Milica Gligorović

Tendency towards stigmatization of families of a person with autistic spectrum disorders

Background: Family members experience stigma via their connection with the affected member. Family stigma contains stereotypes of blame, shame and contamination. Aim: To establish the tendency towards stigmatization of family members of a person with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) by a sample of the general public of Belgrade. Methods: The sample encompassed 181 participants, of various ages and levels of education, and of different, self-assessed levels of knowledge about autism. The structure of stigmatization of family members of a person with ASD was explored applying the Family Stigma Questionnaire (FSQ) and the Level of Familiarity Questionnaire (LFQ). Results: Analysis of the obtained results established that scores indicating the tendency towards stigmatization were most pronounced for variables connected to blame for deterioration of the condition of the person with autism, contamination of the individual family members by the condition, and to feeling pity for family members of a person with ASD. Statistically significant differences were established when the FSQ scores stigmatizing parents and siblings were compared. Significant differences in stigmatizing stereotypes were established according to gender and level of education, and according to the self-assessment of knowledge about autism and the level of previous contact to persons with mental disorders. Conclusion: Anti-stigma programmes are important especially bearing in mind that participants who self-evaluated as having the least knowledge about ASD demonstrated the highest tendency towards stigmatizing the parents of a person suffering from ASD, and those of lower education demonstrated the highest tendency towards stigmatizing the family members.

Can mild bilateral sensorineural hearing loss affect developmental abilities in younger school-age children?

The research study was conducted for the purpose of examining the influence of mild bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (MBSNHL) on developmental abilities of younger school-age children. The sample encompassed 144 children with MBSNHL, aged 7.5-11 (M = 8.85). MBSNHL (20-40 dB HL) was identified by pure tone audiometry. The control group encompassed 160 children with normal hearing. The Acadia test of developmental abilities was used for assessment of developmental abilities. Although statistically significant differences between participants with MBSNHL and those with normal hearing were established in the majority of estimated developmental abilities domains, those differences do not indicate any significant delay in development of assessed abilities, except in the domain of auditory discrimination. The obtained results call for a systematic approach to children with MBSNHL in elementary schools.

Conceptual abilities of children with mild intellectual disability: Analysis of Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance

Abstract Background The ability to generate and flexibly change concepts is of great importance for the development of academic and adaptive skills. This paper analyses the conceptual reasoning ability of children with mild intellectual disability (MID) by their achievements on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Method The sample consisted of 95 children with MID aged between 10 years and 13 years 11 months. The following variables from the WCST were analysed: number of categories completed, initial conceptualisation, total number of errors, non-perseverative errors, perseverative errors, number of perseverative responses, and failures to maintain set. Results The observed WCST predictive variables account for 79% of the variability in the number of categories completed (p < .000). The total number of errors was the most significant predictor of performance on the WCST. Conclusion We can conclude that there is a significant progress of conceptual abilities between the age of 13 years to 13 years 11 months, compared to other assessed age groups. The results of our research suggests that the development of mental set flexibility is the basis of progress in conceptual abilities, thus intervention programs should offer specially designed activities that vary in their attentional demands, content, conceptual patterns, and actions required.

The influence of manifest strabismus and stereoscopic vision on non-verbal abilities of visually impaired children

This research was conducted in order to examine the influence of manifest strabismus and stereoscopic vision on non-verbal abilities of visually impaired children aged between 7 and 15. The sample included 55 visually impaired children from the 1st to the 6th grade of elementary schools for visually impaired children in Belgrade. RANDOT stereotest and polaroid glasses were used for the examination of stereoscopic vision, while Cover test and Hirschbergs pupils reflex test were used for the evaluation of strabismus. In the area of non-verbal abilities was evaluated visual discrimination, visuomotor integration, constructive praxia, visual memory, strategy formation, non-verbal reasoning and the representational dimension of drawings. Subtests of ACADIA test of developmental abilities were used for the evaluation of non-verbal abilities (Atkinson et al., 1972). Statistically significant relations between strabismus and constructive praxia (p=0.009), visual memory (p=0.037), strategy formation (0.040) and the quality of drawings were determined by the results analysis. According to our findings, children with divergent strabismus achieve the best results. Children with stereoscopic vision generally achieve better results in all the examined areas of non-verbal abilities, and statistically significant relations were determined in the areas of visuomotor coordination (0.002), constructive praxia (0.026) and non-verbal reasoning (0.015), which are directly connected to visuospatial abilities. Children with convergent strabismus achieve significantly lower results in the areas of constructive praxia, visual memory, strategy formation and representational dimension of drawings, and children with the lack of stereoscopic vision--in the areas of visuomotor integration, constructive praxia and non-verbal reasoning.

Verbal fluency task performance in persons with moderate intellectual disability

Verbal fluency is an indicator of the executive functions and mental lexicon. The aim of this paper is to determine phonemic and semantic productivity in persons with moderate intellectual disability (ID). The sample consisted of 58 persons with moderate ID, aged 15-25. Phonemic fluency was assessed by the Controlled Oral Word Association Test, while the Category Naming Test (CNT) was used to assess semantic fluency. The performance in the semantic fluency task was significantly better than the results on the phonemic fluency task. IQ was a significant factor of both assessed aspects of verbal fluency, but participants’ age had a greater individual influence on semantic productivity and higher predictive value than IQ.

Developmental abilities and achievements in Serbian language and mathematics

Osnovni cilj istraživanja je da se utvrdi odnos sposobnosti koje se smatraju preduslovima za sticanje akademskih znanja i vestina i postignuca u oblastima Srpskog jezika i Matematike kod dece III i IV razreda osnovne skole. Uzorak je cinilo 115-oro dece tipicnog razvoja, oba pola, uzrasta 8-11 godina (AS=9,78). Za procenu sposobnosti koje su neophodne za usvajanje akademskih znanja i vestina primenjen je Akadija test razvojnih sposobnosti. Postignuca iz oblasti Matematike i Srpskog jezika procenjena su na osnovu upitnika za nastavnike, zasnovanog na Opstim standardima postignuca, i ocena sa kontrolih zadataka. U statistickoj obradi su korisceni Pirsonov koeficijent korelacije, jednosmerma analiza varijanse, multivarijantna analiza varijanse i Scheffe post hoc test. Utvrđen je statisticki znacajan uticaj razvojnih sposobnosti koje se procenjuju Akadija testom na postignuca u oblastima Srpskog jezika (p≤0,000) i Matematike (p≤0,000), izražena kroz ukupne skorove, i svaku od procenjenih oblasti pojedinacno (p=0,000-0.007). Između skora na Akadija testu i ocene iz Srpskog jezika (r=0,512,p≤0,000) i Matematike (r=0,523,p≤0,000) utvrđena je statisticki znacajna povezanost umerenog nivoa. Postignuca na Akadija testu su statisticki znacajan cinilac ocena iz Srpskog jezika (p≤0,000) i Matematike (p≤0,000). Post hoc analizom utvrđeno je da se nastavnicka procena postignuca i ocene u oblasti Srpskog jezika i Matematike ispitanika koji na Akadija testu postižu najlosije rezultate (ispod 25. percentila) statisticki znacajno razlikuju od postignuca ostalih ispitanika. Sumirajuci rezultate istraživanja, možemo da zakljucimo da dobijeni podaci potvrđuju empirijsku validnost Akadija testa i opravdanost njegove primene u proceni spremnosti za usvajanje akademskih znanja i vestina kod dece mlađeg skolskog uzrasta. Kljucne reci : akademska postignuca, Akadija test, Srpski jezik, Matematika

Relation between achievements on Acadia test of developmental abilities and intelligence in younger school children

Academic success depends on numerous factors: intelligence, motivation, developmental level of basic and more complex cognitive functions, personality traits, etc. In special education, Acadia test of developmental abilities is most frequently used to assess the abilities necessary for acquiring academic knowledge and skills, with the aim to detect the children who have, or might have, learning disabilities. In Serbia, psychometric characteristics of the test have not been determined so far. Thus, the aim of this paper is to determine the relation between the achievements on this test and intelligence in a sample of younger school children who attend regular schools in Belgrade. The sample consisted of 784 children of both genders (51% of girls and 49% of boys), aged between 8 and 12 (AM=9.71; SD=0.65). Acadia test, which consists of 13 subtests for assessing attention and short-term memory, perceptive, visual-constructive, conceptual, and speech-language abilities, was used in this research. Intelligence was assessed by means of the standard version of Raven’s progressive matrices (AM=37.03; SD=10.51), and the examinees were organized in four groups on the basis of percentile ranks of the raw score (3 sections). By analyzing the results, statistically significant positive correlation was determined between all the subtests of Acadia test and intelligence, which ranges from 0.27 to 0.63. Age has a low (r=0.08-0.26), but also statistically significant correlation with the achievements on the subtests of Acadia test (p 0.05). By applying multivariate analysis of covariance, with controlling the influence of age, it was determined that intelligence is a significant factor of achievement on Acadia test (Wilks’ λ=0.502; F(39)=14.926; p≤0.000, ηp2 =0.205), and on all the subtests separately (p≤0.000), accounting for 7 to 35% of the results variability.

10.5937/specedreh13-6183 = Conceptual frame and content of extracurricular activities conducted by intellectual disability specialists at primary schools

The main prerequisites of a successful specialist treatment of children with intellectual disability are knowledge of the dynamics of ability development, assessment of a childs achieved developmental level and how it affects the childs everyday functioning. The aim of this paper is to systematically present a conceptual frame, program, and content of extracurricular activities conducted by intellectual disability specialists who work with children with intellectual disability at primary schools. It includes the goals, outcomes, contents, ways of implementing and evaluating the work program of intellectual disability specialists at primary schools in the fields of cognitive abilities, adaptive skills, non-verbal communication, and application of psychomotor reeducation. The application of specific fields and treatment procedure depend on age, strengths and weaknesses of every child, and environmental requirements. For a treatment to serve its purpose, it is necessary that all its contents be adapted to circumstances, expectations, and functional barriers of the natural surroundings, and applicable to the process of education, training, interpersonal communication and other contents of everyday life.

KONCEPTUALNI OKVIR I SADRŽAJ VANNASTANIH AKTIVNOSTI OLIGOFRENOLOGA U OSNOVNOJ ŠKOLI

The main prerequisites of a successful specialist treatment of children with intellectual disability are knowledge of the dynamics of ability development, assessment of a childs achieved developmental level and how it affects the childs everyday functioning. The aim of this paper is to systematically present a conceptual frame, program, and content of extracurricular activities conducted by intellectual disability specialists who work with children with intellectual disability at primary schools. It includes the goals, outcomes, contents, ways of implementing and evaluating the work program of intellectual disability specialists at primary schools in the fields of cognitive abilities, adaptive skills, non-verbal communication, and application of psychomotor reeducation. The application of specific fields and treatment procedure depend on age, strengths and weaknesses of every child, and environmental requirements. For a treatment to serve its purpose, it is necessary that all its contents be adapted to circumstances, expectations, and functional barriers of the natural surroundings, and applicable to the process of education, training, interpersonal communication and other contents of everyday life.

Cognitive flexibility in children with mild intellectual disability

The main objective of this research is to determine the developmental level of cognitive flexibility in children with mild intellectual disability. The sample consisted of 84 children with mild intellectual disability, ages 10-14. They attend elementary school for children with intellectual disability in Belgrade. The sample encompasses 37 (44%) girls and 47 (56%) boys. The participants IQ ranges from 50 to 70 (AS=60.33, SD=7.36). The cognitive flexibility was assessed by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and Trail Making Test (form B). In the domain of the number of categories completed at WCST, the majority of participants (62.5%) solves task lower than their peers with typical development. Average task-solving time for the Trail Making Test is 278.58 seconds, which significantly exceeds the task-solving time of children with typical development. The statistically significant differences (p>0.05) have not been obtained by comparing the arithmetic means scores of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and Trail Making Test (form B). The significant differences were determined in the development of cognitive flexibility in the participants who belong to lower and higher IQ categories, although, based on the participant test scores analysis as a whole, it can be concluded that age, among the selected independent variables, is the only significant cognitive flexibility factor in children with intellectual disability.