Special needs and early years : a practitioner's guide.

Recurso para profesionales, y para todos aquellos que trabajan con niños pequeños con necesidades especiales y sus familias. Examina el verdadero problema del desarrollo afectivo, cómo esto puede influir en el progreso del niño, y reconoce la importancia de la colaboración con los padres. La autora combina la teoría y la práctica para proporcionar un análisis detallado de la prestación para los niños pequeños con necesidades adicionales. Ofrece los objetivos de aprendizaje; puntos de reflexión para facilitar el estudio independiente y el pensamiento crítico; estudio de casos, que cubren desde el nacimiento hasta los ocho años; el papel de los padres, la expresión del alumno, escuchar a los niños, toma de una visión integral del niño, y temas de actualidad en torno a la diversidad y la inserción.

Reconogsing and planning for special needs in the early years.

Recurso para que los profesionales den el apoyo adecuado a los niños pequeños con necesidades educativas especiales e identifiquen y planifiquen nuevas necesidades de cada niño que tienen bajo su cuidado. Trata observación y evaluación de las necesidades, el desarrollo físico, y cómo detectar los problemas, la comunicación, el lenguaje y la alfabetización, y cómo detectar las dificultades. Hay también estudio de casos de niños de cero a cinco años y un CD-ROM con material fotocopiable.

Meeting special needs : a practical guide to support children with dyslexia.

Manual práctico para profesionales, no especializados, con sugerencias e ideas sobre cómo trabajar con niños que tienen dislexia, y cómo asegurarse de que están plenamente integrados en el entorno. El folleto incluye: una comprensión de la dislexia; formas prácticas para ayudar y apoyar a estos niños ya que la mayoría tienen dificultades con el lenguaje, la memoria, la organización y la secuenciación; estudio de casos; un ejemplo de plan de educación individual; cómo funciona el entorno de trabajo con otros profesionales y contactos útiles.

Social skills activities for secondary students with special needs.

Recurso práctico diseñado como un programa autónomo para los profesionales y familiares que trabajan con estudiantes con necesidades especiales en los grados 6-12. Ofrece a los maestros y padres más de doscientas hojas de trabajo para ayudar a estos adolescentes a construir las habilidades que necesitan para lograr la independencia y tener éxito en la vida cotidiana. Las veintisiete unidades están centradas en las competencias básicas de la vida real tales como el manejo de dinero, éxito en la escuela, uso seguro de Internet, conseguir y mantener un trabajo.

Social skills activities for secondary students with special needs.

Recurso práctico diseñado como un programa autónomo para los maestros que trabajan con estudiantes con necesidades especiales en los grados 6-12. Ofrece una colección de doscientas hojas de trabajo para ayudar a los adolescentes a construir las habilidades sociales necesarias para interactuar eficazmente con los demás y aprender a aplicar estas habilidades a diferentes situaciones para la vida real en cinco escenarios diferentes: hogar, escuela, trabajo, entre colegas, y en la comunidad. También les ayudará a aprender a controlar las situaciones mediante la participación activa y contribuir a mejorar los resultados sociales.

The construction of a professional identity for special needs teachers in the Italian high school system : a study on the Naples area.

T??tulo, resumen y palabras clave tambi??n en espa??ol

IQ in children with autism spectrum disorders: data from the Special Needs and Autism Project (SNAP)

Background Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was once considered to be highly associated with intellectual disability and to show a characteristic IQ profile, with strengths in performance over verbal abilities and a distinctive pattern of ‘peaks’ and ‘troughs’ at the subtest level. However, there are few data from epidemiological studies. Method Comprehensive clinical assessments were conducted with 156 children aged 10–14 years [mean (s.d.)=11.7 (0.9)], seen as part of an epidemiological study (81 childhood autism, 75 other ASD). A sample weighting procedure enabled us to estimate characteristics of the total ASD population. Results Of the 75 children with ASD, 55% had an intellectual disability (IQ<70) but only 16% had moderate to severe intellectual disability (IQ<50); 28% had average intelligence (115>IQ>85) but only 3% were of above average intelligence (IQ>115). There was some evidence for a clinically significant Performance/Verbal IQ (PIQ/VIQ) discrepancy but discrepant verbal versus performance skills were not associated with a particular pattern of symptoms, as has been reported previously. There was mixed evidence of a characteristic subtest profile: whereas some previously reported patterns were supported (e.g. poor Comprehension), others were not (e.g. no ‘peak’ in Block Design). Adaptive skills were significantly lower than IQ and were associated with severity of early social impairment and also IQ. Conclusions In this epidemiological sample, ASD was less strongly associated with intellectual disability than traditionally held and there was only limited evidence of a distinctive IQ profile. Adaptive outcome was significantly impaired even for those children of average intelligence.

Who Should do What to Whom? : Occupational Groups´Views on Special Needs

The overall aim of this thesis is to increase our knowledge of different occupational groups´ views on work with children in need of special support. This is explored in four separate studies. The first study investigates the views of occupational groups in preschools and schools in one municipality. A questionnaire was handed out to all personnel (N=1297) in the municipality in 2008 (72.5 % response rate). The second study explores the views of educational leaders (N=45) in the same municipality. Questionnaire # 2 was distributed in 2009. All the educational leaders responded to the questionnaire. The third study describes the views of different occupational groups concerning special educational needs coordinators´ (SENCOs) role and work. This was highlighted by comparing responses from questionnaire #1 and # 2. Responses concerning SENCOs´ work were also added using a third questionnaire. This questionnaire was handed out in 2006 to chief education officers (N=290) in all municipalities in Sweden. The response rate was 90.3%. Finally, the fourth study presents five head teachers´ descriptions of their work with special needs issues. Study four was a follow-up study of questionnaire # 2. These head teachers were selected because of their inclusive values and because they seemed to be effective according to certain criteria. They were interviewed in January 2012. The results reveal a number of interesting findings. For example, there are both similar and different views among the occupational groups concerning work with children in need of special support. A majority of the respondents in all groups state that children´s individual deficiencies is one common reason why children need special support in preschools/schools. Differences between the occupational groups become especially visible regarding their views of SENCOs‟ work. Critical pragmatism (Cherryholmes, 1988) is applied as a theoretical point of departure. Skrtic´s (1991) critical reading and analysis of special education relative to general education is specifically used to interpret and discuss the outcome of the studies. Additionally, Abbott´s (1988) reasoning concerning the “division of expert labor” is used to discuss the occupational groups´ replies concerning “who should do what to whom”. The findings in the studies are contextualized and theoretically interpreted in the separate articles. However in the first part of this thesis (in Swedish: Kappa), the theoretical interpretations of the empirical outcome are discussed in more detail and the results are further contextualized and synthesised. Inclusion and premises for inclusive education are also discussed in more depth in the first part of the present thesis.

Art in the inclusion of children with special needs in dentistry

A proposta deste estudo é relatar a utilização da arte e seus segmentos, como recurso para inclusão da criança portadora de necessidades especiais ao ambiente odontológico. Foi utilizado como método a aplicação da arte em atividades de socioterapia e oficinas, divididas em módulos: sessão de socialização, oficinas de arte e atividades complementares, visando à elaboração de uma anamnese cultural por meio de questionários e a obtenção das preferências artísticas dos 313 participantes, previamente às suas assistências odontológicas no CAOE (Centro de Assistência Odontológica a Portadores de Necessidades Especiais) FOA/Unesp. de acordo com os questionários respondidos, a música e a pintura, segundo a preferência dos participantes, são os segmentos artísticos que mais auxiliam nas atividades de inclusão e adaptação. Concluímos que a utilização da arte na adaptação e inclusão ambiental do paciente, previamente à assistência odontológica, é favorável e eficaz.

DMFT index assessment and microbiological analysis of Streptococcus mutans in institutionalized patients with special needs

Aim: To assess the DMFT (D = decayed; M = missing; F = filled) index of institutionalized patients with mild and moderate physical and mental disabilities and to correlate it with the Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) counts in the supragingival bacterial biofilm. Methods: Dental examination of 28 patients aged 15 to 25 years was conducted to determine the DMFT index (number of decayed, missing and filled teeth). Supragingival plaque samples were collected from the buccal surfaces of all teeth. The samples were inoculated in SB20 medium and incubated at 37 °C for 48 hours. Spearman's correlation test was applied (p = 0.05) to evaluate the correlation between the DMFT index and the amount of S. mutans. Results: The mean DMFT recorded was 7.68 and a large mean number of S. mutans colony-forming units (cfu > 10 6) was found. No statistically significant correlation was found between the DMFT index and the number of S. mutans. Conclusions: Under the conditions of this study, no correlation was found between the DMFT index and the number of S. mutans cfu in institutionalized patients with mental retardation and physical disabilities.

Speech therapy intervention before dental management in patients with special needs: A case report

Fragile X syndrome is a cytogenetic abnormality related to chromosomal X. This syndrome is frequently associated to intellectual disability, psychological problems, as well as heart, skeletal and join alterations. Intraoral anomalies include malloclusion, ogival palate, cleft palate, presence of mesiodens, dental hypomineralization and abrasion of the occlusal surfaces and incisai edges. The study of characteristics of this syndrome is important for the dentist in order to guide dental treatment and prevention. The aim of this study is to present a myofunctional therapy protocol, evaluated by surface electromyography. A case of a 21 year-old young man who attended the Training Program in Dentistry for Persons with Disabilities, School of Dentistry of São José dos Campos/UNESP is reported. He underwent myofunctional therapy before dental treatment and the masticatory muscles were evaluated by surface electromyography. The exercises of myofunctional therapy consisted of active and passive simple movements of opening and closing the mouth, tongue protrusion and retrusion, digital manipulation and also by using an electric massager on intraoral and perioral region of the masseter, buccinator and orbicularis oris. Action potentials of the masticatory muscles decreased in almost all the muscles and values for the bite force and mandibular opening capacity increased. This study showed that brief and immediate myofunctional therapy optimized clinical practice with positive repercussion on dental care.

Report of the regional preparatory meeting for the midterm review of the implementation of the Almaty programme of action: addressing the special needs of the landlocked developing countries

Includes bibliography

School inclusion: analyzing the establishment and organization of a special needs education service in a brazilian municipality

The present research integrates a network of studies called National Monitoring Center for Special Education (NMCSE) which studies the Multi-purpose Feature Rooms (MFRs) in regular schools. We aim to investigate whether the service offered by such rooms, maintained by the Department of Education of the Municipality of Araraquara, in São Paulo State, Brazil, is being successful at supporting the education of children and youth with special needs, pervasive developmental disorders and high skilled/gifted individuals. We have also investigated the limits and possibilities of such rooms concerning the set of services offered to their participants. In order to conduct the present research, we have performed: an interview with the Special Education Program manager from the abovementioned Department of Education; and the analysis of a Training Program that MFRs teachers must take. The training program consists of ten morning and afternoon shift meetings. The analyzed data leads us to conclude that the policy of implementation of MFRs, even in this relatively restricted universe is seen from different perspectives. Some interpretations are still permeated by the clinical model, considering individual action. The challenges observed in the classrooms show that the cooperation among teachers still occur randomly and, among other difficulties raised by them, is the selection of the right placement methods to identify eligible students who will benefit from the Specialized Educational Service (SES). In addition, teaching evaluation was considered fragile, as well as the training and the general requirements demanded in order to achieve the expected results.