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Purpose: This study was designed to translate and assess the psychometric properties of Supports Intensity Scale among adults with intellectual and developmental disability in Ahvaz and Tehran, Iran.

Method: The cross-sectional study was carried out in two stages. The first stage consisted of the forward-backward translation of Supports Intensity Scale - Adult Version) SIS-A(. In the second stage, 197 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities were recruited in order to assess the internal consistency and test-retest reliability, concurrent and content validity of SIS-A. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to approve the seven-factor model of the instrument.

Results: The intra-class correlation coefficient values varied between 0.85 and 0.99 (very good to excellent). All subscales of the SIS-A showed Cronbach’s alpha above 0.70. Correlation coefficient between SIS-A and Barthel index was about -0.65, which shows excellent concurrent validity of SIS-A. The findings showed SIS-A had high ability to discriminate between groups with different IQ (p<0.05). There was no significant correlation between SIS-A and the age of participants (p>0.05). The result of CFA confirmed that the seven-factor model of SIS-A is the fittest pattern for SIS-A.

Conclusion: The results indicated that the Persian version of SIS-A is a valid and reliable instrument to assess function and disability among people with intellectual and developmental disability.

Purpose: The study was conducted to examine the relationship between arm and leg motor impairment in stroke survivors and participation restriction, post rehabilitation, within the Tamale metropolis.

Method: The participants were 102 stroke survivors from the Tamale metropolitan area, who had undergone at least 3 months of rehabilitation. Upper limb motor assessment was followed by lower limb motor assessment based on the Manual Muscle Test. Levels of participation restriction were measured using the London Handicap Scale. Correlation analysis of motor impairment and participation restriction were done using Spearman rank correlation analysis.

Results: The mean age of post-stroke participants was 62.08 years (95% CI= 59.77-64.39), with men comprising 67.65% and 32.35% women. The Spearman rank correlation co-efficient between arm motor impairment and participation was 0.8343, depicting a strong positive relationship between the aforementioned variables. The correlation between leg motor impairment and participation yielded 0.8013. Conversely, leg motor impairment was found to have a stronger relationship with participation restriction in comparison to arm motor impairment.

Conclusion and Implications: The strong relationship between limb motor impairment and participation restriction suggests that clinicians and disability experts involved in rehabilitation should take cognisance of the social implication of motor impairment in order to make informed decisions. Further to this, arm and leg assistive devices could be useful in reducing the levels of participation restriction among persons with stroke within the Tamale metropolis.

Limitations: A major limitation is that motor impairment was assessed solely on the ability to perform voluntary movement (muscle power). Sensory disturbances and motor coordination difficulties also have the potential to influence participation restriction, so the exclusion of stroke survivors who are unable to communicate implies that external validity of the research is limited.

Purpose: To develop a scale for the assessment of gross and fine motor skills of the children with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities so that their skills could be assessed and accordingly interventions in physical activities could be specifically designed for them.

Method: Thirty-eight items for the Test of Motor Proficiency scale was developed after initial try out, pilot study and final try-out by the researchers. Fifty children with mild intellectual disabilities (n = 26), and moderate intellectual disabilities (n = 24) aged between 6 to 17 years fulfilling inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected from special schools in Jammu district, J&K (India).The Test of Motor Proficiency was administered on the selected sample.

Results: Internal consistency as calculated through Cronbach's Alpha was .906, indicating very good reliability. There was a highly significant correlation between the two independent assessments in inter-rater reliability r (48) = .95, p< .05 and  also within the domains of motor proficiency, Visual-Motor control r (48) =.728, p< .05, Upper limb speed and dexterity r (48) = .98, p< .05 , Running speed and agility r (48) =.99, p< .05, Bilateral coordination   r (48) =.96, p< .05, Strength r (48) =.95, p<.05, upper limb coordination r (48) =.62, p< .05. Concurrent validity of Test of Motor Proficiency was established against BASIC- MR; the correlation of BASIC-MR (M = 151.92, SD = 18.08, N = 50) and Test of Motor Proficiency (M = 49.22, SD = 12.23, N = 50) was highly significant r (48) = .76, p< .05. The construct validity assessed through test retest was r (48) =.97, p< .05.

Implications: The Scale can be used in the assessment of gross and fine motor skills of children with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities for clinical and research purposes.

This paper seeks to contribute to current debate on evidence-based practice and appropriate models of disability rehabilitation for people with disabilities in developing countries. Based on the authors' experience in, and evaluation of Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) projects and research, they provide suggestions for utilising different kinds of evidence at different levels of CBR. The paper proposes four considerations. First, at the micro level of individual rehabilitation techniques, it recommends the judicious co-opting of available evidence from conventional evidence sources. Second, at the level of service planning, it suggests the need for conducting major syntheses of CBR evaluation reports for evidence. Third, it proposes the incorporation of values with research in consideration of issues at the model level. Finally, the paper proposes that in the case of CBR and similar approaches, new conceptualisations and methodologies are required in current understandings of evidence-based research and practice, which highlight the voice of people with disabilities, their family members and communities as key sources of evidence-related data."This paper seeks to contribute to current debate on evidence-based practice and appropriate models of disability rehabilitation for people with disabilities in developing countries...The paper proposes four considerations. First, at the micro level of individual rehabilitation techniques, it recommends the judicious co-opting of available evidence from conventional evidence sources. Second, at the level of service planning, it suggests the need for conducting major syntheses of CBR evaluation reports for evidence. Third, it proposes the incorporation of values with research in consideration of issues at the model level. Finally, the paper proposes that in the case of CBR and similar approaches, new conceptualisations and methodologies are required in current understandings of evidence-based research and practice, which highlight the voice of people with disabilities, their family members and communities as key sources of evidence-related data"

Asia Pacific Disability Rehabilitation Journal, Vol 19, No 2