Atypical Children Research Articles

PARENTING STRESS: COMPARISON BETWEEN PARENTS OF ATYPICAL CHILDREN AND TYPICAL CHILDREN

Parenting stress is experienced when demand exceeds the capabilities and resources that parents have. This study aims to compare the level of parental stress between parents of atypical children and typical children. A survey has been conducted with 46 parents of atypical children and 54 parents of typical children who were selected around Selangor. The Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF), which is formed from three domains: (1) parental distress, (2) parent-child dysfunctional interaction, and (3) difficult child, has been used to measure the level of parenting stress. The samples were asked to fill out the PSI-SF questionnaire, and the data collected was then analyzed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 27.0. The result showed that there was a significant difference in parenting stress levels between parents of atypical children and typical children. The mental health of atypical parents is greatly affected not only by the stress of daily life, work, marital problems, interpersonal relationships, and so on. Many of them also feel lonely and isolated since their worries and anxiety are not being understood. The implication of this study is to create awareness among parents of atypical children about their state of mental health before it reaches levels of depression. Therefore, appropriate support and assistance are needed by this group of parents in order to improve their quality of life and family relationships.

MEASURE THE LEVEL OF SENSORY PROCESSING PROBLEM IN CHILDREN WITH AND WITH OUT AUTISM IN CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT

Background of the Study: Sensory processing is the process in which all sensory stimuli integrate and enable person to respond according to the situation. There are number of sensory issues that either parents or teacher do not identify on early stages and various times it also cause behavioral issues or academic issues with in typical children too. The study aims to assess the sensory vulnerability of children with and without autism in the school environment and to identify the sensory issues. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in Karachi, Pakistan. Total 86 children recruited and divided into two groups included typical and atypical children. Using a standardized questionnaire-SPM (sensory processing measure) distributed in schools and completed by teachers. Result: Autism affects both mainstream children and children with autism, with sensory process subscales showing significant differences p value (< .005) for t- test. Autism children have higher sensory process vulnerability, particularly in social participation and praxis variables, compared to mainstream children’s. Conclusion: The study reveals that school initiates sensory stimuli, affecting children's vulnerability, even in special schools, despite providing structured environments for atypical children. Keyword: Perception, SPM, sensory responses, sensory threshold, autism, autistic disorder.

Effect of physical exercise in real-world settings on executive function of atypical children: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Impaired executive function is a core symptom of cognitive impairment in atypical children. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to explore the effectiveness of interventions for exercise in real-life settings on executive function in atypical children. This study searched the CNKI, Wan-Fang, VIP, WOS, PubMed, Scopus and EBSCO databases. Two researchers independently selected articles, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias for the included studies. Exercise activities were categorized into open and closed skills based on the unpredictability of the environmental context and into sequential and continuous skills based on the complexity of the movement structure. Based on these two classifications, motor skills were categorized into open-sequential (e.g. basketball), open-continuous (e.g. obstacle running), closed-sequential (e.g. martial arts) and closed-continuous (e.g. swimming) skills. The SPSS 25.0 and Stata 16.0 software were used for statistical analysis. A total of 19 articles (23 studies) were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis. The participants were 990 atypical children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Physical exercise in real-world settings had significant intervention effects on inhibitory control (SMD = -0.592, P = 0.033), working memory (SMD = -0.473, P = 0.034) and cognitive flexibility (SMD = -0.793, P = 0.014) in atypical children. Quantitative intervention characteristics and motor skill types moderated the effect of exercise on promoting executive function in atypical children. Overall, exercise for 30-50 min, three to seven times a week for less than 10weeks is effective in improving executive function in atypical children. Open skills and sequential skills have a positive intervention effect on more dimensions of executive function in atypical children. Physical exercise in real-world settings has a positive intervention effect on executive function in atypical children. We should design interventions based on the personality traits of the subject and the type of exercise they are interested in to better promote improved executive function in atypical children.

The Influence of Oculomotor Visual Abilities, Balance and Postural Control on the Praxis Abilities of Atypical Children Aged 7-12 Years

The main problems in dyspraxia are problems in coordination patterns and motor skills that require skills and rhythmic movements (motor skills). The foundation of children's motor skills is visual oculomotor abilities as a function of visual perception which is able to influence the midline position of the body so that children are able to achieve a position of static balance (balance) and also dynamic balance (postural control). The aim of this research is to analyze the influence of the three motor skill foundations on praxis events in atypical school-aged children. The research was conducted on 102 samples of children aged 7-12 years at the Asya Therapy Center Mojokerto. Samples were taken at simple random and divided into 2 groups, namely the case group (n=54) and the control group (n=48). The research design uses a case control study where researchers analyze the risk of praxis problems in terms of the influence of visual oculomotor factors, balance and postural control. Data analysis used logistic regression analysis which showed a significant value of 0.000 (0.000<0.05) so that from these results it can be seen that visual oculomotor factors, balance and postural control have a significant influence on praxis problems in atypical children aged 7-12 year. Apart from that, from the results of calculating the ods ratio, it was found that the highest ods ratio value was owned by the control ability

Software to Convey and Assist Medical Treatment Guide for Atypical Children

Abstract: The aim of this project is to build an informative software for medical professionals to assist the atypical children and make them understand the procedure of treatment and how it will be helpful to them. Along with a user friendly, responsive interface the dedicated platform for abnormal children has some attractive features to guide step by step treatment process via audio visual content with sub-titles. In this software multiple language feature is provided to explain those contents to children for their hustle free treatment in an easiest possible way. Starting from real life examples to animated videos and cartoonist images are available in this software for proper understanding and further encourage them for their treatment. This web based and android application focuses on motivating the children for cooperating with medical specialists and help them to overcome the fear of treatment. The ML based strong recommendation algorithm is also integrated in this multi-platform support application such as recommended videos, recommended languages etc. This is an open source , free and easy to use platform that provide advantages for medical experts as well as guardians of the children

The feasibility of using the Körperkoordinationstest fur Kinder (KTK) in a U.S. elementary physical education setting to assess gross motor skills specific to postural balance.

For the past ten years, falls have been the leading cause of nonfatal injuries for all age groups less than 15 years old. A significant rise in childhood sedentary behavior in schools and limited opportunities to be outside has led to motor coordination deficits which have contributed to fall injuries. A German assessment tool, the Körperkoordinationstest fur Kinder (KTK), which has been used for decades in Western European countries, allows researchers and physical education teachers to evaluate typical and atypical children's motor coordination competencies related to dynamic postural balance successfully. No research has been published on the use of this assessment tool in the United States. If its use were found to be feasible in this country for identifying motor coordination deficits in typical and atypical children, it would close the gap in determining motor coordination. Therefore, this study sought in Phase 1 to determine the feasibility of using the KTK assessment in U.S. children and Phase 2 sought to determine the adaptability of the scoring protocol from use in other countries to the United States. The Phase 1 results revealed the KTK assessment was feasible to administer in U.S. physical education class by addressing three challenges for U.S. schools: 1) KTK implementation, 2) time to assess each skill, and 3) the equipment availability and cost to implement the test in a physical education setting. In Phase 2, the researchers were able to determine the raw scores and motor quotient scores in this population and then were able to show similar scoring trends between U.S. children and Flemish children from a previous study. This assessment tool was deemed feasible and adaptable which is the first step to use the KTK in U.S. physical education elementary school settings.

Environmental manipulation and stimulation of atypical children trough art therapy

IntroductionThe accumulated experience, both with typical and atypical children, led to the desire for an easier integration into the collective.Detecting and encouraging the skills of the atypical child, with the help of combined arts techniques and environmental stimulation, supports their’s integration into the comunity.ObjectivesBeneficiaries-Centered Art therapy, with the aim of identifying and developing outstanding skills, trough environmental manipulation and combined arts techniquesMethods The environmental manipulation method is used in the art therapy session trough artistic installations and colorful fabrics. Trough chromatics and textures are generated different contexts and atmospheres sense, through which the atypical child comes to accept and discover that environment. Through the manipulation of artistic installations, gross motor skills are also required, having to produce large movements with the whole body, in order to shape the elements in the environment.Costume making as a transitional phase in the adaptation of the beneficiary to the previously created environment independently or together with the art therapist, consists in harmonizing the beneficiary with the environment. These stages are achieved through mixed techniques of artistic work, painting, decorating, modeling, collage, weaving and binding techniques.Results By practicing these methods during the art therapy sessions, the beneficiaries increased their self-esteem through the achievements they had and discovered and improved their outstanding skills: fine and gross motor skills, color sense, visual thinking, hand-eye coordination; improved and developed both verbal and non-verbal communication between beneficiary - art therapist and beneficiary - beneficiary, in the case of group sessionsImage:Image 2:Image 3:ConclusionsThe role of the artist/Art-therapist can be to identify and encourage the creative potential of the beneficiaries by making both individual and team artworks; to support social integration through art and to value the outstanding skills of the beneficiaries.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

A TEACHER AND A CHILD WITH THE AUTISM SPECTRUMPILOT STUDIES OUTCOMES

The article attempts to signal, with the support of pilot studies carried out among early school and preschool education teachers, the complex situation of a childs with the autism spectrum functioning at school and pre-school. In the established research concept, the aim of the study was to verify the knowledge on the autism spectrum among teachers of early school and pre-school education in the context of optimized didactic work with a child with this disorder as well as the childs functioning at school and in a kindergarten. The research also highlighted the answer to the question: How do teachers cope with atypical children at this stage of education and upbringing. The objective of the authors considerations was connected with functioning of children (aged 39) with special educational needs. Special emphasis was put on the autism spectrum.

Are parents of intellectually gifted child(ren) at higher, lower or equal risk for parental burnout?

Being a parent can lead to exhaustion when risk factors offset protective factors. Recent research enabled the understanding of parental burnout antecedents among parents of typical and atypical children, but we know few about parental burnout (PB) among parents of intellectually gifted (IG) children. At the same time, several qualitative studies report particularities of being a parent of IG child(ren). In this quantitative study, we explore whether the risk of PB is different for parents of IG child(ren) than for the global population. We use two samples of 196 strictly matched parents: the first is composed of parents having at least one IG child, the second is constituted of demographically matched control parents (data collection took place from November 2019 to February 2020). We use Kruskal-Wallis analysis to compare groups. The results suggest that having an IG child does not significantly modify the risk of PB (Mean IG group = 32.45, SD = 28.21; Mean control group = 27.69, SD = 25.58; KW = 3.500, p = 0.06; Cohen's d = 0.18). Implications and future perspectives are discussed, including the relevance of taking into account other special features of the IG child and the intellectual giftedness of the parent in future researches.

Art therapy focused on stimulating the emotional and expressive skills of the atypical children

IntroductionThe role of the art therapist can be to identify the creative potential, to value it and to support social integration through art. Detecting and developing the outstanding and hidden abilities of the atypical child can lead to a normal behavior and to a better social integration.ObjectivesIncreasing self-esteem, through personal satisfaction, emotional development and the development of hidden and outstanding skills.MethodsStimulating the child through the environment, works as a non-directive method during the art therapy session. Work environments offer various possibilities of expression, he chooses the materials to which he shows an interest, developing his own technique over time.The child is encouraged during the art therapy sessions, by exhibiting the works and decorating the work environment.Through these non-directive methods, the evolution of visual thinking is accelerated. The chromatic diversification, the gestures in painting and the alternation of work techniques such as printing, graphic lines and dripping, are signs of a visual thinking. The child discovers the environment and interacts with it trough art.Observing the potential of the materials around him and also certains physical phenomena, such as a three-dimensional mask that allows the color to outline its volumes by draining it on the shape, the child uses consciously the properties of materials and the movement of the object.ResultsDiscovering artistic and decorative skills; Increased self-esteem; Interaction in the artistic environment and even verbal communication in cases of autism.ConclusionsThrough art, the child can get closer to the social life.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

STANDARDIZATION OF PEDIATRIC EVALUATION OF DISABILITY INVENTORY (PEDI) IN TAMILLANGUAGE

The study aims to standardize Paediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) in Tamil Language. Quantitative research design. Bilingustic method was used to translate PEDI in Tamil language. Sixty participants were recruited through convenience sampling to establish content reliability of Tamil version of Paediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory and eighteen participants included to establish concurrent validity of Tamil version of Paediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory. Correlation was done between ISAA and Tamil version of Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory to establish concurrent validity. The content reliability showed a highly statistically significant correlation for typical children and atypical children’s functional skills and caregiver assistance on Self-care, Mobility and social functioning. The internal consistency was excellent between typical and atypical children for both domains respectively. The results found that there was a negative correlation between Indian Scale for Assessment of Autism and Tamil version of Paediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory in typical and atypical children. The Tamil version of Paediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory is a reliable and valid tool to identify children with disabilities in Tamil Nadu. This tool can be used for screening, intervention and research purpose.

On Your e-Bike: Riding Towards the Light

In a 1930 letter to his son Eduard, Albert Einstein wrote “Beim Menschen ist es wie beim Velo. Nur wenn er faehrt, kann er bequem die Balance halten”. It has since been translated in different ways. A literal translation is: “People are like bicycles. They can keep their balance only as long as they keep moving”. This article presents a familial reflection of a period of time during the first UK lockdown in the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic when the world literally stopped. A snapshot of daily life with atypical children is captured along with the journey to realisation that life is indeed like riding a bicycle. A sample of challenges faced by autistic children when routines are disrupted are presented in the context of a pandemic, with Einstein’s 20th century bicycle simile proving that “to keep your balance you must keep moving”, albeit with a 21st century twist with the aid of an electric motor.

Internal Consistency and Item Analysis of the Persian Version of the Child Sensory Profile 2 in Vulnerable Populations.

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to establish the item analysis and internal consistency of the Persian version of the Child Sensory Profile 2 in 2 groups of typical and atypical children (autism spectrum disorder and learning disabilities) aged 3 to 14 years.Method: The sample of this study included 120 typical and atypical children aged 3 to 14 years who referred to schools and rehabilitation centers in Tehran were selected using multistage sampling method. To collect data, the Child Sensory Profile 2 questionnaire was used, which is a set of questionnaires of the Sensory Profile 2. To analyze the data, the discrimination index was used to determine the discriminant validity of the Child Sensory Profile 2, and the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to determine the reliability in terms of internal consistency.Results: Discrimination index was satisfactory for all the items of the Child Sensory Profile 2. The values of Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.795-0.919 in typical children and 0.617-0.901 in autistic children, and 0.792-0.920 in children with learning disabilities.Conclusion: The Persian version of the child sensory profile 2 is a valid (discrimination with vulnerable populations) and reliable (internal consistency) tool for assessing sensory processing.

Arte-Educação, Transtorno do Espectro Autista-TEA e possibilidades educativas

O estudo teve como objetivo compreender a criança com Transtorno do Espectro Autista (TEA) na primeira infância (de zero a dois anos), refletindo sobre as possiblidades construtivas da Arte-Educação para o desenvolvimento e aprendizagem da criança. O TEA é caracterizado por dificuldades no desenvolvimento da linguagem, nos processos de comunicação e por déficits nos processos de socialização. A Arte pode proporcionar experiências e oportunidades de construção sensoriais, cognitivas e afetivas, e que dialoga com intervenções terapêuticas- pedagógicas na Educação de crianças atípicas com dificuldades na interação social e na comunicação. A pesquisa de abordagem qualitativa foi realizada por meio de entrevista narrativa com a mãe de uma criança com TEA. Os resultados sugerem que a criança desde os primeiros meses apresentou sinais do TEA como: dificuldade de amamentação, a ausência de contato visual, descontentamento nos momentos de toque, pouca reação a voz humana, fixação por objetos que pudessem ser girados e um padrão repetitivo de organização. A arte desperta, no bebê, múltiplas sensações: cria laços afetivos, promove o aconchego, estimula percepções sensoriais e movimento e precisam ser estimulados para essa expressão. Conclui-se que a criança com TEA na primeira infância, pode se beneficiar das possiblidades construtivas da Arte-Educação, como fator benéfico para o progresso interativo da criança.

A prática da psicologia escolar e sua contribuição na inclusão escolar de crianças atípicas

O presente trabalho objetivou compreender a atuação do psicólogo escolar na inclusão de crianças atípicas. Os dados foram coletados mediante entrevista realizada com uma psicóloga da Associação de Amigos dos Autistas do Piauí (AMA). As respostas da entrevista foram categorizadas em três categorias: a concepção de desenvolvimento atípico e de inclusão escolar, a atribuição da psicologia escolar e a contribuição do psicólogo escolar para a inclusão escolar de crianças atípicas. Os resultados mostraram que pode se entender o desenvolvimento atípico como um padrão de desenvolvimento que não é considerado normativo para a faixa etária do indivíduo, fazendo-se necessário um projeto de inclusão bem elaborado na instituição de ensino. Cabendo ao psicólogo escolar trabalhar em conjunto com a rede escolar, os familiares dos alunos e a comunidade, oferecendo amparo e orientação, visando tornar a escola um ambiente proporcionador de desenvolvimento igualitário.

O grafema e o dígrafo um estudo longitudinal do desempenho ortográfico de crianças de três dialetos portugueses

e possible preservation of the phonological distinction between the voiceless post-alveolar affricate /tS/ and the voiceless post-alveolar fricative /S/ - corresponding to the graphic forms <ch> and <x>, respectively - in only a few dialects in the north of the country could be motivating different behaviors from children speaking different regional varieties of Portuguese in their first years of schooling. Since this study has not yet been done, this paper intends to analyze the written productions of Portuguese children from three linguistic areas of Portugal, represented here by children from the cities of Lisbon, Porto, and Chaves, about the spellings <x> and <ch>, to understand whether there is any relationship between the preservation or non-preservation of this phonological distinction and the children’s orthographic performance. Thus, the written productions of students belonging to the three dialectal regions mentioned above will be analyzed based on data from the EFFE-On corpus (Rodrigues, Lourenço-Gomes, Alves, Janssen & Gomes 2015) with the phonological distinction between /tS/ and /S/ having been preserved in some and neutralized in others. Therefore, it will be possible to measure the impact that the students’ dialect can have on their orthographic performance, as well as perceive any differences in performance related to the grapheme <x> vs. the digraph <ch>. Two groups of children were created for the analysis: a group with typical and another with atypical phonological development children. The differences observed point to a need to deepen the discussion concerning the sound aspect of language in the classroom, beginning in the first years of schooling - especially during the literacy phase.

Parental speech to typical and atypical populations: a study on linguistic partial repetition

Parents often use partial self-repetitions with variation in successive utterances (e.g., Want to get your ball? Get your ball? Do you want to get your ball?). Such ‘variation sets’ contain latent distributional information about the building blocks of language and are predictive of children's lexical and grammatical structures. Because these properties in parents of atypically developing children are virtually unknown, we compared for the first time variation sets in parental speech directed to toddlers with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD), Down Syndrome (DS), and a baseline group of Typically Developing toddlers (TD). In Study 1, we analyzed transcripts of mothers' child-directed utterances during naturalistic dyadic play interactions. While children's mean developmental age was the same across the three groups, we found that measures of partial repetitions in child-directed speech were larger in the ASD than in the DS and typical groups. In Study 2 we also found that these larger measures in the ASD group were mainly driven by the mother, as opposed to the father. Because partial repetitions decrease with chronological age of the child in typical groups, and the atypical children were older than the TD group, our findings suggest compensating modes of communication in parental speech to atypical populations, especially the ASD group. The study validates the extension of structural/statistical analyses of language to compare parental communication to typical and atypical populations.

The Importance of the Nurse as Part of a Multidisciplinary Team in Care of Children With Disabilities

Previously, the general opinion was that the nurse was only in charge of patient care, but research to date has shown that the scope of work of a nurse is extremely complex and therefore, it occupies an important place in the treatment and care of them.Multidisciplinary teamwork has contributed to more effective treatment, better disease outcomes, shorter hospital stay, prevention of complications and a better quality of life. This way of working, besides the child itself, emphasizes the whole family, which makes it possible active involvement of parents through all stages of treatment, rehabilitation, professional therapy and support. Through this research, parents and caregivers of children with disabilities have acknowledged the involvement of the nurse as an important role, that she is an integral part of the care team for atypical children, that the scope of her work responsibilities and daily activities contribute to improving the quality of care, communication and social care as well as integration. The survey instrument was an anonymous questionnaire, and the obtained data were compared using Fisher’s exact test and Chi-square tests to examine whether there was statistical significance.The results change the awareness of the work, roles and importance of the work of the nurse with children with disabilities and emphasize active participation in all spheres of life of atypical children.

Ultrasonography of tongue movements for the /l/ sound and characterization by gender in children with typical and atypical speech development

ABSTRACT Objective: to compare the articulatory gestures of the /l/ sound, characterized by gender variable, of children with typical and atypical speech development. Methods: the sample was composed of 60 children, 30 with typical speech development and 30 with atypical speech development, aged between 4 years and 8 years and 11 months, of both genders, being the /l/ sound acquired for all children. The articulatory data (ultrasound image of tongue movement) were collected from the recording of tri/polysyllabic words with the sound /l/, considering the maximum elevation of the tongue point analyzed through the Articulate Assistant Advanced (AAA) software. The mean tongue contours of typical and atypical children were compared to the gender variable in order to observe possible differences between these groups. Results: there was a significant difference in the tongue gestures of typical and atypical children in the male gender. In females, there was less differentiation of the means of the tongue contours between the typical and atypical children. Conclusion: the group of atypical male children presented less ability to refine the tongue gestures when compared to the typical ones of the same gender.

Tongue movements in the production of /l/ in children with and without speech sound disorders in different ages.

this study used the ultrasonography of the tongue movements and the dynamic models of speech production to characterize the articulatory gestures of in the production of /l/ at the Brazilian Portuguese in different age groups, comparing them between typical and atypical children. the sample consisted of 30 typical and 30 atypical children between ages of four and eight-years-old, who underwent speech-language and ultrasonographic evaluations. The evaluation was realized by recording words reproduction with the sound /l/ and the following vocalic contexts: /a/, /i/ and /u/, repeating six times for each word. The software for recording and analysis was Articulate Assistant Advanced (AAA). The quantitative analysis considered the 42 points that intercepted the tongue curves in each image to describe the articulatory gestures; the estimation of the mean lines of each curve and the confidence intervals between typical and atypical children groups; and the differences between the mean tongue contours curves according to age group. the results presented a tongue tip elevation and dorsal and root retraction in /l/. Typical children, regardless of age, showed a greater refinement of articulatory tongue gestures than the atypical ones. In older children, there was more delimitation in the mean tongue contours from the tongue tip to the root. the ultrasonography of the tongue movements is a substantial implement to characterize the articulatory gestures of /l/, to the differentiation between typical and atypical productions in this sound, and observation of the development of the articulatory gestures.