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The World Health Organization’s Caregiver Skills Training programme for children with developmental disorders or delays teaches caregivers strategies to help them support their child’s development. Ethiopia has a severe lack of services for children with developmental disorders or delays. This study explored the perspectives of Ethiopian caregivers, professionals and other stakeholders to inform adaptation and implementation of the World Health Organization’s Caregiver Skills Training in Ethiopia. Data collection included (1) a consultation and review, comprising stakeholder meetings, review of draft Caregiver Skills Training materials and feedback from Ethiopian Master Trainees and (2) a pre-pilot including quantitative feasibility and acceptability measures and qualitative interviews with caregivers (n = 9) and programme facilitators/observers (n = 5).

Autism 2020, Vol. 24(1) 51–63

https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361319848532

The video reports that most children with disabilities in Kazakhstan are not getting a quality, inclusive education and that although the Kazakh government has taken some important steps to better protect the rights of children with disabilities, much more needs to be done to ensure equal access to education for all children.

Cases of children with Downs Syndrome, autism and arthritis are highlighted.

Few studies have addressed the daily practice of applied teacher strategies aimed at facilitating the social participation of students with social-emotional problems or behavioural difficulties (SEBD). In this paper, we present two interlinked studies that address this topic. The main study reports on the development of the Teacher Strategy Questionnaire on Social Participation in the Classroom (TSQ-SPC). We tested the questionnaire’s construct validity by performing a second-order confirmatory factor analysis. The follow-up study presents the results of a survey of 163 Dutch general primary education teachers of inclusive classes using a modified version of the TSQ-SPC. It provides insights on the strategies that teachers apply in their daily practice to facilitate positive social participation of students with SEBD. The findings of both studies suggest that general primary education teachers apply a limited repertoire of strategies. Accordingly, there is an urgent need for further research focusing on the development of interventions and revisions of the pre- and in-service teacher development curricula aimed at adequately supporting and preparing general education teachers.

Purpose: This study explores and compares perspectives of educators and parents regarding interventions used in managing Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Sarawak, Malaysia. Information on parental desires and limitations when selecting and maintaining management will aid in the development of strategies for ASD educators to work effectively with parents and caregivers, and vice versa.

Method: This qualitative research employed traditional question and answer interviews with 7 ASD educators and 30 parents. Interviews were semi-structured and questions were open-ended to allow for additional details to be relayed within the scope of the subject matter. Thematic analysis revealed overarching perceptions concerning parental attitudes towards involvement in their children’s interventions, and implications of cultural context.

Results: Perspectives were similar regarding the importance of confidentiality from educators and cultural factors playing a major role in content of intervention chosen by parents. Perspectives differed across four themes. Of significance was the way in which both samples viewed parental self-reliance in supplementing interventions and parental attitudes in effort and perseverance. 

Conclusion: Parental resources and culture influence ability and attitudes towards involvement. While educators may not agree on certain aspects, mutual appreciation of differing perspectives would benefit the children.

This journal provides

• Nineteen original research articles on a variety of topics including the cost of raising a child with autism, experiences of care givers to stroke survivors, dyslexic's learning experiences, communication rehabilitation, disability and food security, hearing children of deaf parents and rehabilitation of stroke survivors, disability policy, learning for deaf learners, aquatic based interventions for children with cerebral palsy, evaluation of community based rehabilitation programmes, the impact of stroke and barriers to the implementation of inclusive education.
• Seven review articles: Intellectual disability rights and inclusive citizenship in South Africa: What can a scoping review tell us?; The benefits of hydrotherapy to patients with spinal cord injuries; Simple ideas that work: Celebrating development in persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities; The relationship between social support and participation in stroke: A systematic review; Parents of children with disabilities: A systematic review of parenting interventions and self-efficacy; Implementation of the 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Zimbabwe: A review; Part 1: A review of using photovoice as a disability research method: Implications for eliciting the experiences of persons with disabilities on the Community Based Rehabilitation programme in Namibia
• There is an opinion paper entitled - Deafening silence on a vital issue: The World Health Organization has ignored the sexuality of persons with disabilities
•  There is a case study - Lessons from the pilot of a mobile application to map assistive technology suppliers in Africa

Purpose: This study aimed to assess the implementation of an online parent training programme in Bangladesh, designed to enhance parental knowledge of autism and neurodevelopmental disorders and related interventions. In addition, study participants were expected to become “Master Trainers” with the intention of training other parents in their local communities.

Method: This survey study assessed parental knowledge and programme effectiveness, such as potential online learning barriers, cultural sensitivities, and general course content feedback after each unit.

Results: The programme had an 81% completion rate (with parents completing all but one unit) with an average programme knowledge score of 86%. Parents felt that the course content was moderately difficult, the length of the units was appropriate, and the units were culturally sensitive. They requested more detailed lessons, specific case studies, and adaptation of the curriculum for older children.

Conclusion: The pilot programme merits the next phase of development, which includes local adaptation and translation. However, the findings are limited by the small sample size.

Purpose: To analyse clinical outcomes in terms of functional changes in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), before and after receiving a multidisciplinary developmental intervention programme.

Methods: Structured goal-oriented multidisciplinary intervention, individualised to each child, was implemented through 5 child development centres in Mumbai, India, in 2014-2015. Secondary data analysis of 38 children diagnosed with ASD, in the age group of 2.1 - 6.1 years, was conducted. All children received occupational therapy and speech therapy, and parental counselling was also done. The average number of intervention sessions were 48-72 for occupational therapy (twice or thrice a week), 24-48 for speech therapy (once or twice a week) and 5-6 for parental counselling (once a month). Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and Vineland Social Maturity Scale (VSMS) were used for assessment, before and after intervention.

Results: Mean positive difference in CARS total scores through paired t-test was 4.18 (p < 0.0001). Significant positive changes in functional ability were observed in most of the sub-scales (relating to people; object use; visual response; verbal and non-verbal communication; taste, smell and touch response and use; level and consistency of intellectual response and general impression). Paired t-test also showed significant positive changes on all VSMS sub-scales, exceptSocialisation.

Conclusions: The model used in this multidisciplinary intervention, and adherence to its protocols, has the potential to improve functional ability (or the child’s adaptation to his/her condition) in children with ASD, in a region with limited awareness of developmental disabilities.

Limitations: Separate effects of factors outside the intervention could not be tested due to inadequate sample sizes for sub-analyses. Results also need to be validated by tests that do not depend on parental reporting (e.g., CARS and VSMS) but assess the performance of the child instead.

Background: This paper elucidates a methodological approach to interview text that tries to acknowledge the psychosocial nature of disability and thereby ensuring that empirical work in disability studies complements theoretical arguments already developed.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to outline a psychosocial conceptualisation of maternal subjectivity in relation to childhood disability and to apply this conceptualisation as an analytic tool to segments of an interview with a mother of a child with physical and developmental disabilities.

Method: Drawing on psychoanalysis and attachment literature alongside critical social psychology we take readers through the analysis of an interview extract with a particular mother. Through a fine grained analysis, we demonstrate the value of attending to the affective processes in and around the text rooted in the particular intersubjective exchange (‘here and how’) of the interview and the particular socio-historical context (‘there and then’) in which the mother, child and researcher are located.

Findings: The reading draws attention to discourses that position this particular mother and her children in particular ways while also pointing to investments in these discourses such that these discourses are not purely social but play affective functions.

Conclusion: This paper demonstrates the value of using multiple lenses to read the text, seeking to understand what is going on from within each lens (discursive/social, interpersonal, intrapsychic), while also seeking to disrupt this understanding as we take up the position of a different lens. This approach enables us to hold onto the complexity and locatedness of maternal subjectivity for mothers of children with disabilities.

This guide is designed for teaching staff at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Practical tips based on research evidence enable learning and teaching practices to be more accessible and support staff to build better relationships with autistic students.