Journal of Special Education and Rehabilitation

7-23

Authors: Tsafi TIMOR, Jana HARTANSKA

The goal of this study was to explore the similarities and differences in the attitudes of two groups of student-teachers from different cultures: a group of Israelis and a group of Slovaks.The two groups were divided into pairs who carried out an e-mail correspondence on the topic The Inclusion of Students with Special Needs in Mainstream Education. The content analysis of the posts addressed three categories: Theoretical and practical knowledge of special needs, Attitudes towards special needs and inclusion, Strategies for coping with differences in heterogeneous classes. The findings yielded a similarity in the positive attitudes towards inclusion between the two groups. However, the groups differed in their theoretical and practical knowledge because the Slovak group had limited teaching experience and no academic courses on inclusive education. The findings break the existing link between academic courses/teaching experience, and positive attitudes towards inclusion, and suggest a different way of thinking. They also highlight the need to explore conceptual differences between cultures.

43-58

Authors: Sheffali GULATI, Biswaroop CHAKRABARTY

Goal: To highlight the recent recommendations and future trends in diagnosing and managing autistic spectrum disorder. Methodology: Comprehensive search was done in the electronic database, journals, reference lists and dissertation related to the field. Results and conclusion: Autistic spectrum disorder is characterized by onset before the age of 3 years, qualitative impairment in social and communication skills along with repetitive behavioural pattern and restricted interests. Multiple pathways involving genetic, structural and environmental factors have been implicated in the etiopathogenesis. Diagnosis is primarily clinical, based on caregiver interview and observing the patient. However, certain biochemical, radiological and electrophysiological investigations are indicated in relevant scenarios. The mainstay of therapy is behavioural intervention with pharmacotherapy indicated for certain behavioural issues. Complementary and alternate treatment, dietary and stem cell therapies are still investigational with some benefits.Various newer therapeutic options are currently being investigated, exploring the molecular and genetic basis of causation.

75-90

Authors: Annelies CEULEMANS, Tom LOEYS, Karel HOPPENBROUWERS, Annemie DESOETE

Many studies tested the association between numerical magnitude processing and mathematical achievement with conflicting findings reported for individuals with mathematical learning disorders. Some of the inconsistencies might be explained by the number of non-symbolic stimuli or dot collections used in studies. It has been hypothesized that there is an object-file system for ‘small’ and an analogue magnitude system for ‘large’ numbers. This two-system account has been supported by the set size limit of the object-file system (three items). A boundary was defined, accordingly, categorizing numbers below four as ‘small’ and from four and above as ‘large’. However, data on ‘small’ number processing and on the ‘boundary’ between small and large numbers are missing. In this contribution we provide data from infants discriminating between the number sets 4 vs. 8 and 1 vs. 4, both containing the number four combined with a small and a large number respectively. Participants were 25 and 26 full term 9-month-olds for 4 vs. 8 and 1 vs. 4 respectively. The stimuli (dots) were controlled for continuous variables. Eye-tracking was combined with the habituation paradigm. The results showed that the infants were successful in discriminating 1 from 4, but failed to discriminate 4 from 8 dots. This finding supports the assumption of the number four as a ‘small’ number and enlarges the object-file system’s limit. This study might help to explain inconsistencies in studies. Moreover, the information may be useful in answering parent’s questions about challenges that vulnerable children with number processing problems, such as children with mathematical learning disorders, might encounter. In addition, the study might give some information on the stimuli that can be used to effectively foster children’s magnitude processing skills.

109-121

Authors: Brittany L. HOTT, Fahad M. ALRESHEED, Harvetta R. HENRY

A limitation in social interaction is a critical defining characteristic of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Peer tutoring is one of the most widely utilized interventions for improvement of social interaction and academic performance. This synthesis examines the effectiveness of peer tutoring interventions in the United States using percentage of nonoverlapping data (PND). Results suggest that peer tutoring is a viable intervention for supporting social and academic development. Limitations, implycations for practice, and future research directions are reported.

126-127

Authors: Manuela KRCHANOSKA

Organized by the Student Parliament of Faculty of Special Education and Rehabilitation, Belgrade, the Seminar of Students of Special Education and Rehabilitation "Zlatibor 2013" was held from November 20th to 24th. Parallel to this seminar, there was a seminar organized by the Students Parliament of Majeure Medical School, Belgrade. Enveloped in the beauty of Zlatibor, housed in the student resort "Ratko Mitrovic", this congress was attended by 287 students from the Balkans, of which 146 were students of special education and rehabilitation, 17 of them were from Macedonia, 14 from Bosnia and Herzegovina, 12 from Croatia, 6 from Slovenia and the rest were from Serbia. Officially, the seminar was opened by the President of the Student Parliament of Faculty of Special Education and Rehabilitation, Belgrade Nikola Nicin. After his introductory address, the speech was led by Prof. Vladimir Trajkovski, PhD. The students’ presentations were organized throughout three days in morning sessions and afternoon sessions. Institute for Special Education and Rehabilitation of Macedonia was represented by six undergraduate students and one postgraduate student. On November 20th, Lazar Trifunovic and Voislav Dosev presented a topic: Attitudes of Primary School Teachers from "Dane Krapchev" in Skopje, on inclusion of students with special needs. During the same day, the afternoon session was opened by Krchanoska Manuela, who spoke on topic Access in Public Libraries for Persons with Disabilities in Macedonia, and afterwards Ana Kostadinovska and Gordana Blagojevska presented the topic Analysis of the Pshyhological Base of American and Macedonian Sign Language. On the same day, Ema Donevska presented the topic: Reactions of the Parents at the First Announcement of the Developmental Disabilities of Their Child. On the second day, morning session was opened by Marija Dimovska’s presentation on the topic: Inclusion of Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders in the Regular Pre-school Institutions in Skopje. Many papers written by students in special education and rehabilitation on various topics were presented there, which effected on increasing of knowledge and competence in future educators. The Seminar was enriched with the presentation held by Christina Davidovic, PhD and Marko Pavlovic that was entitled “Presentation Skills”. On the next day, the same subject was held as a workshop, which was really successful. Lastly, to make the impression even stronger, there was a presentation of Prof. Milenko Kundachina, PhD, who talked of academic writing. In an hour and half as the course of his lecture, Professor Kundachina explained how to write a scientific paper. Seminar was officially closed by the speech of the President of the Student Parliament of Faculty of Rehabilitation and Special education in Belgrade Nikola Nicin, president of the Student Parliament of Majeure Medical School, Savo Papic, Prof.Vladimir Trajkovski, PhD and representatives from each country. After their closing speeches all participants were awarded with certificates. Organisational board of this congress hopes that this congress is just the beginning and that organizing congresses of this kind will become a tradition.

131-133

Authors: Irena NOVACHESKA

The Master’s thesis is presented on 149 pages. The paper contains the following sections: Introduction, Theoretical approach to the problem of the research, Research section which contains: Research methodology, Analysis and interpretation of the results, Discussion, Conclusions, Recommendations, Articles and Literature. The Introduction explains the concept of behavioral disorder and the different sets of risk factors that lead to the appearance of behavioral disorder. Commonly, we distinguish two main groups of etiological factors that lead to behavioral disorder: environmental factors and factors related to the person’s functioning. In the recent decades, the number of children with behavioral disorders is increasing more and more, and this increase entails the need for timely identification of the risk and the protective factors, which means that prevention and early intervention, as a permanent and active process, must begin as early as possible, and the best moment is in the preschool period. The Theoretical basis gives definition of the term behavioral disorder from several aspects (legal, medical, special-educational and empirical), mentions different terminology which is used in scientific literature, as well as data for the prevalence, comorbidity and various classification systems, within which the behavioral disorder is covered. Also, the risk factors that lead to behavioral disorder, divided into several groups: individual factors, family factors, factors related to school, peers and factors related to the social environment are elaborated. Besides the risk factors, the factors for protection and their division are elaborated too. An important part of the theoretical basis takes the definition for prevention and early intervention, including the types of prevention and the models of early intervention that are commonly used in working with students with behavioral disorder. The Research section presents the methodology of the research and defines the subject, the purpose and the character of the research, the goals, the hypothesis, the variables, the methods, the techniques and instruments, the sample, the statistical data processing, the place, the time, the organization and the course of the research. The underlying purpose of this research is to determine the risk factors for the emergence of behavioral disorder among students from primary schools and also the need for taking some measures for prevention and early intervention. The sample of the research consisted of 70 teachers and class teachers from five primary schools in Prilep that have students with behavioral disorder in their classes. They are divided in two groups: 35 teachers and class teachers are from schools in the urban community and the rest 35 are from schools in the rural community. The methodological structure is based on the descriptive method and the method of comparative analysis. The analysis of documentation, survey and scaling were used as techniques. For data collecting two types of questionnaires were used: Questionnaire for teachers/class teachers and The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The collected data was grouped, tabled and graphically displayed and the distribution of frequency, ponder arithmetic mean and χ2 was calculated using PSPP for Windows 7 (for the statistically significant difference we used the difference that has a significance level of p < 0.05). The Analysis and interpretation of the results shows that the risk factors for the emergence of behavioral disorder among students from primary schools are associated with the individual characteristics of the student, the family, the school and the peers’ influence. The verification of the hypothesis gives the following conclusions: the behavioral disorder is more prevalent among boys than girls (81.42%); in most of the cases (41.42%) the behavioral disorder appears between the age of 9 - 12 years; 60 % of the students with behavioral disorder live in families with low material incomes; 50% of the students with behavioral disorder are in company only with friends who also have behavior problems. The fact that most of the students with behavioral disorder (54.28%) have an intense need for intervention is worrying. Based on the results and the conclusions we can give the following recommendations (social-protective, medical, educational and legal): timely recognition and detection of behavioral disorder, identification of the risk factors and the strengthening factors for protection; planning, development and implementation of programs for prevention and early intervention of the behavioral disorder locally and nationally; organization of the free time of these students; promotion of the cooperation between school, family, the Center for social work and the local community.