Database Problem Behavior: A Literature Retrieval System for Professionals Dealing with Problem Behaviours of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities

Knowledge of the literature among professionals in the area of problem behaviours and developmental disabilities is most likely soon out of date as several hundred useful studies appear each year. A literature database may be a useful tool for clinicians and researchers to conveniently retrieve needed information, preventing them from collecting, reading, processing, and storing all the available material. This report describes a database (i.e., Database Problem Behavior) encompassing information that goes far beyond presenting abstracts only. The third version of the database encompasses 885 empirical studies on the (functional) analysis, and behavioural and pharmacological treatment of problem behaviours (e.g., self‐injurious behaviour, aggressive behaviour, depression) for persons with developmental disabilities.     

有关智障青少年肥胖状况的调查研究

采用体质监测、文献资料调研和数理统计等方法,对北京市智障青少年的肥胖状况进行调研分析,结果显示:以BMI值作为筛查指标,智障青少年超重和肥胖的比例很高,且呈现明显的低龄化趋势,儿童期肥胖状况严重.患有唐氏综合症的智障青少年肥胖发生率高于未患有唐氏综合症的智障青少年.     

Children and Youth with Intellectual Disabilities: Targets for Sexual Abuse

A disproportionate number of children and youth with an intellectual disability are victims of sexual abuse. This paper examines the characteristics and behaviours which may exacerbate the vulnerability of persons with an intellectual disability toward abusive relationships. Recognition is given to the important roles educators can play in die identification, referral, intervention, and prevention of sexual abuse.     

Including Learners with Intellectual Disabilities: stressful for teachers?

Since 1994 the demand to educate learners with special needs within mainstream classrooms in South Africa has continued to grow and the implementation of inclusive education is in the final process of legislation. The result has been that an increasing number of learners with disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, are being included in mainstream classrooms. International research indicates that it is especially the acceptance of learners with intellectual disabilities that seems to raise the most sensitive issues for teachers within inclusive classrooms. This research study was designed to investigate the stressors related to the specific situation of including a learner with an intellectual disability in mainstream classrooms and the subsequent stress levels of teachers in the Gauteng and Western Cape provinces of South Africa. The design and methodology of this study was a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. Fifty-five teachers were purposefully selected to complete a questionnaire focusing on the effect of potential stressors on teachers when including a learner with an intellectual disability. In-depth structured interviews were conducted with 10 of these teachers. This project is highly significant as policies of inclusion rely on teachers' acceptance of them, belief in their worth, and ability to cope. An understanding of the conditions that are likely to cause teachers most stress during inclusion will allow for more appropriate teacher training and for more focused support to teachers in inclusive classrooms.     

African-American and Euro-American Preschoolers with Intellectual Disabilities: Patterns of Play with Toys

The patterns of cognitive play of 28 African-American and Euro-American preschool children with intellectual disabilities are reported. Fourteen children representing each group, matched on developmental age and family variables, were observed playing independently at home. Categorical and sequential play behaviors were coded from videotapes using a 15-second partial interval coding procedure. The pattern of African-American children's play was more reflective of their developmental age than the pattern of Euro-American children's play for their developmental age. Between group effects emerged for only 1 of 15 dependent variables included in the analyses: length of single scheme sequence. The results highlight children's strengths and challenge commonly held stereotypes. Recommendations for future research are provided.     

African-American and Euro-American Preschoolers with Intellectual Disabilities: Patterns of Play with Toys

The patterns of cognitive play of 28 African-American and Euro-American preschool children with intellectual disabilities are reported. Fourteen children representing each group, matched on developmental age and family variables, were observed playing independently at home. Categorical and sequential play behaviors were coded from videotapes using a 15-second partial interval coding procedure. The pattern of African-American children's play was more reflective of their developmental age than the pattern of Euro-American children's play for their developmental age. Between group effects emerged for only 1 of 15 dependent variables included in the analyses: length of single scheme sequence. The results highlight children's strengths and challenge commonly held stereotypes. Recommendations for future research are provided.     

Educating Pupils with Intellectual Disabilities in England: Thirty years on

In April 1971, responsibility for the education of all children with intellectual disabilities in England and Wales passed from health to education authorities at national and local level. From that date, no child could be declared to be "ineducable," regardless of the nature or severity of their disability or whether they were living with their families or in residential institutions. The former Junior Training Centres were redesignated as special schools and were administered by the same Local Education Authorities who were responsible for all other publicly funded schools in the community. This paper highlights major developments in the education of children with intellectual disabilities in the light of an early review of progress and problems and subsequent reforms to the education system as a whole. Key issues include access to the National Curriculum, prospects for the education of children with intellectual disabilities in mainstream schools, and the implications of these developments for the professional development of all teachers.     

Parallel Text: Making Research Accessible to People with Intellectual Disabilities

The full involvement of people with intellectual disabilities in research that relates to them is a central concern at present. An important aspect of involvement is making academic writing more accessible. While this can be achieved by including a simplified synopsis or by producing separate simplified documents, such attempts can still represent a “them” and “us” ethos. One alternative is to publish academic papers with a “parallel text” for people with intellectual disabilities. This not only provides a simplified version but also facilitates access to the main document. In this paper, we describe background research for developing the idea of parallel texts and discuss the technical considerations for others wishing to present academic work in a similar manner.     

Children with Intellectual Disabilities and Special School Education in Ghana

Even though Ghana has embraced international calls for mainstream education, many children with intellectual disabilities still receive education in segregated special schools. This article discusses the views of seven informants on the importance of special schools in Ghana. After securing the consent of our informants, we conducted in-depth qualitative interviews, transcribed and subjected the data to thematic analysis. The following views on the education of children with intellectual disabilities in special schools emerged; availability of dedicated teachers, variations in learning activities, playing the preparatory role, inclusion on their premises, discrimination and cultural stereotypes. The findings indicate that special schools still play important roles in the education of children with intellectual disabilities in Ghana.     

日本智障儿童的数学教育

本文介绍了日本特别支援教育理念,智障儿童数学教育历史、现状与案例,旨在唤起人们对智障儿童数学教育及其研究的关注,促进我国智障儿童得到切合自身发展需要的数学教育.     

Self-Esteem of Greek Mothers of Children with Intellectual Disabilities

The present study assessed the impact that children with intellectual disabilities have on their mothers' self-esteem. It also examined the differences in self-esteem between mothers of children with intellectual disabilities and mothers of non-disabled children. The study sample consisted of 50 mothers of children with intellectual disabilities living in Central Greece and a comparison group of 50 mothers of non-disabled children. Two instruments were used for the data collection: (a) a questionnaire for biographic information and (b) an adaptation of the Culture-Free Self-Esteem Inventory. Results indicated significantly lower self-esteem for the mothers of children with intellectual disabilities. Moreover, the best predictor of maternal self-esteem in the disabled group was the size of the family.     

Alternative Assessment Portfolios for Students with Intellectual Disabilities: A Case Study

Abstract

Twenty‐eight classroom teachers identified students in their rooms who were low achievers, at‐risk learners; low achievers, not at risk; average achievers; and special education students. We videotaped these students during reading lessons conducted by their teachers. Using a stimulated recall procedure, we interviewed teachers and asked them to report their thought processes during instruction, especially those that pertained to the target children. We found that teachers reported significantly more negative thoughts about at‐risk learners' than about average achievers' attending behavior and ability‐performance. Furthermore, at‐risk learners received a greater number of comments focused on the need to monitor their performance. Special education students received significantly more positive and negative comments about attending than did average achievers. In addition, they received more miscellaneous positive comments than did low, not at‐risk, and average achievers. Finally, teachers reported making more classroom modifications for this group than for average students. Implications for prereferral classroom interventions are discussed.     

Counting Skills and Number Concepts of Students with Moderate Intellectual Disabilities

A systematic study was carried out to investigate the basic counting and number skills, and the strategies used in counting and number tasks of students with moderate intellectual disabilities at different age levels. Using Fuson's (1988, 1992) number–word model, students' understanding and use of number words were examined in four situations (sequence, counting, cardinal, and symbol). Thirty students with moderate intellectual disabilities (IQ of 36–54) aged between 7 and 18 years were interviewed individually and their counting skills and concepts of number assessed by various number tasks. Results showed a significant difference between the three age groups on all the number skills assessed. Specifically, the learning pattern for the sequence of number–words and the kinds of correspondence errors made were similar to those of students with normal intelligence; one-to-one correspondence and stable-order principles were used and the cardinal principle was understood. Recommendations were made concerning the education of students with moderate intellectual disabilities in aspects of numeracy.     

The ‘Play’ Focus in Early Intervention: Children with Intellectual Disabilities

This paper examines the characteristics of ‘play’ within the conceptual framework of early education for intellectually disabled children, suggesting that early intervention programs and strategies may have transformed ‘play’ for these children into ‘work’.     

The Social Skills and Social Status of Mainstreamed Students with Intellectual Disabilities

This paper reports on the social skills and social status of 22 students with mainly moderate intellectual disabilities who had received an inclusive preschool intervention and were subsequently followed up from 18 months to more than five years later in their mainstream classrooms. Measures included direct assessment of social interaction in the playground, social status obtained by interviewing classmates, and the ratings of classroom teachers, parents and school principals. Large differences were found between the students with disabilities and their typical peers for amount of time spent interacting with peers and amount of time spent in isolation, with a moderate difference found for interactions with teachers. However, no difference was found between the social status of the two groups, and the students with disabilities were still spending more than half their time in the playground interacting with typically developing peers. Parents generally rated their children as having better social skills than did principals or teachers. A moderate relationship was found between the direct measures of peer interactions and teachers' perceptions of peer interaction skills. The relationships between the parents' and principals' perceptions of peer interaction and direct measures of the interaction were only small. Some of the implications of these findings for integrating students into mainstream schools and classes are discussed.     

中重度智力落后学生对不同句类理解的研究

对133名中重度智力落后学生陈述、祈使和反问三种句类指令的理解和反应进行实验研究,结果表明:随着年龄的增长,智力落后学生对不同句类的理解能力和反应能力都有显著提高;智力落后学生对陈述句和祈使句指令的理解和反应能力都显著优于反问句;在三个句类中,智力落后学生的反应能力都显著优于理解能力.教育者应提高学生对各种句类的理解水平,并在日常用语中多使用反问句.