Special Treatment, 2021. Vol. 7. (2.) - full text

The role of the family as the arena for primary socialization is significant throughout our lives. The cultural capital, parental role models, and relationship with siblings all have a tremendous impact on academic and non-academic achievement, social networking, intra- and intergenerational embeddedness, and employment during studies. However, a change in family structure can negatively affect a child’s development, decrease his or her academic and non-academic achievement (Engler, 2016), and also causes a higher prevalence of health risk behaviours (Kovács and Nagy, 2017). In addition, due to the lower level of financial capital provided by the family, young people who have grown up in a non-intact family structure are often forced to work during their university or even high school studies to ensure their self-preservation. In our research, we examined the attitudes of the students studying at the University of Debrecen towards family and work in the light of the family structure, covering childhood storytelling experiences (BEST 2020). In addition to demographic issues, changes in family structure, childhood storytelling habits, and work-related attitudes were examined (N=159). 25.6% of the students’ parents are divorced, 24.3% grew up with their mother. 86.5% of the parents read tales in childhood, mostly (75%) every day, typically mothers. No significant difference could have been detected in childhood storytelling experiences based on family structure (p=0.322). Although the ratio of employment is higher among children of divorced parents, a significant difference is found at the beginning of employment. Based on the results, parents try to support university studies at least partly, but they are unlikely able to provide other resources that could force students to work. Based on our results, it can be stated that the role of the family in the early employment of young people is also significant, and the change in the family structure increases the proportion of employment besides university studies, which is mainly due to the family's financial situation.

The present study focuses on the role of mentoring in education. The topic of mentoring has increasingly got into the focus of researchers in recent years (Bencsik és Juhász, 2017).In accordance with international practice, the role of mentors in Hungarian public education institutions has become more valuable. In proportion to recognizing its role in education, different mentoring programs have emerged in each type of school. In the present study, our orientation is specifically aimed at the students of the Teach for Hungary Mentoring Program in Debrecen, in order to map the aspects of the motivations of the student mentor candidates in Debrecen. Among other things, we are curious about their emotional and cognitive attitude toward mentoring, and we are interested in the extent (or lack thereof) of their commitment to mentoring. Our aim is to explore, what influences the final decision among students to become a mentor (material, mental resource, etc.) and how these factors interact/relate to each other. In the spring semester of the 2018/2019 academic year, we conducted our research with 151 young students who took part in a theoretical course to become a mentor. The foundation of our research is the questionnaire created by Ceglédi, Szűcs, Hüse, and Berényi (2019), and that form was filled in by a student who applied for a TMO1 course at the beginning of the 2019/20 academic year. Nearly 50% of respondents decided to commit themselves to mentoring, and the other 50% did not undertake mentoral activity for some reason.  Based on our results, it can be said that assistance and financial support in the form of scholarship were the main motivating factors for mentors, but the latter was important mainly for male students, nor had the financial aspect primary importance for students with a disadvantaged background in the development of motivation. According to our conclusions, commitment and strong internal motivations play an important role in mentoring, while financial benefits in the form of external motivation can be secondary, but also play an important role in motivation.

Background and aim: Academic achievement is determined by several intra- and interpersonal factors. Talent is an internal factor whose role in academic progress is unquestionable (Dávid et al., 2014a; Mező, 2008; Ceglédi, 2008). Health awareness is also an internal factor that has a significant effect on academic achievement, considering the positive effect of regular physical activity and positive self-image, and body image within the latter (Kovács, 2020). Also, interpersonal and environmental factors need to be emphasized, as adequate social support can significantly improve performance and can also play a crucial role in disadvantage compensation (Szemerszki, 2015; Ceglédi 2012). However, deficits of these factors (of which exclusion is very severe, for example) have the opposite effect. In our research, we examined the role of self-assessed talent preferences, self-satisfaction, regular physical activity, and coping with exclusion among the students of the University of Debrecen (N=159). Results: Based on the results of the linear regression analysis, exclusion itself has a negative effect on academic achievement, but self-satisfaction and coping with exclusion show a positive effect. Our results draw attention to the importance of social relationships and prevention of exclusion, as it is clear that social exclusion has a long-term impact on self-esteem and higher academic achievement, and is stronger the earlier it appears.

Programs aimed to eliminate segregated life conditions have appeared again in domestic integration practice in the last two decades. The goal of “Roma settlement programs” is the implementation of complex interventions improving social integration and housing conditions in communities, and social work has an important role in this process. We will examine in our study the relevance of social work in an ongoing integration program in the framework of a survey that questioned social workers and residents of the segregates. The research focuses on two aspects of the programs. First, the social workers’ experiences will be examined about their work and processes that complicate it, and secondly, a survey conducted among the target group will investigate the utilization of the elements in the program and the characteristics of the relations between the target groups. Finally, the policy background of the programs, changes in the regulations of social work, and opinions of the professionals and target groups will be introduced compared similar programs in nearly a hundred settlements in the country.

The study addresses the language problems of children with socio-cultural background problems. Children from the environment using a limited language code are more likely to start with a language disadvantage or language delay, and these ability deficits do not or only moderately decrease during the years of institutional education. In the presented pilot study, n = 20 people from Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, disadvantaged Gypsy / Roma children living in three villages and their parents were analyzed. In the study, the Parental Treatment Questionnaire (H-PBI, Gordon, 1979), the LAPP Active Vocabulary Survey (Lőrik et al., 2015), and the speech of children with delayed/impeded speech developed by Dr. Ágnes Juhász and Tiborné Bittera (1995) and its language development was examined. The results were interpreted according to the small sample on the basis of simple statistics, and the drawing of conclusions is also treated sparingly.

Stuttering is a disability of tempo and rhythm in the speech that students, special education teachers, and speech therapists face in their daily work. Previously, stuttering has been researched from the perspective of speech therapy and speech therapists. This research is however based on the opinions of the youngsters in question. One percent of the population are considered stutterers as per Guitar’s (1998) theory — which would mean that in Estonia, approximately 1,500 students are stutterers. Students spend a large and valuable part of their day and leisure time at school. It is therefore essential that teachers and advisors are aware and competent in providing support to stuttering students as needed. These students do not receive enough support and attention, as stuttering is considered a disability that does not distract teachers from doing their job. It can be assumed that teachers do not change their methods and systems in evaluating a stuttering student. It is nevertheless crucial that the student with the impediment feels safe and good at school and can express their thoughts in speech. The aim of this research is to find out how stuttering students cope in their school environment. The research also focuses on the experiences of teachers and support specialists in order to understand their cooperation when assisting a stuttering student.

In the publication, we examined recreational activities, highlighting the role of physical recreational activities. For our study, we constructed an online questionnaire, which was completed using social media (N = 158). Our results confirmed that people consider regular exercise important to maintain health (94.30%), however, in their free time, in addition to physical recreational activities, there are also activities that strengthen a sedentary, sedentary lifestyle. Our respondents meet their friends the most in their free time (69.62%), but many also play sports at this time (64.56%). Popular leisure habits are also the internet, playing online games (55.06%), and reading and learning (46.83%). The most popular physical activity among our respondents is cycling (66.46%), walking, Nordic walking (64.55%), and running (60.13%), and the most popular locations are parks and sports fields (55.69%), however, many perform these activities on their way to work and school (42.41%).

The increasing life expectancy of adults with intellectual disabilities has raised new questions and challenges for families. Depending on the severity of their condition, people with intellectual disabilities need support from their families and environment to vary degrees throughout their lives. They depend on their family members, which addiction is a new problem as parents get older, and care will be the responsibility of siblings who are already living independent lives, sometimes geographically far away. Sibling care should be interpreted differently than when it is performed by a parent or a paid carer, it is more emotionally complex, its content and direction are diverse. We know not too much about sibling caregivers, we only have hypothetical answers to the questions based on a small number of studies or research in similar areas. This paper aims to provide an overview of the situation and motivations of adults who care of and take responsibility for their siblings with intellectual disabilities, and of their role and interaction of the various influences that help them understand. Getting to know siblings is necessary in order for the support system of the special education and social policy to adapt properly to the situation of the  - unfortunately - barely ‘visible’ population.

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