Advisory Panel Review on the Feasibility of Three Intervention Programmes for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

@#Introduction: The prevalence of children with autism spectrum disorder is increasing each year. Intervention programmes towards improving the occupational needs such as daily activities of these children are limited. This study aimed to collect opinions from advisory panel for the content validation of the three developed intervention programmes to be implemented among children with autism spectrum disorder aged between 6 to 12 years. The intervention programmes are; i) self-regulated learning, ii) sensory integration intervention and iii) activity-based intervention. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. Twenty occupational therapists with more than three years’ experience working with children with autism spectrum disorders were recruited as advisory panel members. Researchers-developed questionnaire was used. The questionnaire consists of nine to eleven items. Each item consists of a five-point Likert scale for quantitative responses and open-ended questions for qualitative responses. Results: Advisory panel ratings of ‘Good’ to ‘Excellent’ was reported across most items in all three intervention programmes. Overall results suggested that the intervention programmes content was rated to be suitable for children with autism spectrum disorder. Constructive comments were adopted to clarify the activities and structure of the intervention programmes. Final development of the intervention programmes is presented. Conclusion: This study provides confidence for the interventions to be incorporated into the future randomised controlled trial.

Malaysian Parents’ Feedback On Three Proxy-Rated Assessments Used In Pediatric Rehabilitation

@#Assessing a child’s functional abilities and limitations can provide useful information for occupational therapists to develop individualised intervention plans. Usually paediatric assessments require parents to rate their child on different domains of health and functional performance. To do so, parents need to be able to understand the assessment content and instructions to rate their child accurately. The primary purpose of this study was to examine if parents in Malaysia understood the content and instructions of three assessments: the Sensory Profile Caregiver Questionnaire (SP), the Sensory Processing Measure Home Form (SPM) and the Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function Parent Form (BRIEF). The secondary purpose was to examine perceptions about the clarity and relevancy of each of the items in each assessment. Thirty parents, recruited using convenience sampling, completed a survey about the assessments. In general, the parents indicated no problems or only minor problems in understanding the content and instructions of all three assessments. The parents also provided comments to improve the clarity of the assessment items. Comments were primarily related to the terms or jargon language used. Elaborations of the terms or jargon were later provided based on the parents’ comments. All three assessments were identified as relevant to be used in the Malaysian population. The results suggest that all three assessments can be used by parents and are suitable to be implemented by occupational therapists working with children in Malaysia.