Claire Bates and Rose Matthews
The purpose of this study is to explore the support needs surrounding intimate relationships and sexuality of autistic adults accessing funded social care in England.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the support needs surrounding intimate relationships and sexuality of autistic adults accessing funded social care in England.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews with 15 autistic adults who were accessing funded social care examined their support needs surrounding intimate relationships and sexuality, with subsequent data analysis using reflexive thematic analysis.
Findings
Four themes were generated: Help at hand, but not too close for comfort, No “cookie-cutter rules”: personalised, inclusive approaches, Playing it safe, not leaving it too late, and Autism-informed education and support.
Practical implications
The authors produced an online learning module for social care staff in England on best practice in supporting autistic adults without learning disabilities with relationships and sexuality.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, there has been no other UK-based research published to date on the social care support needs of autistic adults without learning disabilities surrounding relationships, gender and sexuality.
Details
Keywords
Claire Bates, Louise Terry and Keith Popple
The purpose of this paper is to understand some of the barriers people with learning disabilities experience with regards to relationships and consider the possible changes…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand some of the barriers people with learning disabilities experience with regards to relationships and consider the possible changes professionals could make to address these.
Design/methodology/approach
The current paper will draw on case studies extracted from Bates et al. (2016), using them to illustrate a number of themes/issues that relate to the support that people with learning disabilities received and needed from staff to develop and maintain relationships.
Findings
People with learning disabilities continue to experience barriers with regards to relationships. Their rights and choices are not always respected and a climate of risk aversion persists in areas such as sexual relationships. The research highlighted the balancing act staff must engage in to ensure that they remain supportive without being controlling or overprotective of individuals in relationships.
Research limitations/implications
Professional/support provider views were not included but these could have lent an additional perspective to the issues discussed.
Practical implications
An increased understanding of human rights entitlements should be encouraged among people with learning disabilities so they know when their freedom is being unlawfully restricted. Sexuality and relationship training would be beneficial for support staff. This could cover a wider range of areas such as contraception and supporting individuals who have experienced sexual/domestic abuse in starting new relationships.
Originality/value
This paper explores the barriers to relationships from the perspective of people with learning disabilities and offers practical solutions to address them.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to outline the work of the Supported Loving Network from its origin in academic research to the practical development of a national Network supporting…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to outline the work of the Supported Loving Network from its origin in academic research to the practical development of a national Network supporting relationships for people with learning disabilities.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the need for the Network is established through a review of the research literature. The paper goes on to critically discuss the Network’s progress to date including its limitations and difficulties encountered, concluding by considering plans for future growth and development.
Findings
There is evidence that having a national Network is helpful in supporting intimate relationships for people with learning disabilities. The Network is having a positive impact on professionals who support people with learning disabilities by providing a space for discussion, inspiration and to share positive practice. However, an increase in resources would enable Supported Loving to have a wider reach and possibly a greater influence on organisations that provide social care to adults with learning disabilities.
Originality/value
The research indicates that people with learning disabilities are still less likely to have a loving relationship. The level of interest and engagement with Supported Loving implies that the Network is of value to people with learning disabilities and the professionals who work with them.
Details
Keywords
Matthew Fish, William Miller, D’Arcy Becker and Aimee Pernsteiner
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of organizational culture as a company migrates through a four-stage model for designing a performance measurement system (PMS…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of organizational culture as a company migrates through a four-stage model for designing a performance measurement system (PMS) focused on customer profitability.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a single-site phenomenological case study, at Growth Spurt Marine Accessories (Growth Spurt), a manufacturing organization headquartered in the USA. Data were collected over a two-year period through interviews with accounting staff, internal company documents and recording observational notes.
Findings
The paper identifies three major factors that prevented Growth Spurt from transitioning its customer profitability analysis (CPA) reporting package through Kaplan and Cooper’s four-stage model of PMS design: executives exerting their power and spending political capital to prevent implementation without providing rationale, executives believing that the allocation methods were too subjective and executives relying on their own intuition in analyzing customer profitability rather than relying on data. These factors suggest that organizational culture plays an important role in migrating a customer-focused profitability PMS through Kaplan and Cooper’s four-stage model of PMS system design.
Research limitations/implications
The findings suggest that a PMS focused on customer profitability that does not advance beyond Stage II (financial reporting-driven) may still suit the needs of an organization. Additionally, managers should advocate for a multidisciplinary PMS design and implementation team to minimize potentially adverse effects of organizational culture.
Originality/value
This paper is unique because it applies Kaplan and Cooper’s four-stage model for PMS design to CPA and it uses a phenomenological case approach to explore impediments to a comprehensive CPA implementation.
Details
Keywords
Victoria Claire and Robert Hurst
The purpose of this paper is to share Victoria Clare’s story.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to share Victoria Clare’s story.
Design/methodology/approach
Victoria wrote a biography of her experiences. Robert then asked a series of questions from the perspective of a mental health academic.
Findings
Victoria shared stories from her life, and how her experiences have shaped her life and herself.
Research limitations/implications
Narratives such as this give us an overview of only a single person’s experiences. However, they allow the person with lived experience to explore their story in depth.
Practical implications
What Victoria has written will give readers an insight into her life and experiences.
Social implications
There is so much to learn from a story like Victoria’s, especially in her approach to creativity.
Originality/value
This is Victoria’s own unique story. The value of this is apparent upon reading it.
Details
Keywords
Claire Warwick, Melissa Terras, Isabel Galina, Paul Huntington and Nikoleta Pappa
The purpose of this article is to discuss the results of the Log Analysis of Internet Resources in the Arts and Humanities (LAIRAH) study. It aims to concentrate upon the use and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to discuss the results of the Log Analysis of Internet Resources in the Arts and Humanities (LAIRAH) study. It aims to concentrate upon the use and importance of information resources, physical research centres and digital finding aids in scholarly research.
Design/methodology/approach
Results are presented of web server log analysis of portals for humanities scholars: the arts and humanities data service (AHDS) website and Humbul Humanities Hub. These are used to determine which resources were accessed most often, or seldom. Questionnaire data about perceptions of digital resource use were also gathered.
Findings
Information resources such as libraries, archives museums and research centres, and the web pages that provide information about them are vital for humanities scholars. The university library website was considered to be the most important resource, even compared to Google. Secondary finding aids and reference resources are considered more important than primary research resources, especially those produced by other scholars, whose output is less trusted than publications produced by commercial organisations, libraries, archives and museums.
Practical implications
Digital resources have not replaced physical information resources and the people who staff them, thus both types of information continue to require funding. Scholars trust the judgment of information professionals, who therefore need to be trained to evaluate and recommend specialist digital research resources.
Originality/value
LAIRAH was the first research project to use quantitative data to investigate resource use. Findings about the type of resources used are based on evidence rather than opinions alone. This gives a clearer picture of usage that may be used to plan future information services.
Details
Keywords
Chris Walsh and Claire Campbell
This chapter explores how to introduce young children to coding as a literacy using mobile devices. Learning how to code is changing what it means to be literate in the…
Abstract
This chapter explores how to introduce young children to coding as a literacy using mobile devices. Learning how to code is changing what it means to be literate in the twenty-first century and, increasingly, early years educators are expected to teach young children how to code. The idea that coding is a literacy practice is relatively new, and this chapter first presents strategies for introducing coding without technology. It then explores how to scaffold young children’s coding literacy proficiencies through programming and coding robotic toys. When young children have become familiar with coding and solving challenges using concrete materials and robotic toys, it is possible to introduce mobile devices, apps and humanoid robots in playful ways. This chapter explores how this can be done.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to explore how China uses a social credit system as part of its “data-driven authoritarianism” policy; and second, to investigate how…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to explore how China uses a social credit system as part of its “data-driven authoritarianism” policy; and second, to investigate how datafication, which is a method to legitimize data collection, and dataveillance, which is continuous surveillance through the use of data, offer the Chinese state a legitimate method of monitoring, surveilling and controlling citizens, businesses and society. Taken together, China’s social credit system is analyzed as an integrated tool for datafication, dataveillance and data-driven authoritarianism.
Design/methodology/approach
This study combines the personal narratives of 22 Chinese citizens with policy analyses, online discussions and media reports. The stories were collected using a scenario-based story completion method to understand the participants’ perceptions of the recently introduced social credit system in China.
Findings
China’s new social credit system, which turns both online and offline behaviors into a credit score through smartphone apps, creates a “new normal” way of life for Chinese citizens. This data-driven authoritarianism uses data and technology to enhance citizen surveillance. Interactions between individuals, technologies and information emerge from understanding the system as one that provides social goods, using technologies, and raising concerns of privacy, security and collectivity. An integrated critical perspective that incorporates the concepts of datafication and dataveillance enhances a general understanding of how data-driven authoritarianism develops through the social credit system.
Originality/value
This study builds upon an ongoing debate and an emerging body of literature on datafication, dataveillance and digital sociology while filling empirical gaps in the study of the global South. The Chinese social credit system has growing recognition and importance as both a governing tool and a part of everyday datafication and dataveillance processes. Thus, these phenomena necessitate discussion of its consequences for, and applications by, the Chinese state and businesses, as well as affected individuals’ efforts to adapt to the system.