Investigative interviewing of children with intellectual disabilities

This research was designed to examine two broad issues in relation to the investigative interviewing of children (aged 9 to 13 years) with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities. First, how do children with intellectual disabilities perform (relative to children matched for chronological and mental age) when recalling an event in response to various questions? Second, what question types and interview strategies do police officers and caregivers use to elicit accurate and detailed accounts about an event from children with intellectual disabilities? The rationale for exploring each of these issues was to determine possible ways of improving the elicitation of evidence from children with intellectual disabilities. While children with intellectual disabilities constitute a high proportion of all child victims of abuse (Conway, 1994; Goldman, 1994; Morse, et ah, 1970), they rarely provide formal reports of abuse and of those incidents that are reported, few cases progress to court (Henry & Gudjonsson, 1999). Study 1 used a standard interview protocol containing a variety of questions and an interview structure commonly used in investigative interviews. Specifically, the memory and suggestibility of eighty children with either a mild and moderate intellectual disability (M age = 10.85 years) was examined when recalling an innocuous event that was staged at their school. The children's performance was compared with that of two control groups; a group of mainstream children matched for mental age and a group of mainstream children matched for chronological age. Overall, this study showed that children with both mild and moderate intellectual disabilities can provide accurate and highly specific event-related information hi response to questions recommended in best-practice guidelines. However, their recall was less complete and less clear in response to free-narrative prompts and less accurate in response to specific questions when compared to both mainstream age-matched groups. Study 2 provided an in-depth analysis of the types of questions and strategies used by twenty-eight police officers and caregivers when interviewing children with either mild or moderate intellectual disabilities (M age = 11.13 years) about a repeated event that was staged at their school. The results revealed that while the approach used by the police officers was generally consistent with best-practice recommendations (i.e., their interviews contained few leading, coercive or negative strategies), there were many ways in which their approach could be improved. This study also showed that the caregivers used a high proportion of direct and negative strategies to elicit information from their children. Even when caregivers used open-ended questions, their children provided less event-related information than they did to police interviewers. The results of both studies were discussed in relation to current 'best-practice' guidelines for interviewing children and recommendations were offered for improving the quality of field interviews with children who have intellectual disabilities.

The impact of parental multiple sclerosis on the adjustment of children and adolescents.

Thirty-one parents with multiple sclerosis (MS) participated in a study to investigate the adjustment of their children, 24 boys and 24 girls aged 4 to 16 years. The majority of parents believed that their illness had an effect on their children. The perception of parents regarding their children's problems in the areas of emotions, concentration, behavior, or social interactions indicated that the children were at three times greater risk than the general community of developing psychological problems. In contrast, actual symptom scores reported by parents revealed that, although these children were at greater risk than the general community of developing peer problems, little difference was found on hyperactivity, emotional symptoms, conduct problems, or total difficulties. Parental negative affect predicted both parental reports of peer problems and perceptions that the parents' illness had an effect on their children. Parental relationship satisfaction and family income did not predict parental reports of children's level of adjustment. These results indicate that children of parents with MS demonstrate more difficulties in how they relate to others, the distress they experience, and how they manage their lives, rather than revealing higher levels of symptoms. Since the data were based on parental reports of their children's problems, the results may also be due to negative affect among the parents.

Shared parenting : adding children's voices and their measures of adjustment to the evaluation

Shared parenting has been advocated to be a better arrangement for children than sole residence and access arrangements after parental separation. Although there is some research on this issue, studies have been restricted in their reliance on the reports of others. In this paper, we report on a study in Australia, in which children in each of these arrangements were compared with children in intact families on a range of adjustment measures and with each other in relation to their responses to their parents' separation, using both self- and parent-reporting. We found that there was little difference between children in the three family configurations, suggesting that shared parenting is not necessarily associated with better outcomes for the child. On other aspects of adjustment, the children in shared parenting and sole residence/access families did not differ. We also found that parents in all groups underestimated the emotional problems reported by children. In separated families, they also overestimated the children's desire for parents to re-unite. Finally, we found that parents in shared parenting families are more satisfied with their situation than are their children, and fathers are particularly so. The findings suggest that the promotion of shared parenting as the best post-separation family structure is contestable.

Relationship between verbal working memory and the SCAN-C in children with specific language impairment

Purpose: An ongoing concern with the evaluation of auditory processing disorders is the extent that assessment instruments are influenced by higher order cognitive functions. This study examined the relationship between verbal working memory and performance on the Test for Auditory Processing Disorders in Children--Revised (SCAN-C; Keith, 2000b) in children with specific language impairment (SLI) and typically developing (TD) children.

Method: Sixteen children with SLI and 16 TD children ages 8/4 to 11 years participated in the study. The children were presented with the SCAN-C and tests measuring verbal working memory.

Results: Initial comparisons revealed that the SLI group obtained significantly lower scores than the TD group on the SCAN-C. However, after controlling for verbal working memory, significant differences between the 2 groups were no longer observed. Correlational analyses revealed that the composite score from the SCAN-C was related to all tests assessing verbal working memory.

Conclusions: Performance on the SCAN-C may be related to working memory functioning. As a consequence, it is unclear whether difficulty on this task should be viewed as a problem with auditory processing or a problem with verbal working memory.

The role of NCCP time for enhancing children's creativity in technology

The focus of our research project was the question Can children‘s creativity be enhanced by including a period of non-conscious cognitive process (NCCP) time? During this non-thinking time the brain makes connections between independent ideas, forgets inappropriate responses, and makes available more relevant responses for problem solving. The research generated cases of several primary school classrooms as the teachers incorporated NCCP time in their design technology sessions. Children were observed and teachers interviewed about their perceptions of children‘s creativity as the children designed and produced recycling devices. The cases revealed an optimum time frame of several days for nonconscious cognitive processing. These findings have implications for teachers of technology who assign the same day and time each week for technology learning. During the non-task time, which included the NCCP time, children were able to discuss their ideas with family members. As children learn in socio-cultural contexts, these discussions can be fruitful. The teachers indicated that peer discussions also played an important role after the generation of designs.

Motivating children to learn : the role of technology education

Design and technology education provides children with opportunities to create solutions to specific needs in innovative ways. This paper reports on research that focused on the language that the children used when they were involved in a design and technology activity. In accessing the results of the language study, the findings suggest that the children’s motivation was high and played a significant role in children’s task engagement and persistence. Analysis revealed that there were several key ideas that the children focused on, namely: the fun experienced by participating in the activity, the difficulty of doing the task, the satisfaction of completing the task, the importance of social interaction and the frustrations surrounding aspects of the task. These affective factors that are related directly to motivation will be demonstrated through the children’s language responses to their participation in design and technology education.

Maternal scaffolding of analogy and metacognition in the early pretence of gifted children.

This study investigated whether mothers of children assessed as having gifted/high IQ at 5 years were more likely to scaffold their children in analogical and metacognitive thinking during the infant/toddler period than mothers of children with more typical IQs. The researcher videotaped 21 children in monthly play sessions with their mothers, from the time that the children were 8 months old until they were 17 months old, and coded the mothers' verbalizations for scaffolding of analogical and metacognitive thinking. A psychologist assessed these children on the Stanford-Binet IV (Thorndike, 1986) and found ability levels ranging from average to high. Analysis showed that mothers of the children with high IQs introduced analogical and metacognitive scaffolding earlier than mothers of children with average IQs. The findings are consistent with a bidirectional model of gifted development in which mothers respond to support advanced development from infancy.

Making difference SUPER : a critical approach to the politics of celebrity-authored children's books

Recent years have seen a flood of celebrity-authored children’s books enter the children’s literature marketplace. This paper tracks the evolution of this phenomenon as it pertains to contemporary celebrity culture, and responds to the question: what are the embedded messages about identity at play in such texts? The key contention here is that these works endorse celebrity as the most desirable identity category for the children of the new millennium, going so far as to position difference as a commodity to be traded in the quest for fame. Using critical theory around celebrity culture, and through a close reading of a short celebrity-authored picture book, this paper demonstrates that far from being innocuous pieces of popular culture, such books beckon children into a world that increasingly values visibility and stardom above all else.

Children's content regulation and the 'obesity epidemic'

Some 30 years ago, Australia introduced the Children's Television Standards (CTS) with the twin goals of providing children with high-quality local programs and offering some protection from the perceived harms of television. The most recent review of the CTS occurred in the context of a decade of increasing international concern at rising levels of overweight and obesity, especially in very young children. Overlapping regulatory jurisdictions and co-regulatory frameworks complicate the process of addressing pressing issues of child health, while rapid changes to the media ecology have both extended the amount of programming for children and increased the economic challenges for producers. Our article begins with an overview of the conceptual shifts in priorities articulated in the CTS over time. Using the 2007-09 Review of the CTS as a case study, it then examines the role of research and stakeholder discourses in the CTS review process and critiques the effectiveness of existing regulatory regimes, both in providing access to dedicated children's content and in addressing the problem of escalating obesity levels in the population.

Evaluating the feasibility, effectiveness and acceptability of an active play intervention for disadvantaged preschool children : a pilot study

Australian children from disadvantaged families are at increased risk of delays in acquiring fundamental movement skills, with physical inactivity and increased risk of the potential consequences of obesity. The aims of this pilot study were to: 1) assess the fundamental movement skills of disadvantaged children; 2) evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of adapting an existing parenting and child development program to incorporate additional weekly play activities (the intervention); and 3) examine the acceptability of the intervention. Children aged 1.5-5 years were assessed pre-intervention (n = 26) and postintervention (n = 16) over a period of 22 weeks using the gross motor component of the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales - 2nd Edition (PDMS-2) (Folio & Fewell, 2000). Parents completed a demographic and environmental survey and those implementing the intervention were interviewed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention. Pre-intervention the children from disadvantaged families had locomotion, object manipulation and Gross Motor Quotient (GMQ) scores significantly below the norm-referenced standards of the PDMS-2 (p < 0.05). The intervention was associated with improvements in the locomotion (8.35 to 9.5; p = 0.009), and object manipulation (8.6 to 9.6; p = 0.04) subtest scores and the GMQ scores (92.6 to 99.3; p < 0.01). The intervention was deemed feasible and acceptable by those implementing the program. Low levels of physical activity in disadvantaged communities may be related to delayed acquisition of fundamental movement skills in childhood. This pilot study raises the possibility of correcting this deficit in early childhood, and improving the potential for all children to lead an active life.

Is maternal nutrition knowledge more strongly associated with the diets of mothers or their school-aged children?

Objective Maternal nutrition knowledge has frequently been identified as an important target for nutrition promotion interventions. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether maternal nutrition knowledge is more strongly associated with the mother's own diet or that of her child.

Design Cross-sectional multivariate linear regression with interactions analyses of survey data.

Setting Socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Victoria, Australia.

Subjects Five hundred and twenty-three mothers and their children who participated in the Resilience for Eating and Physical Activity Despite Inequality (READI) study, a cross-sectional survey study conducted in 2009 among women and their children residing in socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

Results In adjusted models, for three (vegetable, chocolate/lollies and soft drink consumption) out of the seven dietary outcomes assessed, there was a significant association between maternal nutrition knowledge and maternal diet, whereas for the children's diets none of the seven outcomes were associated with maternal nutrition knowledge. Statistical comparison of regression coefficients showed no difference between the maternal nutrition knowledge–maternal diet association and the maternal nutrition knowledge–child diet association.

Conclusions Promoting maternal nutrition knowledge may represent an important avenue for improving diet in mothers from socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods, but more information is needed on how and when this knowledge is translated to benefits for their children's diet.

The role of verbal and nonverbal memory in the family pictures Subtest: Data from children with specific language impairment

This study examined the contribution of verbal and visual memory to performance on the Family Pictures subtest of the Children's Memory Scale. This subtest purports to assess declarative memory functioning in the visual/nonverbal domain. A total of 115 nine-year-old children participated in this study. Fifty-eight had specific language impairment (SLI), whilst the remaining 57 were typically developing (TD), with no history of language difficulties. Results showed that the children with SLI, who had intact declarative memory for visual but not verbal information, obtained significantly lower scores on the Family Pictures subtest when compared to the TD group. Regression analyses revealed that across the entire sample, individual differences on the Family Pictures subtest was best predicted by a measure of verbal working memory. These results question whether the Family Pictures subtest can be considered a measure of visual memory in pediatric populations. These results have implications for the interpretation of scores on this subtest regarding the nature of the types of neurocognitive difficulties children may exhibit.

Testing the effectiveness of mathematical games as a pedagogical tool for children's learning

In an effort to engage children in mathematics learning, many primary teachers use mathematical games and activities. Games have been employed for drill and practice, warm-up activities and rewards. The effectiveness of games as a pedagogical tool requires further examination if games are to be employed for the teaching of mathematical concepts. This paper reports research that compared the effectiveness of non-digital games with non-game but engaging activities as pedagogical tools for promoting mathematical learning. In the classrooms that played games, the effects of adding teacher-led whole class discussion was explored. The research was conducted with 10–12-year-old children in eight classrooms in three Australian primary schools, using differing instructional approaches to teach multiplication and division of decimals. A quasi-experimental design with pre-test, post-test and delayed post-test was employed, and the effects of the interventions were measured by the children’s written test performance. Test results indicated lesser gains in learning in game playing situations versus non-game activities and that teacher-led discussions during and following the game playing did not improve children’s learning. The finding that these games did not help children demonstrate a mathematical understanding of concepts under test conditions suggests that educators should carefully consider the application and appropriateness of games before employing them as a vehicle for introducing mathematical concepts.

Impact of the Learn to Play program on play, social competence and language for children aged 5 - 8 years who attend a specialist school

Introduction
The aim of this study was to investigate the change in the relationship between play, language and social skills of children aged 5–8 years pre and post participation in the ‘Learn to Play’ program. The Learn to Play program is a child led play based intervention aimed at developing self-initiated pretend play skills in children.

Methods
All 19 participants attended a specialist school, with 10 of the 19 children having a diagnosis of autism. The play, language and social skills of the children were assessed at baseline and at follow up. Children were assessed using the Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment, the Preschool Language Scale and the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale. Follow up data collection occurred after the children had been participating in the Learn to Play program for 1 hour twice a week for 6 months.

Results
After 6 months in the program, typical indicators of play accounted for an increase of 47.3% in shared variance with social interaction and an increase of 36% in shared variance for social connection. For language, object substitution ability accounted for 50% of the shared variance, which was an increase of 27% from baseline.

Conclusion
The ‘Learn to Play’ program was associated with increases in children's language and social skills over a 6-month period within a special school setting, indicating the Learn to Play program is an effective intervention for children with developmental disabilities. This paper presents an example of how the Learn to Play program can be adapted into a classroom setting.

Discriminant validity of the sensory profile in Australian children with autism spectrum disorder

Objective. The discriminant validity of the Sensory Profile was evaluated by comparing the sensory processing scores of Australian children, 5 to 8 years of age, diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to a control group of children with typical development matched for age and gender. Method. Twenty-six parents of children with ASD and 26 parents of typically developing children without ASD completed the Sensory Profile. Sensory Profile category, factor, and quadrant scores were compared using multivariate analysis to investigate if there were differences between the two groups. Results. The results indicated that the children with ASD had significantly lower sensory processing scores on all fourteen categories, eight out of nine factors, and all four quadrants of the Sensory Profile. Conclusion. The results also provide evidence of discriminant validity of Sensory Profile scores between children with ASD and children with typical development. In addition, the study findings indicate that the Sensory Profile can be used with confidence in cross-cultural contexts, such as Australia.