La figura de facilitación de acceso a la justicia. Comparación internacional de un reto formativo / Intermediaries in Access to Justice. International Comparison of a Training Challenge

El facilitador es un profesional que posibilita el ejercicio del derecho de acceso a la justicia a las personas con discapacidad intelectual y del desarrollo, favoreciendo los principios de equidad, participación, accesibilidad y autodeterminación. En el presente estudio, se realiza una revisión bibliográfica para determinar la presencia de esta figura en el panorama internacional y su perfil formativo. En el derecho internacional, actualmente, podemos encontrarla en algunos países nórdicos, Reino Unido, Israel, Azerbaiyán, Taiwán, Sudáfrica, Kenia, Canadá, varios estados de EE. UU., México y Chile, así como en parte del territorio australiano y Nueva Zelanda. En España, la figura aparece en la última reforma de la legislación civil y procesal (Ley 8/2021, de 2 de junio). En su perfil formativo encontramos tanto la educación formal como no formal de estos profesionales. El perfil del facilitador habrá de ajustarse a las necesidades de las personas con discapacidad intelectual y del desarrollo y del contexto que requiera la facilitación. (AU)

Intermediaries are professionals who enable the effective right of access to justice for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, ensuring principles of equity, participation, accessibility and self-determination for them. This paper analyzes the presence and formative background of this figure from an international comparative perspective. Nowadays, we can find these professionals in the international law across different countries: some Nordic countries, United Kingdom, Israel, Azerbaijan, Taiwan, South Africa, Kenya, Canada, part of the USA, Mexico and Chile, Australia and New Zealand. In Spain, intermediaries are considered in the latest reform of the civil and procedural legislation (Law 8/2021, June the 2nd). This paper analyzes the formative background of this figure from an international comparative perspective. We find both formal and non-formal education in the background of these professionals. There is no doubt their profile must adjust to the needs of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and the contexts that require the facilitation. (AU)

An exploratory study of phonological awareness and working memory differences and literacy performance of people that use AAC

Twelve cerebral palsied adolescents and young adults with complex communicative needs who used augmentative and alternative communication were studied. They were classified according to their working memory capacity (high vs. low) into two groups of 6 participants. They were also divided into two groups of 6 participants according to their high vs. low phonological skills. These groups were compared on their performance in reading tests -orthographic knowledge, a word test and a pseudoword reading test- and in the spelling of words, pseudowords and pictures’ names. Statistical differences were found between high vs. low phonological skills groups, and between high and low working memory groups. High working memory capacity group scored significantly higher than low working memory group in the orthographic and word reading tests. The high phonological skills group outperformed the low phonological skills group in the word reading test and in the spelling of pseudowords and pictures’ names. From a descriptive point of view, phonological skills and working memory, factors known to be highly predictive of literacy skills in people without disabilities, also hold as factors for the participants that used AAC in our study. Implications of the results are discussed (AU)

En nuestro estudio participaron doce adolescentes y adultos jóvenes con parálisis cerebral con necesidades comunicativas especiales, usuarios de comunicación aumentativa y alternativa. Éstos fueron clasificados según su capacidad de memoria operativa (alta vs. baja) en 2 grupos de 6 participantes, y en otros dos, también de 6 participantes de acuerdo a sus habilidades fonológicas (altas vs. bajas). Todos ellos fueron comparados según sus habilidades lectoras (conocimiento ortográfico, lectura de palabras, de pseudopalabras, capacidad de deletreo de palabras, de pseudopalabras y deletreo de nombres de dibujos. Los resultados mostraron diferencias significativas entre los grupos de altas y bajas capacidades fonológicas así como entre los grupos de alta y baja capacidad de memoria en algunas de las medidas estudiadas. Los sujetos con alta capacidad de memoria obtuvieron puntuaciones significativamente mejores en la tarea ortográfica y en la lectura de palabras. Por otra parte, los sujetos con mejores habilidades fonológicas rindieron significativamente mejor en las tareas de lectura de palabras, deletreo de pseudopalabras y de nombres de dibujos. Desde un punto de vista descriptivo, podemos afirmar que las habilidades fonológicas y de memoria operativa se mostraron como buenos predictores del éxito lector en sujetos usuarios de CAA, del mismo modo que sucede en el resto de la población sin trastornos. Las implicaciones de estos resultados se discuten en este trabajo (AU)

An exploratory study of phonological awareness and working memory differences and literacy performance of people that use AAC.

Twelve cerebral palsied adolescents and young adults with complex communicative needs who used augmentative and alternative communication were studied. They were classified according to their working memory capacity (high vs. low) into two groups of 6 participants. They were also divided into two groups of 6 participants according to their high vs. low phonological skills. These groups were compared on their performance in reading tests -orthographic knowledge, a word test and a pseudoword reading test- and in the spelling of words, pseudowords and pictures' names. Statistical differences were found between high vs. low phonological skills groups, and between high and low working memory groups. High working memory capacity group scored significantly higher than low working memory group in the orthographic and word reading tests. The high phonological skills group outperformed the low phonological skills group in the word reading test and in the spelling of pseudowords and pictures' names. From a descriptive point of view, phonological skills and working memory, factors known to be highly predictive of literacy skills in people without disabilities, also hold as factors for the participants that used AAC in our study. Implications of the results are discussed.