Most internationally recognized instruments for the screening and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder have been developed in the USA, which calls into question the degree of their cultural ...adaptation to diverse populations. The aim of this study is to examine the characteristics of social communication in typically developing Croatian-speaking participants (N = 220) using ADOS-2-defined item-level normative values. Croatian subjects showed the expected (“typical”) results in the domain of verbal communication, slightly atpical results in nonverbal communication (primarily gesture use), and more significant deviations in pragmatics (offering and asking for information), relative to the expectations of the ADOS-2. As ADOS-2 has become an important component of thorough ASD diagnostic evaluations worldwide, identifying methods for increasing the cross-cultural validity is essential.
The process of communicating a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) stands out as the first important factor when confronting parents with such a diagnosis for their child. The situation in ...which a child is diagnosed with ASD is viewed as certainly one of the most stressful moments for parents. Previous research has indicated several factors that affect the positivity of parents’ experiences. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to examine the experiences of parents in the Republic of Croatia concerning the process of communicating a diagnosis of ASD to them and to show the satisfaction level of parents with the characteristics of this procedure. The study involved 52 parents of children who were either suspected of having or diagnosed with ASD. For the purposes of the research, a questionnaire was constructed. The results showed a relatively high degree of parental satisfaction with the process of communicating a diagnosis of ASD. A significant correlation was found between parental satisfaction and the presence of positive characteristics in both the diagnostic process and communicating the diagnosis. However, the results also indicated that there is much room for improvement regarding the conditions and manner of expressing this unwanted news.
Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) report experiencing more parenting stress than parents of children with typical development or other developmental disorders. Eighty mothers of ...preschool children with ASD completed questionnaires with the purpose of exploring the extent and characteristics of parenting stress and the possibility of predicting parenting stress based on the mother’s coping strategies, perceived social and professional support, the severity of the child’s symptoms, and certain sociodemographic characteristics. The results show that 19% of the mothers had clinically significant parental stress. Most of the mothers experienced increased stress levels related to the following: poor interactions with their children (34%), the child’s demandingness (27%), and their personal ability to cope with parental distress (20%). The predictors significantly explained 42.8% of the variance in total parental stress, with support from friends and severity of the child’s symptoms being significant unique contributors.
Abstract
Many studies have shown that using robot platforms can be effective for teaching children with autism spectrum
disorder (ASD). The aim of this study was to compare performance on an ...imitation task, as well as focus attention levels and the
presence of social behaviours of children with ASD and typically developing (TD) children during an imitation task under two
different conditions, with robots and human demonstrators. The results suggested that TD children did not imitate more than
children with ASD. Children with ASD did not imitate the robot more than they imitated a person, but they showed more focused
attention to robots and expressed more social behaviours in interaction with the robots. Behaviours that were significantly more
present in ASD children than in TD children included touching the robot in the robot demonstrator condition and focusing on the
robot in the person demonstrator condition. This implies a possible preference of children with ASD towards robots rather than
towards people.
The ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others, known as the theory of mind (ToM), has been widely researched over the past 40 years, along with its relation to language comprehension. ...However, a majority of the research on the relation between ToM and language used only verbal tasks assessing false belief understanding as a measure of ToM. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the relation between language and ToM, using a larger battery of ToM measures, with different language demands. A total of 203 typically developing children between 46 and 68 months of age, with average nonverbal cognitive skills, were assessed using language comprehension and ToM tasks. The language aspect was assessed using the Reynell Developmental Language Scales (Language Comprehension scale A). To assess ToM, verbal and non-verbal tasks were taken from the ToM subtest of the NEPSY-II. Results indicated a significant correlation between language comprehension and verbal and non-verbal ToM measures. Hierarchical regression showed that language comprehension was a significant predictor for children's performance on both verbal and non-verbal ToM tasks. Specifically, language comprehension affected ToM, regardless of the language demands of the ToM tasks. However, language comprehension was a stronger predictor for verbal than non-verbal ToM tasks. The results of this study contribute to the view that the relation between language and ToM is fundamental and exceeds the features of specific tasks.
Highlights ► In 10–15% of cases, parents’ scores place a child in different clinical categories. ► Fathers place a child below criterion level more often than mothers. ► The level of parental concern ...is relatively low and not well balanced with the scores children achieved.
•Gesture and language are tightly connected during the development.•Social terms are the largest word category in a child's early expressive vocabulary.•Different types of gestures predict different ...types of word production.•Object gestures predict open-class words from the age of 13 months.•Gestural routines predict closed-class words and social terms from 8 months.
Gesture and language are tightly connected during the development of a child's communication skills. Gestures mostly precede and define the way of language development; even opposite direction has been found. Few recent studies have focused on the relationship between specific gestures and specific word categories, emphasising that the onset of one gesture type predicts the onset of certain word categories or of the earliest word combinations.
The aim of this study was to analyse predicative roles of different gesture types on the onset of first word categories in a child's early expressive vocabulary. Our data show that different types of gestures predict different types of word production. Object gestures predict open-class words from the age of 13 months, and gestural routines predict closed-class words and social terms from 8 months. Receptive vocabulary has a strong mediating role for all linguistically defined categories (open- and closed-class words) but not for social terms, which are the largest word category in a child's early expressive vocabulary. Accordingly, main contribution of this study is to define the impact of different gesture types on early expressive vocabulary and to determine the role of receptive vocabulary in gesture-expressive vocabulary relation in the Croatian language.
Odnos izvršnih funkcija i teorije uma u predškolskoj dobi Šimleša, Sanja
Hrvatska revija za rehabilitacijska istraživanja/Hrvatska revija za rehabilitacijska istraživanja,
06/2020, Letnik:
56, Številka:
1
Journal Article, Paper
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The connection and interaction between executive functions and theory of mind have not yet been clearly defined in psychological research. Executive functions and theory of mind play a significant ...role in the development of the individual, starting from simple patterns of infant behaviour to the development of imaginative play and autonomy of children, through to planning and organising careers and families in early adulthood. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between selected aspects of executive functions (inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility) and theory of mind for children aged four and five, and to determine which aspect has the greatest value for predicting achievement in tasks involving the theory of mind. In order to determine the relationship between executive functions and theory of mind in preschool children, a set of tasks was applied individually to a sample of 203 children aged four and five. Executive functions were evaluated using the CANTAB test battery, and theory of mind was assessed using the NEPSY-II test battery. Verbal working memory was a significant predictor of theory of mind in children as young as four, and verbal working memory and cognitive flexibility were significant predictors of theory of mind at the age of five. At both ages, verbal working memory was the strongest single predictor of theory of mind. These results suggest that pre-school development is very dynamic, cognitive functions differentiate and restructure with age, and the relationship between variables of executive functions and theory of mind changes during development.
The characteristics of verbal communication, nonverbal communication, and pragmatics are largely determined by the culture and social expectations of a particular society. The evaluation of ...communication features is important in the diagnostics of numerous developmental disorders, particularly autism spectrum disorder, and in recent years the need for the cultural adaptation of both screening and diagnostics scales for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is emphasized. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of verbal communication, nonverbal communication, and pragmatics in Croatian typically developing preschool children (5- and 6-year-olds), and code them according to the American scale Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2, module 3). The results showed that Croatian preschool children show typical features of verbal communication (characteristics of language production and speech), but show some atypical features in non-verbal communication, and, to a large extent, atypical features of pragmatics. The differences are mostly noticed in the amount of spontaneous use of gestures and all pragmatics variables that take into account the amount of initiatives in communication (e.g., spontaneously asking for information or giving information). For example, only 15% of the children in the sample requested information at a frequency that is expected by code 0 (typical behavior) of ADOS-2. Although significant individual differences were observed among the children, the amount of “deviating” behavioral characteristics of non-verbal communication and pragmatics emphasizes the need to review the set of codes and adjust criteria in different cultures.
Early Childhood Inclusion in Croatia Ljubesic, Marta; Simlesa, Sanja
Infants and young children,
07/2016, Letnik:
29, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
This article explains early childhood inclusion in Croatia from its beginnings up to challenges in current policy and practice. The first preschool education for children with disabilities dates back ...to the 1980s and was provided in special institutions. In the last 10 years, mainstream kindergartens have been enrolling children with disabilities but unevenly in different Croatian regions and also with a different quality of support. The lower economic potential of the rural and smaller local communities adversely influence the possibility of organizing support for children with disabilities in general, especially in an inclusive setting. The great challenge in analyzing the quality of early childhood inclusion in educational settings is the lack of reliable sources of data and evaluation research. Main challenges in early childhood inclusion and future directions are discussed.
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