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To design and develop a mobile application for pre-school readiness of children with autism and also to identify their learning pattern. Based on strong foundation of functional academics, we have developed a mobile application for providing an early educational intervention program to the children with autism. Three successive software trials have been conducted among 31 children with autism of age group of three to 10 years. The mobile app has been provided to educators and parents and they have been allowed to supervise the children during their learning phase for eight to 10 weeks. The imprint of learning pattern is recorded and learning progress profile is generated for individual child. Data analysis of learning progress profile shows that 90% of the participants preferred drag and drop or simple touch approach over conventional methods practised during classroom teachings. More than 84% of the children are found to adapt pre-requisite skills for writing like scribbling, tracing, dots joining, copying, etc. after using the app on their tablet who are reluctant to hold pencil and paper otherwise. Twenty-five percent of the participants are reported to reciprocate the greeting etiquettes in class such as greeting teachers and their peers. The mobile application made a valuable contribution to early intervention program for children with autism by imparting appropriate learning opportunities readily available to them. Performance metrics underlying each activity form a strong base of identification of learning patterns and formulation of revised individualized education plan (IEP). Children with autism need the mobile application as an educational intervention program for it is readily available and user friendly. Educators need the mobile application to quantify the performance parameters and there by monitor/evaluate the progress of the child. Overall, the present research has aimed to develop an easy reach app by which educating as well as handling challenging behaviour of the children with autism would be easier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The voice of disabled students in higher education (HE) has been widely explored in the global North but relatively little is known about the experiences of their counterparts in the global South. The paper attempts to address this lacuna by focusing on disabled students in HE in India. A part of the author's doctoral study in 2013–14 explored the lived experiences and aspirations of 29 students with a visual impairment using phenomenological methodology. Their access to courses and subsequently, career opportunities were found to be restricted by an interplay of systemic exclusion, lack of information, internalised oppression, pedagogy, and employment opportunities. While disability legislation in India focuses on widening participation in HE, the issue of access to courses for students with a visual impairment has received little attention. This paper emphasises the importance of facilitating their access to their desired courses in HE and to this end, provision of support in school. This article highlights the experiences of students with a visual impairment regarding enrolling in different courses in higher education (HE) in India. The research found that four main factors prevented many students with a visual impairment from pursuing science-and mathematics-based courses in HE. These were i) exclusion from science and mathematics in early education, ii) inadequate support systems, iii) inaccessible teaching practices, and iv) limited work opportunities. Little or no support and motivation was available for them to study these subjects. The research recommended that HE authorities must recognise the ability of students with a visual impairment to learn visual-based subjects. It also highlighted the need to provide support for learning mathematics and science to these students in school so that they can study mathematics- and science-based courses in HE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a unique hierarchical structure on various occupational health hazards including physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic and psychosocial hazards, and associated adverse consequences in relation to an underground coal mine. The study proposes a systematic health hazard risk assessment methodology for estimating extent of hazard risk using three important measuring parameters: consequence of exposure, period of exposure and probability of exposure. An improved decision making method using fuzzy set theory has been attempted herein for converting linguistic data into numeric risk ratings. The concept of ‘centre of area’ method for generalized triangular fuzzy numbers has been explored to quantify the ‘degree of hazard risk’ in terms of crisp ratings. Finally, a logical framework for categorizing health hazards into different risk levels has been constructed on the basis of distinguished ranges of evaluated risk ratings (crisp). Subsequently, an action requirement plan has been suggested, which could provide guideline to the managers for successfully managing health hazard risks in the context of underground coal mining exercise. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]