The lack of quality of life is a key issue for families with children with an intellectual disability. While the quality of life for people with disabilities has previously been researched as an individual variable, this has now shifted to include family members. The purpose of this study was to conduct a review of the studies measuring the quality of life of families with an intellectually disabled member, in order to identify the most commonly used scales and their psychometric properties. Method: Data were collected from six databases (ERIC, Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL, MedLine, and Google Scholar), and this search yielded 3948 studies. One hundred and twenty studies that met the inclusion criteria were included in this study. Results: Nine scales were used in the last years to measure the quality of life for families with individuals with an intellectual disability. The Beach Center scale was the most common scale, followed by the Family Quality of Life Survey and the World Health Organization’s quality of life assessment (WHOQoL-BREF). The results showed that the included studies in the review lack the consideration of a broader population representing the different types of cultures with different socioeconomic backgrounds. Key aspects used to assess the FQoL are environmental factors (proximal and distal factors), as well as economic factors. Conclusion: Although the operationalization of the FQoL often incudes several subthemes, a general agreement regarding which domains of the FQoL need to be included in the measurements, and these do not exist right now. Moreover, multidimensional scales are still rare.

Although comprehensive digitalization (e.g., the provision of skills and resources) had already been placed on Austria’s education policy agenda prior to the emergence of COVID-19, there is evidence that educators had some difficulty ensuring digital learning opportunities for their students when schools closed in early 2020. Against this backdrop, the present study, which drew on qualitative data from the large-scale INCL-LEA (Inclusive Home Learning) study, aimed to determine whether secondary school teachers (n = 17) from Viennese schools met the prerequisites for successfully implementing digital instruction, formulated in the Will–Skill–Tool model developed by Christensen and Kzenek (2008). Findings reveal that teachers primarily associated their sufficient digital skills with three factors: (1) basic interest and competence, (2) recently attended training, and/or (3) a positive attitude toward changing teaching practices. Interestingly, some educators recognized that digitization offers great potential for implementing individualized teaching approaches. However, the findings point to the didactic necessity of digital socialization in terms of social communication and inclusion when establishing emergency digital education.

Schools around the world have transitioned to emergency distance teaching due to the COVID-19 outbreak. In particular, the first lockdown (in early 2020) came unexpectedly for all actors and stakeholders in Austria. School authorities, parents, students and, above all, teachers were faced with considerable challenges. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the perception of Austrian elementary school teachers about distance teaching during the first lockdown. Using two different qualitative data sets from the Inclusive Home Learning (INCL-LEA) study, the following research question was investigated: what are the main challenges that elementary school teachers faced in distance teaching in Austria due to COVID-19? A multimethod qualitative research was carried out to answer the research question, and the data were evaluated using the topic analysis method. The teachers identified five greatest challenges: i) a lack of personal contact with the students; ii) additional workload and more stress, iii) non-existent technical equipment; iv) a lack of digital skills; and v) an inability to offer individual support for students at risk. This study has shown that better policies are needed to avoid these problems. Such solutions not only require the purchase of digital devices, but also the development of pedagogically well-thought-out and planned curricula and the provision of opportunities to improve digital skills. Furthermore, it also showed that sustainable working conditions needed to be created to counter the long-term effects of the heavy workload on teachers. However, the difference between distance teaching in times of the pandemic and regular online teaching also needs to be considered when developing and implementing policies.