JOURNAL OF EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN EMPOWERMENT
Year:2020 | Volume:11 | Issue:1 |Papers Count:10

The purpose of the present study was adoption and validation of Superior Auditory Verbal Early Intervention Program (Superior AVA) to improve the speech skills of children with hearing loss. The present research was a fundamental research. The study population included professionals of psychology and education of exceptional children and educators of children with hearing loss. 3 specialists of psychology and education of exceptional children and 3 educators of children with hearing loss participated in this study. They were selected by purposive sampling method. Validation process of program was done in five steps: study of program's theoretical principles, literature review and review of current programs, adopting contents of the program, validation of program contents and explaining the validation of program. Delfy approach for adoption of program contents, Triangulation of investigator for validation, reliability coefficient of criterion tests (agreement percent method) for determining reliability and Lawshe method for determining content validation index was used. Data were analyzed by SPSS24. Findings showed that the reliability of the program using the percentage of expert agreement was 85% and the content validity index was 0. 89. Based on results, superior AVA program has high validity and reliability for improving speech skills of children with hearing loss. Using superior AVA program, that has high validity and reliability, it is possible to improve speech skills of children with hearing loss.

The purpose of the present study was to predict the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in mothers of children with cancer based on their empathy and guilt. The research method was correlational. The statistical population included all mothers who had children diagnosed with cancer between summer and autumn of 2019 from among whom 87 mothers were studied using convenient sampling method with an internet survey. The tools of this study were Interpersonal Guilt Questionnaire (IGQ-67), Interpersonal Response Questionnaire (IRI) and Chalder Chronic Fatigue Questionnaire (CFQ-11). The obtained data were analyzed using Pearson Correlation and Multiple Regression with SPSS21. The results of the data analysis showed that chronic fatigue syndrome had a positive and significant relationship with general guilt and its dimensions; including survivor guilt, separation guilt, omnipotence guilt, and self-hate guilt, and with two dimensions of empathy; perspective and Imagination. Also, the dimensions of omnipotence guilt and fantasy predicted 60/8 percent of variance of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. According to the role of guilt and empathy in chronic fatigue experience of mothers of children with cancer psychological interventions related to emotion regulation and management can play an important role in reducing psychological burnout.

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of problem solving intervention on mothers' interaction with children with Communication Problems. The present study was quasi experimental with pre-test, post-test, follow up design and control group. Statistical population of this study included of all mothers of third, fourth and fifth grade students in Kermanshah. Sample of this study included 120 mothers of children with relational problems selected by the convenient sampling method. They were assigned into two groups (experiment and control group) randomly, each consisting of 60 mothers. The experiment group participated in 10 sessions of a two-hour "Raising a thinking child/preteen" workshop. Then, for three months, they used family oriented problem-solving program in interaction with their children, and the control group did not receive any training. For collecting information, Gerrard's parent-child (1994), parent form was used. In the experiment group, in three stages: pretest, posttest (three month interval) and follow-up (one month interval), between the pre-test and post-test scores in the subscales of satisfaction of parenting, relationship with the child, the creation of the parent's relationship, there was a significant difference (P=0. 001). But in the control group, there was no significant difference between the post-test-follow up scores in all of the sub-scales and the effect of the program was similar for boys and girls. Based on impact of problem-solving intervention, the use of this educational program is necessary by mothers in teaching children with Communication Problems.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effectiveness of computer-based cognitive rehabilitation on executive functions of children with High Functioning Autism. The research method was quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest design and a control group. The statistical population of this study included all children with Autism Disorder in Markazi Province's autism centers including 46 children. From the target population, 16 boys with high functioning autism disorder were selected from Autism Charity Medical Center of Markazi Province using available sampling method based on Autism Spectrum Scale (ASSQ) (Ehlerz, Gillberg & Wing Lorna, 1999) and were randomly assigned to experiment (n=8) and control (n=8) groups. Initially, both groups were assessed by the Executive Functional Performance Rating Scale (Bariff, 2000). The experiment group received 10 sessions of 50 minutes computer-based cognitive rehabilitation during 4 weeks. At the end, both groups were reassessed. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance. The findings of this study showed that computer-based cognitive rehabilitation improves the executive functions of children with high functioning autism. Therefore, using computer-based cognitive rehabilitation can improve the executive functions of children with high functioning autism.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of motor activities with and without music on manual dexterity in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ADS). The present study was Quasi-experimental with pre test, post test and control group design. The statistical population of this study included all of the high-functioning children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Kerman, from among whom 22 children (17 boys and 5 girls) in the range of 7-10 years old were selected from Autism Center and then randomly assigned to research groups. The research tool included Movement Assessment Battery for Children--Second Edition (MABC-2). The considered motor interventions were performed for 12 weeks, three sessions per week and 45 to 60 minutes for each session and also the Orff music was used during the sessions. Data were analyzed using multivariate and univariate covariance and SPSS20 software. The results showed, the intervention group with music had a greater effect on improving children's manual dexterity items. Also, the intervention group without music was improved in these items, but this effect was not as effective as the intervention group with music (P<0. 001). According to the findings, that musical-motor activities can be recomended as a motor therapy intervention to improve manual dexterity for these children.

This study was aimed to predict job engagement based on psychological well-being and life expectancy in teachers of slow paced students. It was a descriptive-analytical study of correlational type among teachers of slow paced students of Tehran City in 2019. Research population consisted of 540 individuals (346 female and 194 male) from among whom 100 teachers (59 female and 41 male) were selected by simple random sampling method. All participants completed the Schaufeli & Salanova Job Engagement Questionnaire (JEQ, 2002), Ryff & Keyes Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWBS, 2008) and Miller's Life Expectancy Questionnaire (LEQ, 1998). Data were analyzed by Pearson correlation and multiple regression by SPSS (version 24). The findings showed job engagement have a positive and significant relationship with psychological well-being (r=0/36) and life expectancy (r=0/39) in teachers of slow paced students. The results of multiple regression showed that predicting variables were significantly able to predict 24/1 percent of variance of job engagement in teachers of slow paced students that in this predicting the share of psychological well-being was higher than life expectancy (P<0/05). The results indicated the importance of psychological well-being and life expectancy in predicting the job engagement in teachers of slow paced students. Therefore, it is suggested to counselors and therapists to improve their job engagement, increasing the level of psychological well-being and life expectancy.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of self-compassion on subjective vitality and loneliness feeling in students with Learning Disability. The research method of the present study was experimental with pretest, posttest and control group research design. The statistical population of present study included all high-school students with Learning Disability in Isfahan City in academic year 2017-18. A multistage cluster sampling method was used to selecting the sample. Accordingly, 30 students with Learning Disabilities were selected by cluster sampling and randomly assigned to experiment and control groups. Before administering the independent variable, pretest was taken from both groups. The tools in the present study included Learning Difficulties Questionnaire (Willcutt, Boada, Riddle, Chhabildas, DeFries & Pennington, 2011), Subjective Vitality (Ryan and Fredrick, 1997) and the Children's Loneliness Scale (Asher, Hymel and Renshaw, 2011). Then the experimental group received 8 teaching sessions in two-and-a-half months. The acquired data were analyzed through ANCOVA method. The results showed that teaching self-compassion has had significant effect on subjective vitality and loneliness feeling in the students with Learning Disability (p<0. 001) in a way that this type of teaching was able to increase subjective vitality and decrease loneliness feeling in the students with Learning Disability. Considering the results of the study, teaching self-compassion can be employed to improve subjective vitality and decrease loneliness feeling in the students with Learning Disability.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of Emo Galaxy computer game on social skills of children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). This research was a quasi-experimental study with pre-test, post-test and a control group design. The statistical population included all female elementary school students with ODD who were referred to counseling centers in Tehran City in the academic year of 2018-2019. 24 female students with ODD were selected using available sampling method based on the criterion of Child Symptom Inventory (CSI-4) and DSM-5 Checklist, then 12 of them were randomly assigned to the experiment group and 12 others were assigned to the control group. Social Skills Rating Scale (Gresham & Elliott, 1990) was used to assess their social skills. The experiment group received Emo-Galaxy Computer Game intervention in 12 sessions of 30 minutes during the one-and-a-half months, while the control group waited in the waiting list. At the end, both groups were re-assessed. Data were analyzed using Multivariable Covariance Analysis (MANCOVA). The findings showed that there were significant differences (p<0. 05) between the experiment and the control group in all subscales of social skills (cooperation: 0. 313, assertiveness: 0. 302, and self-control: 0. 258). Using this computer game on emotion recognition and regulation was effective for improving social skills in children with ODD.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of Teaching Mental Calculation by Abacus on reducing learning disability of math in elementary school students. The study method was quasi-experimental with pre-test/post-test design and the control group. statistical population of this study were third grade elementary school students (male and female) with Mathematical Disability in Khoy City from among whom 40 students through convenient sampling were selected and randomly divided into control and experiment groups (each group n=20). The experiment group received 24 forty-minute sessions using the abacus while the control group received the traditional training. The research tool was the Key Mathematical Test. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance in SPSS software version 23. The results showed that the use of abacus education in reducing the disability of learning mathematical lessons in elementary school students that includes counting, adding, subtracting, measuring, multiplying, dividing, time and money, problem solving and mental calculation have a positive and significant effect (P<0/001). Findings showed that the use of abacus in mental computing training can improve math lesson learning disability. Therefore, it is suggested that abacus training be used to reduce students' learning disabilities.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of attention self-monitoring strategy training on increasing number sense of students with math problems in elementary school. The present study was a quasi-experimental study using a single-pilot multi-baseline design with different subjects. The statistical population of the study consisted of 6 girl students with mathematical learning problems at first grade of elementary school who were studying in Kashan Health School in 2019 from among whom 3 female students with math problems participated in this research. In order to identify the problems of the subjects, Iran Key Math Diagnostic Test (1986), Demographic Information Questionnaires, Jordan's Number Sense Test (1995) and Self-monitoring Attention Program were used. Subjects were trained in self-monitoring strategy for 6 weeks (two sessions of 45 minutes per week). Results were analyzed by visual analysis using central tendency indices and effect size index (PND). Based on the results of the research, self-observation strategy training had a positive effect on increasing the ability to understand and comprehend the numbers in students with math problem in the first grade compared to the baseline of the same subjects. The results of this study showed that attention training increased students' attention during homework and increased their academic performance. In general, it can be concluded that attention-based instruction training has been effective in increasing students' numerical understanding of mathematical problems and will have a preventive role in mathematical problems of later ages.