Research in developmental disabilities
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This research was conducted to replicate and expanded the work of Bodfish et al. [Bodfish, J. W., Harper, V. N., Deacon, J. ⋯ Subjects (N=28) with cognitive and communication deficits were assessed at multiple baselines, during and after the procedure. The results indicated that scores on the PADS were significantly higher during the scaling procedure than during all other observations quantified by the PADS. We conclude that the PADS is a functionally sensitive measure that may lack specificity, but that may also represent the state of the psychometric art of assessing pain in patients who have MR.
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This study examined the associations between children's and adolescents' autistic-like social deficits and school and social adjustment as well as the moderating roles of age and gender in these associations. The sample consisted of 1321 students (48.7% boys) in Grade 1 to Grade 8 from northern Taiwan. Children's and adolescents' autistic-like social deficits were assessed using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), and their school and social adjustment (i.e., academic performance, negative attitudes toward schoolwork/teachers/classmates, behavioral problems at schools, negative peer relationships, and problems with peers) were assessed using the Social Adjustment Inventory for Children and Adolescents (SAICA). ⋯ For example, autistic-like social deficits were more strongly related to negative school attitude, school social problems, and negative peer relationships in boys than in girls. Further, autistic-like social deficits were more strongly related to problems with peers in older girls than in older boys or younger children (regardless of gender). In conclusion, the present study suggests that autistic-like social deficits may place children and adolescents at increased risk for social and school maladjustment and that the extent of maladjustment may vary with the child's age and gender and the domains of adjustment under discussion.
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It is common to use questionnaires and interviews to assess the emotions of staff who serve clients with intellectual disabilities. Remarkably, observations of actual staff behaviour and assessments of nonverbal expressions are usually not involved. In the present study, we have made a first start in the development of an observation instrument that registers both verbal and nonverbal expressions of emotion. ⋯ Results revealed sufficient to good interrater reliabilities regarding the observation of the three forms of emotional expression: body movement, facial expression, and verbal utterances. Low levels of explained variances between the different forms of expression showed that predictive values were weak. This means that there is a surplue value of the observation of nonverbal emotional expressions as compared to existing instruments that base their assessment on verbal and/or written responses only.
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This study compared mothers and fathers' regulation with respect to 29 children with intellectual disability (ID) and 30 typically developing (TD) children, matched on their mental age (MA), as they solved eight tasks using physical materials and computers. Seven parents' regulatory strategies were coded as they supported their child's identification of the objective, planning, attention, motivation, joint attention, behaviour regulation and evaluation. Children's performance was scored. ⋯ There was a significant interaction effect of medium and children's MA on overall parents' regulation and on their support of identification of objective and of planning. Most parental strategies were negatively linked with ID and TD children's performance in tasks. In both groups, with control for MA, parental support with the identification of the objective, with planning and with attention was negatively linked to the corresponding self-regulatory strategies of the children with each medium; however, parents' joint attention was positively linked with children's joint attention.