Contributions of Musical Activities to the Development of the Verbal and Musical Expression Skills of Children with Special Needs

The relationship between musical and linguistic skills has received particular attention in infants and school-aged children. However, very little is known about pre-schoolers. This leaves a gap in our understanding of the concurrent development of these skills during development. Moreover, attention has been focused on the effects of formal musical training, while neglecting the influence of informal musical activities at home. To address these gaps, in Study 1, 3- and 4-year-old children (n = 40) performed novel musical tasks (perception and production) adapted for young children in order to examine the link between musical skills and the development of key language capacities, namely grammar and phonological awareness. In Study 2, we investigated the influence of informal musical experience at home on musical and linguistic skills of young pre-schoolers, using the same evaluation tools. We found systematic associations between distinct musical and linguistic skills. Rhythm perception and production were the best predictors of phonological awareness, while melody perception was the best predictor of grammar acquisition, a novel association not previously observed in developmental research. These associations could not be explained by variability in general cognitive functioning, such as verbal memory and non-verbal abilities. Thus, selective music-related auditory and motor skills are likely to underpin different aspects of language development and can be dissociated in pre-schoolers. We also found that informal musical experience at home contributes to the development of grammar. An effect of musical skills on both phonological awareness and language grammar is mediated by home musical experience. These findings pave the way for the development of dedicated musical activities for pre-schoolers to support specific areas of language development.

There are some attempts to politically encourage the rights of social status to Special Needs Children by both Thai government and non-government organizations. Practically, the fact indicates that the Special Needs Children’s social status and roles are vaguely partial in terms of whether opportunities or social rights. The researcher has experimented by organizing traditional Thai musical activities to Special Needs Children, the case study of Panyawutikorn School. Pre-test and post-test results and observation evidently have shown that the musical skills are increasingly improved. Similarly, an empirical data presents they took pride proudly when they are being praised in their developing skills by teachers, parents as well as H.R.H. Mahachakri Sirindhron princess, has been at Panyawutikorn school in order to attend Thai musical performance of Special Needs Children, the attention of princess can encourage them to be more engaged in musical performance of Special Needs Children and also people involved. As mentioned above, ‘music’ is utilized as a tool to transforms the social status and give them a chance of playing role as givers. The traditional Thai music ensemble of Special Needs Children is requested to broadly show their abilities in many places such as hospitals, elderly cares, and in other school activities. Truly, music therefore is effectively able to transmit the social status of the Special Needs Children from previously they were defined as always receivers to be currently understood as givers. Furthermore, the study also provided the number of children is stepping up and paying more attentions in musical activities. This is to really consider the attempts to push up Special Needs Children in the same level of citizenship hierarchy.

Social interaction employs both verbal and nonverbal language. We investigate the confidence level and brain activity when verbal and facial expressions are inconsistent. Four volunteers stored images of eight individuals whose facial expressions were either agradáveis (smiling) or unfavorable (rejection) sozinhas or in combination with a verbal expression [positive / negative]. As a measure of their trust, the participants were asked to make a donation to the individual in the photograph who was in financial distress. The Visual Analogue Scale was utilized to evaluate positive feelings and self-assurance levels (VAS). After seeing the photos, Event Related Potentials (ERPs) are acquired in 170–240 milliseconds. Standardized low-resolution electromagnetic brain tomography was used to pinpoint brain activity under incongruous situations (sLORETA). The VAS values for the positive condition smile were substantially greater than those for the other conditions (p 0.05). For inconsistency between verbal and facial responses, namely the smiling negative condition, the offer was severely reduced. Under discordant conditions, the parietal lobe was more active on EEG than under congruent conditions. Incongruence [negative smile] evoked less positive emotion, confidence, and offer quantity. Our findings indicate that incongruent sensory input increased activity in the parietal lobe, which may be a result of mentalization.

The measurement of intellectual ability is an important component of many psychological assessments conducted by mental health professionals. Psychologists often face the challenge of assessing the cognitive ability of individuals who, for a variety of reasons, are either limited in their ability to understand directions (and therefore the requirements of a test) or have verbal expression difficulties. For example, recent demographics in the United States suggest that the percentage of individuals of diverse ethnic backgrounds, language backgrounds, or both is on the rise. Mental health professionals searching for ways to measure the cognitive ability of children and adults have used ability tests typically referred to as nonverbal. These tests assess a person’s intellectual ability using minimal verbal requirements. For example, they include very short verbal directions and minimal-to-nonexistent English language verbal expression skills. These characteristics have made nonverbal intelligence tests very popular among psychologists who need to employ fair assessment techniques in their evaluations. The General Ability Measure for Adults (gama), is a nonverbal test that shares many of the above features. By reducing the effects of item verbal content, the gama is free of the confounding requirements for expressive language skills and overall academic achievement. This assessment approach offers the advantage of providing an instrument that is accessible to a wide variety of persons with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, to those with limited educational experiences or verbal skills, to those with difficulties with verbal communication, and to those who are deaf or hearing impaired. In addition, the gama can be administered in a variety of settings.

The relationship between verbal skills and retention among adolescents in substance abuse treatment is understudied. In order to assess verbal predictors of retention, twenty-eight 16-19 year old adolescents in a therapeutic community for substance abuse were evaluated between 30 and 90 days after admission. These adolescents were then followed prospectively for 1 year. Verbal and non-verbal cognitive screens, audio taped narrative responses, and self-reports of socio-emotional function and psychiatric symptoms were completed. Verbal scores were associated with self-restraint and counselor reports of therapeutic engagement and comprehension. General verbal scores predicted attrition, while therapeutic expressiveness (verbal expressiveness in a therapeutic context) predicted retention. Remediation of verbal communication skills may be an overlooked aspect of the therapeutic process in treating adolescent substance abusers.

This research addresses the challenge of detecting emotional expressions in children with special needs, who often rely on nonverbal communication due to difficulties in verbal expression. Traditional emotion detection methods struggle to accurately recognize subtle emotions in these children, which can lead to communication barriers in educational and therapeutic settings. This study proposes the use of the Yolov4-Tiny model, a lightweight and efficient object detection architecture, to accurately detect four key facial expressions: Angry, Happy, Smile, and Afraid. The dataset consists of 1500 images, evenly distributed across the four expression classes, captured under controlled conditions. The model was evaluated using various metrics, including Confidence, Precision, Recall, F1-Score, and Mean Average Precision (mAP), across different training-to-testing data splits. The results demonstrated that the Yolov4-Tiny model achieved high accuracy, with a perfect mAP of 100% for balanced and slightly imbalanced splits, and a minimum mAP of 93.1% for more imbalanced splits. This high level of performance highlights the model's robustness and potential for application in educational and therapeutic environments, where understanding emotional expressions is critical for providing tailored support to children with special needs. The proposed system offers a significant improvement over traditional methods, enhancing communication and emotional support for this vulnerable population.

The assessment participation of students with disabilities is now an important part of students’ education and educational decision-making. While much attention has been paid to the participation of students with significant intellectual disability, little research exists regarding the extent to which students with mild intellectual disability participate in the accountability system. This study represented a secondary analysis of the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2). The study focused on to what extent secondary students with mild intellectual disability participated in mandated assessments (i.e., does not participate, alternate assessment, general assessment with accommodations, and general assessment without accommodations) as well as the relationship between participation and educational factors, such as special education curriculum, core classes in general education, and postschool goals. Participation in assessments by students with mild intellectual disability was multifaceted with the majority taking an alternate assessment. However, statistically significant relationships existed between assessment participation and special education curriculum, language arts and mathematics in general education, and postschool goals. Implications of the results are discussed in light of educational planning for students with mild intellectual disability.

The D.E.S. report, Music 5‐16 (1985) makes explicit the need for all children to have experience of and develop specific musical skills and concepts through musical activity. This paper investigates the processes involved in helping young children begin to acquire concepts ranging from melody ‐ duration, and the development of appropriate skills in relation to this. It is maintained that while experiences can be provided to help children develop musical concepts, it is not always possible to define the way in which children actually assimilate these. It is concluded that while children are involved in musical skills and activities that aid concept development, it is the enjoyment and experience of the music itself which should be predominant.

ResumenSe presentan los resultados de un estudio sobre la influencia del gesto icónico en la memoria de trabajo en estudiantes con discapacidad intelectual leve. Cómo hipótesis general se planteó que la retención de la información verbal en la memoria de trabajo variaría en función del uso de gestos en niños/as con discapacidad intelectual leve, donde el gesto congruente con la expresión verbal facilitaría dichos procesos de memoria. Vara probarlo, se realizó un estudio experimental con 120 niños/as con discapacidad intelectual leve, que asistían al nivel básico en escuelas especiales y de plan común. Los resultados indican la existencia de diferencias significativas (p < 0.05) en el recuerdo inmediato del gesto asociado al discurso verbal. Los niños recordaban más palabras y frases si se presentaba un gesto congruente. Se concluyó que los gestos congruentes facilitan las tareas de memoria, considerándose crucial el lenguaje no verbal en los contextos de aprendizaje.

The present experiment was so designed as to test the hypothesis that the intradimensional shifts during optional shifts would be facilitated by verbal responses to the discriminanda as well as overtraining trials in initial discrimination task.A 2×2×3 factorial design was used, which incorporated two (color and form) dimensions, verbal and nonverbal responses, and 3 levels of initial overtraining. The Ss were 192 kindergarten children of the mean age of five years and three months, who were assigned to any of 12 cells equated in age and sex. They were given two-dimensional, simultaneous discrimination tasks as shown in Fig. 1. Throughout the experiment, half of the Ss was required to respond to discriminanda using verbal expression (verbalization group), while the remaining Ss were instructed to point out stimulus cards with fingers (nonverbalization group). The correct responses were informed by saying “Hit”, and the incorrect responses by “Miss”. Initial discrimination tasks were learned up to three training levels respectively: the criterion of nine correct out of 10 successive trials (no overtraining), additional 10 overtraining trials after the criterion, and additional 30 overtraining trials after the criterion. Then, the Ss were trained on an optional shift task to nine correct out of 10 successive trials. The test discrimination task consisting of 18 stimulus cards was presented in order to determine whether the optional shift had been intradimensional or extradimensional.The main findings were that (a) there was no significant difference in initial discrimination performance between verbalization and nonvervalization groups (Table 1), (b) intradimensional shift was facilitated in terms of verbal responses and overtraining, but the overtraining effect was somewhat due to the performance of verbalization group (Tables 4 and 5), (c) The order of the percentage of intradimensionally shifted Ss was relevant verbalization group, nonverbalization group, and irrelevant verbalization group, (Tables 5 and 6), and (d) faster learners of initial discrimination tasks performed intradimensional shifts more easily than slower learners.The results were discussed in relation to previous studies, mediating response theories, and dimensional preferences.

This study aims to develop and evaluate the PERMATA educational game application, a digital learning medium designed to enhance students' understanding of currency among those with mild intellectual disabilities at a YKB Special Needs School. The research adopted the Research and Development (R&amp;D) methodology, following the ADDIE model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation). Media, material, and language experts assessed the application's validity. Practicality was tested with teachers and students, while effectiveness was measured using a pre-test and post-test design with 26 students to gauge improvement in their current comprehension. The validation results confirmed the application's high quality, with an average validity score of 92% (very valid). Practicality tests yielded scores of 93% from teachers and 95% from students (very practical). The effectiveness test demonstrated a significant increase in learning outcomes, with an average score of 85.8% (very effective), indicating that the application successfully improved students' understanding of currency. This study addresses a critical gap in special education by developing a tailored digital game that specifically targets financial literacy for students with mild intellectual disabilities. The PERMATA application is a novel, validated tool that serves as a viable, practical, and compelling interactive medium for enhancing essential life skills, making a significant contribution to inclusive, technology-driven education. Keywords: educational game, currency understanding, mild intellectual disability, special needs education

Objective:The SIN3A gene mutation is a rare genetic mutation with few reported cases (&lt; 1 in 1,000,000) associated with autosomal dominant Witteveen-Kolk Syndrome, a rare neurodevelopmental syndrome only discussed in the past decade (Witteveen et al., 2016). This syndrome can be characterized by short stature, distinctive facial features, developmental delay, mild intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, hypotonia, and seizures (Balasubramanian et al., 2021), however a paucity of information regarding comprehensive neuropsychological functioning in these individuals is present in the literature, and even this recent review study noted that intellectual ability was rarely assessed through formal testing (6 of 28 cases). We present a case, “M”, to help describe a potential pattern of neurocognitive strengths and weaknesses in this population.Participants and Methods:The participant, “M”, was diagnosed with a de novo mutation in the SIN3A gene at the age of 11 years with previous diagnoses of global developmental delay, hypotonia, autism spectrum disorder, specific learning disability in mathematics, developmental coordination disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. M was seen for a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation at 11 years of age at an academic medical center, which consisted of comprehensive review of medical and school records, parent and child interview, questionnaires, and performance-based testing.Results:M’s verbal and language skills emerged as a particular strength. Her verbal memory, verbal fluency, and verbal comprehension skills were all in the average range or above, as were reading, reading comprehension, and spelling skills. M demonstrated a pattern of notable weaknesses in visuospatial skills, including impaired visuospatial reasoning, visuomotor integration, visual scanning, visual perception, and visual memory. Additionally, M demonstrated a slight weakness in Low Average mathematics skills. M also demonstrated fine motor impairment with impaired speed, coordination, and accuracy. Although immediate auditory attention was noted to be average, performance on a test of sustained attention indicated a moderate persistence of attention concerns. Likewise, M’s mother reported her to be very elevated on symptoms of both attention and hyperactivity/impulsivity. Finally, M’s mother reported elevated concerns related to M’s peer relations and atypical behaviors and below average adaptive skills.Conclusions:Due to the rarity of M’s de novo mutation in the SIN3A gene, M’s pattern of weaknesses in visuospatial skills, fine motor skills, attention/executive functioning, and social skills, as well as her strengths in verbal skills can aid in further understanding the pattern of cognitive strengths and weaknesses in children with a mutation in the SIN3A gene. Additionally, given her mild weaknesses in math skills, it is possible that M’s performance on mathematics assessments may be impacted by her visuospatial weakness and thus better conceptualized as a visuospatial issue rather than a learning disability. Overall, this case can aid in identifying specific cognitive risk factors, such as visuospatial skills, in this population and lead to more targeted assessment and intervention, and highlights the importance of more nuanced cognitive evaluation as reporting of a general cognitive ability score alone may obscure underlying patterns of cognitive strength and weakness.

In the period of dramatic social changes, the question of the place of art in public life and its role in the formation of a certain socio-cultural atmosphere constantly arises. The authors proceed from the hypothesis that the musical preferences of children, adolescents and young people with special needs reflect not only the General musical identification of young people, but also are an independent process of social identification, the main factor of which is music. We consider musical preferences in children with disabilities, namely those suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. These children and adolescents experience difficulties in socialization and communication, so we focus on the use of music in the development of communication skills in children with this type of disorders. Under the influence of music is the formation of musical identity, manifesting itself through musical preferences and musical activities. The interaction of group and personal aspects of musical identity is clearly manifested in musical preferences and in musical activity. Russian society at the present stage of its development is particularly in need of active creative personalities, people of high intelligence and spiritual culture. Education of the developing personality is impossible without familiarizing with universal cultural values, without deep assimilation of all experience of world cultural heritage of the past. Universal values are an important factor in the revival of the country and its exit from the spiritual and moral crisis. And in this process, music plays a significant role. Reflecting the reality through the musical image, the system of musical means of expression, it has its own specifics in the formation of universal values. Musical preferences are based in adolescent children on two main forms: 1) psychodynamic form and 2) sociological form. The authors raise the problem of psychological and pedagogical support of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The aim of the study conducted by the authors is to find ways to influence the main psychological and motor symptoms of ADHD in children by means of music and musical activity. The objectives of the study include: the search for methodological grounds for music therapy effects, selection and testing in practice of adequate methods and techniques, musical material and psychological and pedagogical conditions of the organization of support for children with ADHD syndrome. The research can give impetus to further development of health-saving technologies of General education and programs of support for children with disabilities. This specificity consists not only in the development of the aesthetic and moral needs of the individual, but also in the development of spiritual culture, which is due to the music with high moral content. In the last decade, entertainment music has begun to prevail over other genres. It does not contribute to the formation of healthy tastes and moral qualities of the individual.

The results of a quantitative investigation on how incorporating TED Talks media into language training affects students' speaking abilities are presented in this article. The purpose of the study was to evaluate how well students' verbal expression and communication skills may be improved by using TED Talks videos as a resource. After incorporating TED Talks, students' speaking abilities significantly improved, according to an examination of pre- and post-test results. The integration of genuine and captivating information from TED Talks introduced students to a diverse range of subjects, accomplished presenters, and everyday language usage, resulting in improved pronunciation, vocabulary, and fluency. These findings highlight the TED Talks' potential as a useful educational resource for enhancing students' speaking abilities during language training. It is highly recommended that language instructors use TED Talks into their instructional strategies to establish engaging and interactive learning environments that promote language proficiency and proficient communication. The study adds to the body of knowledge already available on the use of multimedia materials in language instruction and provides teachers looking for creative ways to improve their students' speaking skills with useful advice.

The effects of “transitional-bilingual” and “dual-language” educational models on proficiency in students’ home language (Spanish) were examined in a study of English language learners in the first and second grades in a large urban elementary school. In each grade, students were taught with either a transitional-bilingual model or a dual-language one, with a Spanish proficiency assessment administered on a pre/post basis. ANOVA results showed that both models produced significant increases in multiple dimensions of Spanish proficiency (alphabet/sight words, reading, writing, listening, and verbal expression). However, second-grade students in dual-language classrooms (who had longer exposure to the instructional model relative to first graders) scored significantly higher in verbal expression skills. In light of research linking proficiency in the home language with achievement in English language skills and content learning, dual-language instruction appears to be more effective than transitional-bilingual education, although the advantage is limited to the facilitation of home-language verbal expression associated with the dual-language model.