Efrosini Kalyva

The influence of teaching experience and professional development on Greek teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion

On the assumption that the successful implementation of any inclusive policy is largely dependent on educators being positive about it, a survey was undertaken into the attitudes of Greek teachers to inclusion. The 155 respondents were general education primary teachers drawn from one region of Northern Greece, with a proportion deliberately selected from schools identified as actively implementing inclusive programmes. The analysis revealed positive attitudes towards the general concept of inclusion but variable views on the difficulty of accommodating different types of disabilities in mainstream classrooms. Teachers who had been actively involved in teaching pupils with SEN held significantly more positive attitudes than their counterparts with little or no such experience. The analysis also demonstrated the importance of substantive long‐term training in the formation of positive teacher attitudes towards inclusion. The paper concludes with recommendations for developing critical professional development courses that can result in attitudinal change and the formulation of genuinely inclusive practices.

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM): self and parental perceptions.

Kalyva E, Malakonaki E, Eiser C, Mamoulakis D. Health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) of children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM): self and parental perceptions.

Attitudes of Greek parents of primary school children without special educational needs to inclusion

Successful inclusion of children with special educational needs (SEN) in school settings depends largely on the attitudes of parents of peers without SEN. The purpose of the present study was to explore the attitudes of Greek parents of primary school children without SEN towards inclusion. The participants were 338 parents (182 fathers, 156 mothers), aged 27 to 58 years (mean age = 39 years and 5 months). They were asked to complete the My thinking about inclusion scale and a further short questionnaire. The findings revealed that Greek parents of primary school children not identified as having SEN had an overall positive attitude towards inclusion. Gender differences were also established—fathers held more positive attitudes towards inclusion than mothers, even when controlling for age, educational level and the presence of a child with SEN in their child’s classroom. However, mothers were overall more willing than fathers to engage themselves and their child in interaction with a child with SEN.

Can Contact Affect Greek Children's Understanding of and Attitudes towards Peers with Physical Disabilities?.

The present study explored typically developing children’s understanding of, and attitudes towards, the inclusion of children with physical disabilities (PD) in mainstream settings. The 60 children who participated in the study attended sixth grade in two mainstream primary schools (30 in contact with a child with PD and 30 without such contact). They filled in a questionnaire to measure understanding of disabilities and one to explore attitudes towards inclusion. Analyses revealed that children in contact with a child with PD had a better understanding of the emotional and social problems associated with the presence of PD than the comparison group. Moreover, children in contact with a child with PD expressed more positive attitudes towards the inclusion of children with PD in relation to children without such contact. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of contact in the formation of more positive attitudes towards the inclusion of children with PD.

Young Children's Attitudes toward Peers with Intellectual Disabilities: Effect of the Type of School.

BACKGROUND This study explored typically developing childrens attitudes towards peers with intellectual disabilities, with special reference to the type of school they attended. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two hundred and fifty-six Greek children aged 9-10 (135 in inclusive settings) completed a questionnaire and an adjective list by Gash (European Journal of Special Needs Education 1993; 8, 106) and drew a child with intellectual disabilities, commenting also on their drawings. RESULTS Typically developing children expressed overall neutral attitudes towards peers with intellectual disabilities. Type of school differentiated their attitudes, with children from inclusive settings being more positive towards peers with intellectual disabilities and choosing less negative adjectives to describe them than children from non-inclusive settings. Girls and students who expressed more positive social, emotional and overall attitudes towards students with intellectual disabilities chose more positive adjectives to describe a child with intellectual disabilities. It was also found that children from inclusive settings drew children with intellectual disabilities as more similar to a child with Down syndrome in comparison with children from non-inclusive settings. CONCLUSIONS Effective inclusive practices should be promoted to foster social acceptance of students with intellectual disabilities.

Comparison of Eating Attitudes between Adolescent Girls with and without Asperger Syndrome: Daughters’ and Mothers’ Reports

Despite the evidence that individuals with Asperger syndrome (AS) have a propensity for being underweight or having comorbid eating disorders, no previous research has compared the eating attitudes of adolescent girls with AS to typically developing peers. This study compared reports of eating problems provided by the adolescent girls themselves (56 with and 56 without AS) and their mothers on the EAT-26. Results indicated that adolescent girls with AS are at a higher risk for eating problems than their typically developing peers according to their reports and the reports of their mothers. Moreover, it was found that although the agreement between mothers’ and daughter’s reports is very satisfactory, mothers of girls with AS report statistically less eating-disordered behaviors than their daughters.

A cross-cultural study on perceived health-related quality of life in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus

OBJECTIVE This study investigated whether culture can affect self- and proxy-reports of perceived diabetes-specific health-related quality of life of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes when taking into account glycemic control, gender and age. METHODS A total of 416 patients aged between 8 and 18 years--84 (Greece), 135 (Hungary) and 197 (Kuwait)--and their parents completed the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 3.0. Diabetes Module. RESULTS Gender and age did not have any effect on perceived diabetes-specific health-related quality of life. Significant differences were detected among countries in self- and proxy-reports of diabetes-specific health-related quality of life when controlling for glycemic control. More specifically, Greek patients with type 1 diabetes and their parents reported significantly worse disease-specific health-related quality of life than their peers from Kuwait and Hungary. Moreover, culture affected the level of agreement between self- and proxy-reports with parents from Kuwait underestimating their childrens diabetes-specific health-related quality of life. CONCLUSION The impact of culture on self- and proxy-reports of diabetes-specific health-related quality of life warrants further investigation, since it might suggest the need for differential psychosocial treatment.

Reported Maternal Styles and Substance Use: A Cross-Sectional Study Among Educated Albanian Young Adults

The study explored a predictive model of substance use including perceived maternal parenting style, age and gender. Participants were 347 Albanian young adults (144 males and 203 females) aged 18 to 28 years. They completed the Parental Authority Questionnaire and the Adolescent Alcohol and Drug Involvement Scale. Gender, perceived authoritative maternal style, and age predicted a proportion of substance use involvement. Gender and perceived authoritative maternal style also predicted the proportion of young people at risk for substance use or abuse. Implications of the findings and limitations of the study are discussed.

PP15.16 – 2465: Effective interventions in addressing play deficits in children with autism spectrum disorders

Objectives The aim of this study was to explore which is the most effective type of social intervention to improve the reticent play behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorders. Methods Thirty children with autism spectrum disorders aged between 3 and 6 participated in the study. They were diagnosed using Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2 and they were randomly allocated to one of the three types of interventions (circle of friends, social stories and video modeling – 10 participants each). ANOVAs and Bonferroni tests were undertaken to examine the effect of each intervention in 4 different reticent play behaviors (onlooker role, wandering off, passive watching, and lonely/unoccupied) at 3 different stages (baseline, post-intervention and follow-up). Results It was found that the circle of friends was the most effective intervention in improving reticent play behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorders at all phases, followed by social stories and video modeling that were less effective. Conclusions Given the urgent need to address the social skills deficits of children with autism spectrum disorders, it is essential to assess which interventions have wider and more long-lasting effects. It seems that the circle of friends is more promising in delivering this type of results, at least as far as reticent play behaviors are concerned, in comparison to social stories and video modeling. More studies are needed to assess its effectiveness in addressing other social skills deficits faced by children with autism spectrum disorders.

PP15.6 – 2468: Changes in cognitive performance in children and adolescents with neurofibromatosis type 1

Objectives Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is an autosomal dominant disorder with a prevalence of approximately 1:3500. There is evidence to suggest that children and adolescents with NF1 present with lower cognitive skills than healthy controls and with higher cognitive skills than peers with other genetic disorders affecting the central nervous system. Our goal was to explore if there are any changes in the cognitive skills of children with NF1 as they grow older. Methods Eight children with NF1 participated in the study. The diagnosis was made based on NIH criteria and they did not present with any comorbidity. They were examined twice in a period of 3–5 years using Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children to assess their Intelligence Quotient, which is the most widely accepted indication of cognitive performance. Related-sample t-tests were applied to explore if there were differences both in overall as well as in individual scores and if these differences were statistically significant. Results The differences that were detected in the overall and the individual scores between the two assessments were not statistically significant for any of the children or adolescents with NF1. Conclusions This study demonstrated that children and adolescents with NF1 without comorbid conditions do not experience cognitive decline due to their genetic disorder. More research is needed in larger cohorts of children and adolescents with NF1 and comorbid conditions to explore if there is a cognitive decline and to which extent it can be treated with appropriate interventions.