressors of social norms and as emphatic witnesses behaving in accordance with the digital media age. The article ends with a discussion regarding the implications for further research. © The Author(s) 2021.

People with Asperger Syndrome and high function autism generally suffers from impaired social skills and a strong need for a private space for oneself. In diagnostic classifications of mental illnesses social awkwardness and a strong desire for solitude are viewed as symptoms of mental disorder and as deviances from an imagined normality.

Based on interviews with autistic people and analysis of social interaction between them on a social media platform the aim of this paper is to investigate how new social media transform their situation in various ways. New social media, with its culture of connectivity, reshape how they relate to others and themselves and transform vulnerabilities that are always at play in encounters between human beings. At play are also changing borders between the public and the private as well as the questioning of communicative ideals based on face-to-face encounters.

More specifically we focus on how new social media transforms: 1) vulnerabilities between people in social interaction as well as the “interaction order” that regulates this interaction; 2) what it means to be a social being – and consequently to be involuntary lonely or seeking solitude. 

Kunskapen om övergången mellan gymnasiesärskola och arbetsliv för unga vuxna med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning är begränsad. Varken välfärds- eller forskarsamhället har kunskap om vilken typ av sysselsättning som före detta elever i den svenska gymnasieskolan har efter skoltiden.

Huvudsyftet med denna sammanläggningsavhandling är tredelat: att (a) öka kunskapen om vilka typer av sysselsättning som personer med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning har efter avslutad gymnasiesärskola, att (b) åskådliggöra mönster och faktorer (kön, förfluten tid sedan examen, utbildningsprogram, boendekommun samt föräldrarnas födelseland och utbildningsnivå) som kan bidra till skillnader vad gäller typ av sysselsättning, samt att (c) skapa ett nationellt register som möjliggör kvantitativa analyser, longitudinella studier och utgör underlag för kvalitativa fördjupande studier av efter(sär)gymnasial sysselsättning. Avhandlingen innehåller fyra artiklar och en ramberättelse.

Ett nationellt register, Halmstad University Register on Pupils with Intellectual Disability (HURPID) skapades utifrån information i slutbetygen från 12 269 tidigare elever i gymnasiesärskolan. Slutbetyg är allmänna handlingar som begärdes från kommunerna. HURPID samkördes med två nationella register: Longitudinell Integrationsdatabas för Sjukförsäkrings- och Arbetsmarknadsstudier (LISA) och LSS-registret som innehåller information om insatser som beviljats enligt lag (1993:387) om stöd och service till vissa funktionshindrade. Avhandlingen bygger på tvärsnittsstudier vilka ger en ögonblicksbild av den efter(sär)gymnasiala sysselsättningen under 2011 bland de personer som gått ut mellan 2001-2011. Frekvensanalyser användes för att beskriva studiepopulationens karaktäristika. Korstabeller och Pearson´s chi²-test användes för att analysera skillnader avseende typ av sysselsättning mellan olika grupper i studiepopulationen. Sambandet mellan avhandlingens beroende och oberoende variabler undersöktes med bivariata och multivariata logistiska regressionsanalyser.

Analyserna visar att den största andelen (47%) av de unga har sin sysselsättning inom daglig verksamhet, 22,4% har ett förvärvsarbete, de flesta med någon form av lönesubvention; och 6,6% studerar. En betydande andel (24%) betecknas vara "någon annanstans" (inte i någon av de andra tre sysselsättningstyperna). Andelen unga vuxna i daglig verksamhet är lägre än förväntat och andelen som har ett förvärvsarbete är högre än förväntat. En oväntat stor andel tillhör kategorin "någon annanstans" och har inte daglig verksamhet, inte ett förvärvsarabete och studerar inte.

Kön, typ av utbildningsprogram, hur lång tid som förflutit sedan examen, boendekommun och föräldrarnas utbildningsnivå samt geografiska härkomst är alla faktorer som påverkar vilken typ av sysselsättning som unga vuxna med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning har. Män som har gått ett nationellt program i gymnasiesärskolan och som tog examen mellan 2001-2006 är de som har störst sannolikhet för att ha ett förvärvsarbete. Personernas boendekommun har en viss oberoende effekt på typ av efter(sär)gymnasial sysselsättning och den totalt sett låga andelen flyttar i populationen antas förstärka betydelsen av vilken kommun de bor i. Unga vars föräldrar är lågutbildade har mer sannolikt ett förvärvsarbete eller tillhör kategorin "någon annanstans". De vars föräldrar är högutbildade har mer sannolikt en sysselsättning inom daglig verksamhet eller studerar (exempelvis på Komvux eller folkhögskola). De unga vars föräldrar är födda i ett utom-europeiskt land är med större sannolikhet studerande eller personer som tillhör kategorin "någon annanstans".

Avhandlingens huvudresultat diskuteras i förhållande till ett teoretiskt ramverk om social rättvisa. Betydelsen av samhällets ansvar att främja alla medborgares möjlighet att vara och göra vad de har anledning att värdesätta betonas. Ett samhälle som främjar social rättvisa måste stödja människors möjligheter att oavsett funktionsförmåga kunna välja sysselsättning. Såväl den offentliga som den privata sektorn behöver tydligare betrakta personer med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning som en viktig resurs i samhället och på arbetsmarknaden; se dem som personer med förmågor som riskerar att döljas bakom kategorier, fördomar och föråldrade strukturer.

BAKGRUND: De senaste 20 årens utveckling med mer än en fördubbling av antalet elever i särskolan, höjda krav på arbetsmarknaden och en ökning av antalet personer som kategoriseras som funktionshindrade är troligen några av faktorerna bakom den kraftigt ökade efterfrågan på bl.a. daglig verksamhet (LSS). Tendensen verkar vara att många går direkt från gymnasiesärskolan till daglig verksamhet och därmed riskerar att isoleras i en roll som ”omsorgstagare”. Inlåsningseffekten i daglig verksamhet är betydande. Endast ett fåtal individer som beviljats daglig verksamhet bedöms gå vidare i någon form av anställning på arbetsmarknaden.

Bristen på kunskap om livet efter gymnasiesärskolan, är betydande och den tidigare forskningen på området är mycket begränsad. Detta gäller särskilt systematisk kunskap om arbetsmarknaden och intellektuella funktionshinder. Som exempel kan nämnas att det idag inte finns några statistiska uppgifter kring hur stor andel av de som tar studenten från gymnasiesärskolan som sedan går vidare till daglig verksamhet respektive lönearbete. Vi känner inte heller närmare till vad som händer med de unga med gymnasiesärskolebakgrund som väljer bort den dagliga verksamheten till förmån för att försöka etablera sig den reguljära arbetsmarknaden. Dessutom saknas kunskap kring de framgångsfaktorer som leder till att personer med gymnasiesärskolebakgrund kan ta sig in, och bli kvar, på densamma.

SYFTE: Att öka kunskaperna om övergången mellan skola och arbetsliv för personer med gymnasiesärskolebakgrund med särskilt fokus på faktorer som stärker deras position på arbetsmarknaden och möjliggör en anställning. 

METOD: Delstudie ett är kvantitativ och baseras på registerstudier i två olika register (LSS och LISA). Genom en statistisk kartläggning belyses situationen för samtliga elever som gick ut gymnasiesärskolan mellan åren 2001 och 2011. Avhandlingen byggs upp av totalt två till tre delstudier där den inledande studiens resultat blir avgörande för följande delstudiers antal, omfattning och inriktning. Dessutom planeras longitudinella uppföljningar av populationen vart femte år. Uppskattningsvis kommer den första delstudien att omfatta drygt 17 000 personer.

RESULTAT: Datainsamlingen i den första delstudien i forskningsprojektet ”Särskolan – och sen?” påbörjades i september 2011. Vi tidpunkten för konferensen HAB 2012 kommer de första resultaten i delstudie ett att kunna presenteras: hur stor andel av de elever som har gått ut gymnasiesärskolan i Sverige mellan 2001-2011 som finns i daglig verksamhet, hur många som har arbete, ev. skillnader mellan olika regioner och kommuner, ev. skillnader mellan könen etc.

SLUTSATS: I samband med HAB 2012 kommer slutsatser från den första delstudien att presenteras.

In countries with highly decentralized welfare services, disparities between municipalities and regions can be expected. The article analyzes whether, and in that case, how, the type of post-school occupation among graduates from Swedish upper secondary school for pupils with intellectual disability (USSID) varies depending on the municipality or geographic region the former pupils live in. The analyses are based on data from a unique national database that includes 12,269 pupils who graduated from USSID between 2001 and 2011. Results show that municipality of residence has an independent effect on the type of post-USSID occupation. Moreover, the total percentages of relocations in the studied population are low.

The authors conclude that the geographical variations identified in other parts of the Swedish welfare system also apply partly to post-USSID occupations. The article discusses whether municipal and regional affiliation is of particular significance for pupils from USSID, because of their low propensity to relocate.

Aim: This study explores and analyses, from an intersectional perspective, the association between parents’ country of birth as well as their level of education and their children's type of occupation after graduating from Swedish upper secondary school for pupils with intellectual disabilities (ID).

Method: This is a quantitative study based on three registers (HURPID, LSS, LISA). The analyses are based on logistic regression, interaction analysis and chi-square tests. The sample size was 12,269.

Results: Children of less-educated parents tend to have paid employment and children of highly educated parents tend to participate in disability day programs. Parents’ country of birth and level of education affect the former pupils’ post-school occupation in different ways. The association between parents’ country of birth and former pupils’ occupation is modified by parents’ level of education.

Conclusions: Knowledge and awareness of different background conditions among children graduating from upper secondary school for pupils with ID need to increase.

Under hösten 2006 har Högskolan i Halmstad, på uppdrag av Laholms kommun, genomfört en brukarundersökning bland de kommuninvånare som tar del av insatser enligt lagen (1993:387) om stöd och service till vissa funktionshindrade (LSS). De totalt 183 brukarna som oktober 2006 hade LSS-insatser har getts möjligheten att besvara en enkät som berör fler områden av den dagliga tillvaron i Laholms kommun. Undersökningen har både syftat till att ge en nulägesbeskrivning samt en bild av önskningar och farhågor inför framtiden med avseende på de verksamheter som bedrivs på LSS-området i kommunen.

Den grundläggande och viktigaste poängen med undersökningen är att belysa brukarnas egna upplevelser, erfarenheter och önskningar. En version av enkäten skickades ut till barn och ungdomar under 21 år och en annan sändes till vuxna över 22 år. Huvudresultaten i undersökningen presenteras nedan.

• Av de totalt 183 utskickade enkäterna inkom 117 svar, vilket ger en total svarsfrekvens på 64 %.

• Av dem som besvarat enkäterna är 53,4 % kvinnor/flickor och 46,6 % män/pojkar. Vid en uppdelning mellan barn/ungdomar och vuxna ser könsfördelningen ut enligt följande: Barn/ungdom: Flickor: 43,3 %, Pojkar: 56,7 % Vuxna: Kvinnor: 57 %, Män 43 %

• Respondenternas erfarenheter och upplevelser av innehållet och utformningen av de insatser som man tar del av är över lag positiva. Detsamma gäller den hjälp och det bemötande man fått från flera olika personalkategorier samt det allmänna stödet och servicen i kommunen.

• Kritiken som framkommer i enkätsvaren gäller främst brister i olika former av information. Kritiken berör både den faktiska förekomsten av information i allmänhet samt innehållet och omfånget av densamma i synnerhet. Kritik framkom även kring de otillräckliga insatser som några ansåg sig ha samt om den avstannade utveckling och snålhet som vissa av respondenterna anser råda i kommunen.

• Särskilt i enkätsvaren från barn och ungdomar tecknas en bild av en relativt utbredd ensamhetsproblematik i kommunen. Hela 44,4 % i ålderskategorin 0-21 år säger att man inte har några vänner som man träffar och att man för det mesta är ensam.

• De närmaste 5-10 åren behöver barnen och ungdomarna insatser som man inte tar del av idag. Detta gäller särskilt insatserna daglig verksamhet och boende för vuxna. Bland önskemålen inför framtiden återfinns små gruppbostäder, egna lägenheter och kooperativa boenden.

• De närmaste 5-10 åren behöver de vuxna brukarna insatser inom de insatser som man tar del av idag. Man vill helt enkelt ha mer av de insatser som man har idag. Önskemålen gäller såväl boende som sysselsättning och övriga insatser.

Vad händer efter gymnasiet för elever som gått ut gymnasiesärskolan? En unik studie från högskolan i Halmstad har kartlagt de fd eleverna och resultatet visar att uppfattningen om att eleverna per automatik hänvisas till daglig verksamhet inte stämmer.

AIM: The purpose of the study is to increase the knowledge about the transition from school to working life for pupils with intellectual disabilities. In addition the purpose is to identify factors which may play a role in strengthen their position on the labor market.

METHOD: The first study is quantitative and based on the cross classification of a newly created register combined with two Swedish national registers. The statistical identification highlights the situation of all students who left upper secondary school for pupils with intellectual disabilities, during the period 2001-2011. The first study includes more than 17 000 people with intellectual disabilities.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: At the time for the conference we will be able to present descriptive data for e.g. how many individuals who have passed upper secondary school between 2001-2011, how many who are in the daily activity programs and how many who have ordinary jobs outside daily activity. We will also be able to describe the situation based on factors such as differences between regions and municipalities, between the sexes, and between different upper secondary school programs, etc.

Knowledge about people with intellectual disability (ID) and their connections to the labor market is scarce. The aim of this study was to describe and analyze the entry into and representation in the Swedish labor market for people with ID, discussed with a special focus on the gender perspective. This study included 2,745 individuals (30% women and 70% men) who graduated from Swedish upper secondary schools for pupils with intellectual disability (USSID) in the 2000s, and who were defined as employees in 2011. Graduation data from 2001 to 2011 were analyzed in relation to employment data from 2011 and adjusted for gender, graduation year, and educational program. Results show that men who attended a national USSID program and graduated between 2001 and 2006 were the most likely group to have a job. The authors conclude that the gender differences in the Swedish labor market are more clearly pronounced among women and men with ID in relation to employment rate, wage levels, and professions than in the general population. Education, welfare-services, and interventions specifically targeted to meet the needs of people with ID have to develop in more gender-sensitive ways. © 2016 International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Aim: Taking a gender perspective, this study explores and analyzes the labour market situation for 2745 gainfully employed men and women with an educational background in the Swedish upper secondary school for pupils with intellectual disability (ID).

Method: This quantitative register study is based on the cross-classification of a newly created register and a two additional Swedish national registers. The analyses are based on logistic regression and chi-square tests.

Results: Those who are employed after upper secondary school for pupils with ID are 70.8% men and 29.2% women. Both the road to work and the situation at work differs between men and women. Small private companies are the main employers in general, and for women the public sector is also a major employer. Men and women are mainly employed in traditionally “male” and “female” occupations. Also, salary levels and additional support from the welfare system differs between the sexes and within the different educational programs.

Conclusion: Traditional gender roles of the labour market are clearly manifested among the people included in the study. Questions about the gender structure of the Swedish labour market and the impact of educational background on wage labour will be discussed.

The aim of this article is to examine life after school for young adults with intellectual disabilities in Sweden. It identifies a snapshot of the post-school destination in 2011 of students of Swedish Upper Secondary Schools for Pupils with Intellectual Disability (Special Secondary Schools), who graduated between 2001 and 2011. This national registry study used personal identification numbers to link data for about 12,269 former students in the Halmstad University Register on Pupils with Intellectual Disability with data about labour market participation and service provision under the Swedish disability legislation (Swedish LSS Act, 1994). Results showed that the largest proportion (47%) of former students participated in disability day programs, known as “daily activities”; 22.4% were employed, most with some type of wage subsidy; and 6.6% participated in various types of further education programs. A sizeable group (24%) were described as being “elsewhere”, not engaged in employment, education, or disability day programs. The type of post-school occupation is associated with gender, the type of educational program undertaken at secondary school, and age. The authors found a high risk of young people with intellectual disabilities falling through safety-net welfare or post-school participation provisions. Even in a country such as Sweden, which has comprehensive post-school programs, almost a quarter of young adults with intellectual disabilities were socially excluded, without education, disability day programs, or employment. © 2015 Australasian Society for Intellectual Disability

The aim of this ongoing study is to identify and analyze former pupils ́ relationship to the labor market after the graduation from the Swedish upper secondary school for pupils with intellectual disabilities. The study includes 10,517 former pupils who graduated between 2001-2010 and describes the former pupils ́ relation to the labor market as it was in 2010. The study is based on the cross classification of a newly created register combined with two Swedish national registers from Statistics Sweden and the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare. One of the preliminary results from this study is that the assumption, presented in media as well as in previous research that the majority of the current pupils are going directly from school to the municipal or private organized daily activities do not seem to match reality. Our results indicate that 48% of the total population were in daily activities in 2010 and 20% of the total population were defined as “in paid work” during the same year and the actual picture of what the former pupils do after they have graduated from upper secondary school for pupils with intellectual disabilities is much more complex than the assumed. Analyses on the current data that are carried out at the moment will be presented at the NNDR-conference.

This paper argues that the spread of free market economics throughout the world has generated unprecedented inequalities within and between nation states. This has led to the systematic exclusion of people with perceived impairments from the mainstream of economic and community life in almost all societies, the generation of an international disabled people’s movement, and their demand for legal frameworks with which to address the multiple deprivations encountered by people viewed as ‘disabled’. It is argued that the poverty and exclusion encountered by disabled people and other oppressed groups in all societies will not be eliminated without fundamental structural change at the international level

Informelles und formelles Lernen betrifft nicht nur die Schülerinnen und Schüler im Unterricht, sondern auch die Schule als lernendes System. In dem Symposiums-Beitrag wird die Schulentwicklungsarbeit in der schwedischen Gemeinde Essunga dargestellt und analysiert. In den dortigen Schulen konnten unterdurchschnittliche Leistungen in nationalen Rankings innerhalb weniger Jahre in Toppositionen gewandelt werden. Die Ausführungen basieren auf einer schwedischen Studie (Persson/Persson 2012), in der pädagogisches und administratives Personal, Schülerinnen und Schüler sowie Eltern zu den Wandlungen in Essunga interviewt wurden; zudem wurden teilnehmende Beobachtungen durchgeführt. Die Untersuchung ist an Ludwik Flecks wissenschaftstheoretische Überlegungen zur Ergänzung, Erweiterung und Umwandlung von Denkstilen angelehnt (Fleck 2012). Kennzeichnend für die Veränderungsprozesse in Essunga waren insbesondere die Auflösung gesonderter Fördergruppen, eine autoritative pädagogische Leitung und auf wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnissen aufbauende Lehrerfortbildungen. In der Fallstudie wird unterstrichen, dass Inklusion und hohe Leistungsfähigkeit keinen Widerspruch darstellen, sondern sich ergänzen.

The paper presents and discusses the discrepancies between the declared education policy and everyday implementation of inclusive education in Kenya. On the policy level orientation towards the aim of inclusion can be observed. However, this concept of inclusion is fragmented and rooted in a deficit-oriented model of disability. On the level of educational practice major problems in realisation of inclusion exist. These can be explained by lack of acceptance and prejudices, unadjusted didactics, and practical difficulties such as lack of resources and over-crowded classrooms. Considering this situation, the improvement of education opportunities and life chances of persons with disability in Kenya forms an enormous challenge.

In den letzten Jahren hat sich das schwedische Bildungswesen grundlegend gewandelt. So wurde 2011 eine Gymnasialreform durchgeführt, die unter anderem striktere Aufnahmekriterien vorsieht. Zugleich wurden fünf Einführungsprogramme implementiert, die Schülern den Übergang in ein Nationales Programm oder in den Arbeitsmarkt ermöglichen sollen. Im Beitrag wird deutlich, dass die Schülerzahl in speziellen Programmen zunimmt, ohne dass bislang eine verbesserte Eingliederung in den Arbeitsmarkt zu erkennen ist.

In den letzten Jahren hat sich das schwedische Bildungswesen grundlegend gewandelt. So wurde 2011 eine Gymnasialreform durchgeführt, die u.a. striktere Aufnahmekriterien vorsieht. Zugleich wurden fünf Einführungsprogramme implementiert, die Schülern den Übergang in ein Nationales Programm oder in den Arbeitsmarkt ermöglichen sollen. Im Beitrag wird deutlich, dass die Schülerzahl in speziellen Programmen zunimmt, ohne dass bislang eine verbesserte Eingliederung in den Arbeitsmarkt zu erkennen ist.

Specialpedagogiska skolmyndighetens (SPSM) övergripande uppdrag är att alla ska få möjlighet att nå målen för sina studier och för sin utbildning. Myndigheten arbetar med olika insatser och stöd för att fullgöra detta uppdrag. Den här rapporten handlar om folkhögskolor som får vissa statsbidrag från myndigheten, för att ge stöd till att personer med funktionsnedsättning ska kunna studera där. Myndigheten har till uppgift att följa upp och utvärdera effekter av de statsbidrag som ges.

Den här rapporten handlar om betydelsen av studier på folkhögskola för personer med utvecklingsstörning. Det är deltagarnas egna erfarenheter och bedömningar av kursernas påverkan på kunskapsutvecklingen, sociala relationer, personlig utveckling och effekter för sysselsättningen som är i fokus. Intervjuer har genomförts med personer som studerar och med personer som tidigare har studerat på folkhögskola.

I rapportens inledning redogörs för folkbildningens och folkhögskolornas grundläggande karaktär och uppdrag. Några slutsatser som studien visar på är att de studerande är nöjda med sina studier och att den personliga och sociala utvecklingen är i centrum. De flesta har sysselsättning inom daglig verksamhet efter genomförda studier. En slutsats som redovisas i studien är att folkbildningen har betydelse för att öka förutsättningar till ett aktivt liv i gemenskap med andra. Studien pekar även på behov av ökade och fördjupade studier av folkhögskolors betydelse för personer med utvecklingsstörning.

Im Zuge der schwedischen Gymnasialreform wird derzeit auch die so genannte „Gymnasiesärskola“, die gymnasiale Sonderschule für Jugendliche mit geistiger Behinderung umgestaltet. Diese Schulform soll stärker mit der allgemeinen gymnasialen Stufe zusammenarbeiten. Auch sollen mehr Berührungs­punkte zwischen Schule und Arbeitsleben geschaffen werden, um den Übergang der Jugendlichen in die Berufswelt zu erleichtern. Im Beitrag wird die Schulreform diskutiert, wobei eine stärkere Betonung der Qualifizierungsfunktion von Bildung deutlich wird.

Kapitlet ger en introduktion till lärande i hållbar utveckling. Det görs genom att ge en bild av hur de komplexa och ämnesövergripande hållbarhetsfrågorna kan karaktäriseras. Kapitlet lägger vikt vid att diskutera och problematisera de viktiga frågorna, varför behövs en undervisning i hållbar utveckling, vad ska undervisningen innehålla samt hur ska den organiseras.

Sweden is regularly highlighted as one of the most egalitarian and wired countries in the world. While this might be correct in the light of international statistical comparisons, there is also another side to the story. Despite years of policy reforms designed in order to counter the emergence and solidification of digital inequalities, this paper shows that economic and cultural forces are still at work structuring people’s internet access and digital media use along the lines of preexisting social divisions.

Drawing on Bourdieusian theory and qualitative interview data from two different research projects, the paper specifically sheds light on the ways in which social class shapes the conditions and configurations of digital media practice in the everyday life of young people in Sweden. In particular, Bourdieu’s conceptualization of social classes as defined both intrinsically (by their material conditions of existence) and relationally (by their position in relation to each other) is invoked in order to explore and elucidate two different but interrelated processes whereby class makes difference in young people’s everyday relationship to digital media: class conditioning and class positioning.

In order to illustrate the process of class conditioning, i.e. how certain material conditions of existence both condition and produce certain conditionings in relation to digital media practice, the paper draws mainly on in-depth interviews with parents and children conducted within a still ongoing project on digital media in economically deprived families with children. Class positioning is exemplified and discussed with reference to the findings of a completed qualitative study on the role of social class for young men’s digital media preferences and practices. The results of this study, based on interviews with 34 young men (16-19 years) of different social origin, clearly indicate how such preferences and practices are not only configured relationally in terms of class, but also potentially involved in the reproduction of the existing class structure.The ways in which the dual processes of class conditioning and class positioning are played out in the context of young people’s mediatized everyday life bear witness to the complexities involved in advancing a media policy geared towards general social welfare in the age of digital media. Universal internet penetration is a necessary but hardly sufficient condition for the abolishment of digital inequalities. The findings presented and discussed in this paper rather suggest that the ongoing proliferation of new media technologies and practices creates a rich soil for new forms of class-making.

For most people in Sweden access to the internet can be taken for granted today, much in the same way as access to water and electricity. However, there are still parts of the population, not only among the elderly, for whom internet access might be a scarce resource and therefore also a source of struggle. This paper focuses on one such group, namely economically deprived families with children. More specifically, it presents the rationales and early results of an ongoing media ethnographic study on the various meanings attributed to digital media by the members of such households (both parents and children), focusing especially on the concerns, conflicts and strategies associated with the limitations surrounding their acquisition of digital media devices as well as their internet access and use, within an everyday context of economic deprivation.

Even though previous research on digital divides has convincingly shown them to be irreducible to a generational problem that will disappear by itself over time – for example, class-related variables such as educational level, occupation and income also matter – relatively little is known about their occurrences within the so-called “digital generation”, especially in Sweden. More generally, large-scale surveys have successfully evidenced and mapped the empirical patterns of digital divides among young people, but we still have limited knowledge about the contextually embedded generative mechanisms through which these patterns emerge. Even less attention has been paid to the ways in which young people at the margins of network society, along with their parents, actually experience and deal with their potentially limited internet access in everyday life.

Against this backdrop, this paper deals with the fundamental question of what it feels like raising children and growing up under conditions of scarce economic resources and potentially limited internet access in a highly wired society generally associated with social equality. What does it feel like not being able to give your children equal technological opportunities as their friends (or having to make huge sacrifices in order to secure such opportunities)? How do the potential experiences of feeling different and digitally excluded matter for the children’s well-being? And how are the potential conflicts stemming from the scarcity of (digital) resources affecting family life? Adopting a non-media-centric approach built around Bourdieusian social theory and insights from domestication research, the paper thus sets out to explore not only the meanings and uses of digital media in the particular context of economically deprived families with children in Sweden, but also the subjective and emotional dimensions of economic vulnerability and social class in today’s network society.

For someone leaning towards statistical data analyses and showing little interest in the media as an integral part of people’s everyday life, French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu has surprisingly much to offer qualitative audience research in an increasingly complex everyday media environment. Drawing on the analytical experiences from a media ethnographic study on digital media practice in the everyday lives of young men (16-19 years) with different class backgrounds, this paper argues that Bourdieusian theory, despite certain limitations, might advance qualitative audience research in the “media manifold” (Couldry, 2012) in at least three important respects: (1) The first merit of Bourdieu’s theoretical framework is that it enables us to conceptualize and analyse the seemingly mundane media practices of everyday life as involved in macrostructural power relations and processes, e.g. social class and social reproduction. How people orientate and navigate themselves among the various possibilities embedded in their everyday media environment is clearly a matter of taste, and taste is neither innocent nor neutral in terms of class. Hence, Bourdieu might prevent us from getting stuck in what David Morley (2009) has called “an endless play of contextual specificity and infinite difference”. (2) The second merit of Bourdieusian theory in the context of qualitative audience research is that it allows us to grasp digital media practice not as an exceptional, almost elevated kind of practice, but as a variety of practices among other cultural practices. This accomplishes an important break with the still quite prevalent media-centrism and techno-romanticism of early new media studies, and thus makes it possible to pose new, perhaps more critical questions about the various roles of digital media in people’s everyday lives. (3) Because Bourdieusian theory allows us to theorize digital media practice as a variety of practices among other cultural practices, i.e. as an inseparable part of entire lifestyles in Bourdieu’s sense of the word – lifestyles through which social power relations (e.g. class) are expressed and reproduced – it also has the merit of supporting critical interrogations of the association commonly made between digital innovation, young people and social change. In other words, it makes it possible to uncover and make sense of the social and cultural continuities at play within recent technological changes, as well as the structural differences concealed by the widespread generational rhetoric of “digital natives” and “digital immigrants” (Prensky, 2001).