ABSTRACT
There is a lack of universal scales for tracking ADHD symptoms in the home for children/adolescents in the Sudanese context. For this reason, this study aimed to validate the ADHD Rating Scale-5 for Children and Adolescents, Home Version for use by parents in Sudan to assess their children for ADHD. This scale is widely used by parents to assess their children aged 5-17 years for ADHD in the home environment. The current study involved 3,742 Sudanese parents of school-aged children and adolescents, each asked to complete the instrument for one child in their family; only one parent per family participated in the study. The authors then examined the psychometric properties of the scale from the completed assessments. The results indicated acceptable to high reliability for the total scale and both the symptom and impairment items. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated high external and construct validity when applying the scale to the Sudanese sample. the factor structure resembled that of the normative U.S. sample in terms of the number of extractable factors and the strength of factor loadings. Based on the results, this adaptation of the home version of the ADHD Scale-5 for Children and Adolescents is both valid and reliable for use by Sudanese parents in the home environment.
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to explore the prevalence of challenging behaviors (CBs) associated with students with severe developmental disabilities (SDDs) as rated by their teachers. The study also attempted to examine whether the occurrence and intensity of CBs might depend on certain socio-demographic variables. Data was collected using a questionnaire to rate the prevalence of CBs in 687 students with SDDs. Results indicate that social problems, stereotypical behaviors, and disobedient behaviors were estimated to be the most prevalent of CBs among such students. Positive correlations were confirmed between the type of disability, gender, age, school grade, educational placement, and the prevalence of CBs among students with SDDs. Implications for educational practice and recommendations for future research are discussed.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Despite the effectiveness of using video-modelling to teach skills for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), few studies have addressed video-modelling being adopted in the classrooms. This study measured special educators' current use of video-modelling in teaching students with ASD in Saudi Arabia. It also investigated the factors predicting current and future use of video-modelling based on Diffusion of Innovation Theory. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive research design was used. A total of 271 special educators responded to a survey. A stepwise multiple regression and a logistic regression analysis were used to determine factors predicting current and future use of video-modelling. RESULTS: Results showed that special educators used video-modelling in teaching students with ASD at a low level (M = 2.59). Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that the combination of perceived relative advantage, perceived complexity, perceived trialability, and perceived observability predicted current use of video-modelling, whereas the logistic regression analysis revealed that perceived relative advantage and perceived trialability were only predictors of future use of video-modelling. CONCLUSIONS: Results show that video-modelling is still used as an assistive technology slightly in teaching students with ASD, suggesting that educators may find it challenging to use video-modelling in classrooms. Results indicate that using video-modelling in teaching students with ASD can be influenced by a variety of factors related to the Diffusion of Innovation Theory. This is evidence that educational and rehabilitation stakeholders need to cooperate in addressing these factors to close the research-practice gap, and improve the adoption of video-modelling in classrooms.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONFew studies have addressed how video-modelling as an assistive technology is being adopted in the classroom.The findings revealed that video-modelling was underutilized in the classrooms for students with ASD, indicating the need to investigate causes contributing to this lack of adoption and to increase video-modelling use.Perceived relative advantage, complexity, trialability, and observability predicted educators' current video-modelling use.Perceived relative advantage and trialability predicted educators' future video-modelling use.Support should be done via collaboration among special educators and other professionals (e.g., assistive technology specialists, occupational and physical therapists) to help in development of and use video-modelling more extensively.
ABSTRACT
The ADHD Rating Scale-5 for Children and Adolescents, School Version, has been adopted and validated to be used in assessing ADHD among school children within Western contexts. However, there are few assessment tools in use for identifying ADHD characteristics in children in Sudan. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of this rating scale in the context of Sudan. To accomplish this, data were collected on a sample of 3,742 school-aged children and adolescents as reported by their teachers. Psychometric properties can be classified as very good, with very high reliability (>0.90), and high construct validity tested by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Thus, the ADHD Rating Scale-5 for Children and Adolescents, School Version, is valid, reliable, and suitable to use for assessing ADHD symptoms among children and adolescents in the Sudanese context.
ABSTRACT
Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBI) have been shown to facilitate the development of spontaneous language in individuals with speech and language impairment. Several meta-analyses have reported a small number of studies that utilized naturalistic teaching approaches combined with augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions to develop requesting skills in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to determine whether a natural language paradigm (NLP) and time delay is effective in expanding vocal and augmented requesting skills in three children with ASD between the ages of 4 and 6 years. A concurrent multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. The results of the study demonstrated that the participants were successful in emitting vocal requests when both modalities were available and NLP combined with time delay was effective in increasing spontaneous vocal requests in all participants.
