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Purpose: Beliefs about communication disability vary according to the cultural context, and influence people’s attitudes and help-seeking behaviour. Little is known about Fijians with communication disability or the communities in which they live, and specialist services for people with communication disability are yet to be established in Fiji. An understanding of Fijian beliefs about the causes of communication disability and attitudes towards people with communication disability may inform future service development.

Method: An interpretivist qualitative research paradigm and the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework informed this project’s design. Scenarios of adults and children with communication disability were presented to 144 participants, randomly sampled across multiple public spaces in two Fiji cities. Thematic analysis of responses to 15 survey questions revealed participant beliefs about the causes and attitudes towards people with communication disability.

Results: Three clusters describing perceived causes emerged from the analysis - internal, external, and supernatural. Major clusters across child and adult scenarios were similar; however, response categories within the scenarios differed. Community attitudes to people with communication disability were predominantly negative. These community attitudes influenced individual participants’ beliefs about educational and employment opportunities for Fijians with communication disability.

Conclusion: Determination and acknowledgement of individuals’ belief systems informs development of culturally appropriate intervention programmes and health promotion activities.

Implications: Speech-language pathologists and other professionals working with Fijian communities should acknowledge community belief systems and develop culturally-specific health promotion activities, assessments, and interventions.

Purpose: This pilot study explored the use of virtual reality-based games as an enjoyable yet effective intervention to improve skills in children with developmental disabilities. Although the intervention was primarily targeted at the enhancement of motor skills, the children’s communication, cognitive and social/emotional skills were also monitored and changes, if any, were tracked during this period.

Methods: Therapists guided 5 children (4 boys with Autism Spectrum Disorder and 1 girl with Learning Disability) while they played carefully chosen games on the Xbox-Kinect, in individual sessions. Each child attended between 4 and 6 sessions over a span of one month. Therapists used a 4-point rating scale to evaluate specific skills in each of the four domains (motor, communication, cognitive and social/emotional) at the beginning of the intervention, and again at the end.

Results: Pre-and post-intervention scores revealed that the children made significant progress, not only in certain motor skills but also in skills from the cognitive and social/emotional domains. None of the children regressed in any of the skills monitored from the different domains.

Conclusions: Initial findings indicate that virtual reality games provide a useful platform for building interventions for children with developmental disabilities. There is much scope for future research in this area. The results of the study provide insights into the skills which might require prolonged, consistent inputs during the intervention, and the ones which might be acquired quickly through leaps in learning. The different ways in which children with varied developmental profiles might benefit from virtual reality-based interventions were also highlighted.

Purpose: Since very young people benefit from early identification of communication disorders, the primary caregivers (generally the parents) become the fulcrum of the intervention services provided. This article deals with the measures taken to empower caregivers, as part of the early intervention services offered at the All India Institute of Speech & Hearing (AIISH) in Mysore city in India, and the impact this has had on their wards’ progress.

Method: A survey was conducted among the caregivers of 205 clients who availed of early intervention services. Five-pronged data were collected, pertaining to family demographic details, early intervention measures for their children with communication disorders, type and intensity of caregiver empowerment measures provided along with early intervention services, resultant caregiver participation in the education and training of their wards, and the consequent development in children with communication disorders. The mutual influences among these factors were analysed using simple correlation measures.

Results: The findings revealed that informal, but continuous and consistent efforts to empower parents, such as counselling and guidance, had a better impact. Empowered caregivers in turn contributed towards the education and training of their children with communication disorders, resulting in improved development of their wards’ communication skills and academic achievements.

Conclusion: The evidence adds strength to recommendations that caregiver empowerment and participation need to become integral components of early intervention services for young children with special needs.

Purpose: This is one of the first comprehensive studies to assess receptive and expressive language skills in a South Indian language, Kannada. It demystifies language impairments and provides a model for future research to understand other languages in India and in countries around the world.

Method: Language impairments were identified in 68 students of Grades 3 and 4, in elementary schools where Kannada was the medium of instruction. The children were assessed in different language components. The results were analysed in terms of their ages and their levels of functioning in each language component and sub-component.

Results: As a group, the children showed no significant deficits in phonological and semantic skills; however, individual deficits and deficits within sub-component skills of semantics were noted. Mean and individual deficits in auditory reception, aural comprehension and receptive vocabulary were also noted. Deficits in syntax & verbal expression were notably significant. The extent of language delay increases with age, and plateaus at higher ages.

Conclusion: Children with language impairments in Kannada, display many similar characteristics in terms of problems in different components of language. Early intervention is called for because the language delay increases as age advances. A thorough assessment reveals specific strengths and weaknesses in language components and skills. This can be used as a starting point to base remediation activities.