Journal of Special Education and Rehabilitation

5-14

Authors: Goran AJDINSKI

The responsibilities and obligations of the special educators and the professional team that have to perform the process of inclusion is of a great im­portance, due to the fact that the education of chil­dren with special education needs is a serious issue which requires comprahensive approach, constant professional assistance, team work, contionuous in-service team training, as well as teacher and special educator training. Special educators should be trained for working in the regular schools. The training has to be carried out through direct sup­port in practice, workshops and seminars, ex­change of attitudes and development of further strategies for improvement of the process of inclu­sion. The special teacher, while teaching children with special education needs, has to realize a lot of ac­tivities such as: students’ preparation, assessment of the psychomotor development, evaluation of the students’ achieved results, adaptation of the cur­ricula, individual work, assistance to the main­stream teachers etc. Thus, the cooperation between the professional team and the parents is very im­portant in the process of inclusion.

25-32

Authors: Ljupcho AJDINSKI

The paper was presented at the Round table dis­cussions on conditions in education and employ­ment of people with disabilities in the Republic of Macedonia, held in September 2007. The condi­tions of the institutions, which provide early reha­bilitation, preschool, primary, secondary and higher education, as well as day and stationary care of people with disabilities were presented. The innovations in this field and the deinstitution­alized treatment of people with disabilities were discussed, too. The existing problems in the insti­tutions and proposed solutions for their improve­ment were also discussed.

43-46

Authors: Ljupcho EFREMOV

The employment of people with disabilities has shown positive results for the last few years, not only in the shelter commercial companies but as individual entrepreneurs or disabled people employed in individual commercial companies. The people with disabilities also, depending on the kind and degree of disability and the professional education are to be employed in the public administration and open commerce. Nowadays, in the Republic of Macedonia, there are about 650 registered shelter commercial companies that employ 3,550 people with disabilities and 4,350 people without disabilities, or the total of 7,900 employees in shelter commercial companies. There are 190 registered individual entrepreneurs, disabled people working on their own, and about 460 disabled people working as employees in individual commercial companies which makes a total of 4,200 employed disabled people. According to the Law on Employment being in effect from 02.06.2000, the number of the registered unemployed people in the Agency for employment in the Republic of Macedonia on 31.12.2001 was 3.300 people (this number includes registered disabled at work looking for a job), and in July 2007 the number was 2.200, which means that 1.100 people with disabilities have been employed since adopting the Law, and there is a tendency of increasing employment of disabled people.

53-57

Authors: Zoran KITKANJ

The Republic of Macedonia as one of the suc­cessors of former Yugoslavia, took over the pre­vious signed international conventions, dec­lara­tions, resolutions related to education, social and health care, social integration of children with developmental problems and special edu­cation needs. Thus, it was morally obliged to undertake activities for their successful and effi­cient inte­gration. On the other hand, the Article 35 of the Constitution of the Republic of Mace­donia le­gally obliges our state to develop a Na­tional Strategy for better life of this category of citi­zens, as well as their inclusion in all spheres of social life. Due to the mentioned above, it is necessary to change and amend the legal regulations in order to achieve more efficient integration of children and youth with disabilities. In other words, the contemporary European tendencies indicate on up-dating the legal regulations that directly or indirectly are related to these people and their more successful social integration.

61-62

Authors: Dragoslav KOPACHEV

The textbook titled “People with disabilities: professional orientation, qualification and employment” by Prof. Dr. Risto Petrov, was published in March 2007. The textbook is presented on 214 pages, computer processed. Topics included in the textbook are contemporary, current, clearly and documentarily worked out. They form a unit which presents the people with disabilities, reflects the professional orientation, qualification and employment of these people. The topics are fully adjusted to the subject, that according to ECTS, students of the Institute for Special Education and Rehabilitation study during the sixth semester. The material is structured in two parts: a general and a specific one, each consisting of several chapters. In the first, the General part, two units are worked out. In the first group of issues, the author considers the People with disabilities, especially those with impaired vision, impaired hearing, physically disabled people and people with mental retardation, as well as people with combined developmental disabilities. The author indicates on the definition, classification, especially points out the characteristics of these people from the aspect of their possibilities and abilities for work qualification and employment, In the second group of issues, the author talks about the Protection and rehabilitation of people with disabilities. He presents awareness about these issues since the first known documents. Furthermore, he defines the term rehabilitation and points out the conditions, principles, methods and tasks in rehabilitation of people with disabilities

67-69

Authors: Boge CHADINOVSKI

The round table discussion on “The Conditions, Problems and Development in Education and Employment of People with Disabilities in RM” was held on 26th September 2007. After the intro­ductory presentations and the round table discus­sions the following CONCLUSIONS were brought. 1. The Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs within their authorities to approach to changes and amend­ments of the legal regula­tions in order to provide: · To accept children with developmental problems and special education needs in pre-school, primary and secondary edu­cation; · criteria and standards for inclusion of chil­dren with disabilities in mainstream pre-schools, primary schools and secon­dary schools; · qualified defectologists (spe­cial teachers), to employ defectologists and additional professional assistance weekly: 3 hours in pre-school institutions and 5 hours in schools; · To provide database. 2. The Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Culture should provide publi­cation of textbooks and other books for the blind; should consider the way and timing for integration of these children in the educa­tional process and enable objective and pro­fessional assessment for inclusion; 3. The new Draft Law on Higher Education should provide benefits for people with im­paired hearing, impaired vision and people with severe physical disabilities. Benefits such as the right to an interpreter for the deaf and the sign language should be provided as opportunities for communication. For the people with impaired vision–technical aid and training on Braille’s alphabet, computers with appropriate software, printers and readers to be provided. For people with severe physical disabilities-access to the buildings of educa­tional institutions to be provided; and for all certain benefits at enrollment at the Univer­sity, scholarships, board and lodging and fi­nancial compensation of the state; 4. Further development of the process for esta­blishing daily centers, deinstitutionalization of children from the special institutions, the choice of biological and foster families, the chice of housing with previously accepted strategies, as well as bringing a Law on thises issues ; 5. The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs pre­pared Proposals for changes and amend­ments on the Law of Employment of people with disabilities in order to regulate the in­crease of the percentage of the total amount of the ex­isting contribution for employment from 5% to 15%, which is allocated to sub-account in the Agency for Employment in the Republic of Macedonia (Special Fund) and is to be ap­plied from 1st January 2008; 6. The Agency for Employment in the Republic of Macedonia to apply the Rulebook for training disabled people on the requests of enterprises that employ such people; 7. The secondary and Higher education should provide new vocations and jobs depending on the level of person’s disability, which will en­able employment of these people, possible activities related to electronics and informa­tion technology, i.e. prosperous development; 8. The Operative Body of the National Coor­di­na­­tive Body for equal rights of people with disabilities is to appoint a working group con­sisted of 3 members: Boge Chadi­novski–a de­fectologist, Vlado Dodevski–a eng. in pro­tec­t­ion at work and Ljupcho Efremov–a defec­tologist, to prepare the no­menclature of voca­tions meant for people with disabilities and the Coordinative Body should provide prem­ises as well as financial means for this pro­ject; 9. Components of the Conclusions are the pro­posals in the introductory presentations of the round table discussions on education, legal regulations, employment of people with dis­abilities as well as proposals of the discus­sions and working materials; 10. People with disabilities appeal to the relevant institutions in the state and the authorities with the motto: DON’T DO ANYTHING FOR US-WITHOUT US; 11. The Coordinative Body entrusts the Presi­dent and the Secretary of the National Co­ordina­tive Body to point out and appeal to the au­thorized institutions to carry out these con­clu­sions.

91-93

Authors: Daniela DIMITROVA-RADOJCHIKJ

Daniela Dimitrova-Radojcikj defended her doctoral thesis on January 23th, 2007 at the Institute for Special Edu­cation and Rehabilitation at the Faculty of Philoso­phy, University “Ss Cyril and Methodius”-Skopje before the com­mission cosisted of: Prof. Dr. Vladimir Radulov, Prof. Dr. Risto Petrov, Prof. Dr. Ljupcho Ajdinski, Prof. Dr. Goran Ajdinski and Prof. Dr. Zora Jachova.

96-97

Authors: Aneta STEFANOVSKA

Aneta Stefanovska defended her master thesis on October 18th, 2006 at the Institute for Special Edu­cation and Rehabilitation at the Faculty of Philoso­phy, University “Ss Cyril and Methodius”-Skopje before the com­mission cosisted of: Prof. Dr. Risto Petrov, Prof. Dr. Dragoslav Kopachev and Prof. Dr. Goran Ajdinski.

5-20

Authors: Ljubomir SAVIKJ

Historical truth is that among peoples there have always been people with impaired hearing. As the most striking evidence of that is the cult of Greek god Asclepious (in Greek Asclepious, in Latin Esculap) whose temples were scattered throughout Greece (1), as well as in Epidaurus (the old name of Cavtat) (2) and in Heraclea near Bitola (3). Both in Epidaurus and Heraclea, almost identical clay tiles with ears shown on them were found which some ill people had offered as gifts in gratitude to god Asclepius. They were so called votive tiles-offerings (in Latin voto, votare = gift, to give a gift) contributed to the temple. There was no written text on them, in contrast to similar ones found in Egypt 3,500 years ago (4). That was the oldest data on deaf people existence on the territory of Macedonia. Dr. Dimitar Kotevski, who described the tile from Heraclea (5), said that there had been a prototype of a hospital called “Asclepion” according to Asclepius, about 500 meters Southeast of Heraclea, with spring-water nearby which to people’s belief had been holy and healing. There were modeled ears on the tile, and fir cone in between as a symbol of “big generative and creative power, joy and good luck” (6), which should have shown the optimism of man with impaired hearing. Such developed civilized level in Heraclea, under the reign of Philip II Macedonian, had lasted till 479 BC, when it was robbed by Goths, then the Romans, the town was destroyed and abundant, and when the Slavs came, they founded Bitola not far away (7).

37-44

Authors: Aleksandra KAROVSKA, Zora JACHOVA

Early children intervention as it is defined by Schonkoff and Meisels is consisted by a “multidisciplinary service for developmentally disabled children or incompetent children from their birth until the age of three and their families” (Meisels i Shonkoff, 1990). Early intervention as a support service for the children born with a high risk factor, and for the children with different type and degree of disability is perceived, organized and conducted differently in different countries. The conceptualization, design and implementation of the early intervention processes is dependent on the state structures (of course by the one relevant for the early intervention process), the degree of the development of the community members conciseness, the status of the health protection system, the financial power of the state etc. but the manner in which the early intervention is conducted primarily depends on the law regulations, that regulates the obligations and services that are offered by the institutions in which the early intervention is conducted. On the other hand there are law regulations for the legal rights of the users of the early intervention. The early intervention models differ in different countries, but there are differences in there positioning and functioning of the centers in a single country.

57-68

Authors: Olivera RASHICH, Vladimir TRAJKOVSKI

People from the”Normal“ population don't have enough knowledge about the problems caused by mental retardation. Very often they have wrong sense and biases about mentally retarded people, considering them as people who suffer from pshychic illness. Mentally retarded people, very often are considered very different from the ”Normal“ population, but if we come closer to them we will see that there are more similarities than differences. The period in which we live today is full of challenges and fulfillments, which are frightening for people with mental retardation. It will be logical if the progress and contemporary techniques and the society go together with progress of human relationships, but, in fact, we are witnesses of lots of unhuman acts. The number of mental retarded people who have been victims of sexual abuse increases more and more everyday, and the most tragic is that they are not even aware of the situation in most cases. Persons with mental retardation in most situations become victims of this kind of unhuman acts because they don't know to say ”No“ to adults. This paper is a supplement for investigations about frequency, reasons and possibilities for prevention of sexual abuse of people with mental retardation. Key words: sexual abuse, mental retardation, prevalence and prevention.

75-76

Authors: Jasmina IVANOVSKA

On March 16, on Faculty of Philosophy was held second service providers forum organized by Macedonian Scientific Society for Autism (MSSA) and the European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD) on witch managers of service providers for people with disabilities and NGO's from Republic of Macedonia were invited. The aim of the seminar was to bring together the Macedonian service provision sector for people with disabilities, to share information and models of good practice and to provide participants with training about good practice from EU. Dean of Faculty of Philosophy Prof. Dr. Trajan Gocevski and Mr Luk Zelderloo EASPD (Secretary General) held official welcome speech. Platform was moderated by president of MSSA Dr. Vladimir Trajkovski. Participants as lecturers were Mr Luk Zelderloo EASPD (Secretary General), Prof Dr. Ljupco Ajdinski honour president of MSSA, Mr. Vlado Krstovski ("Poraka"), Mrs. Lidija Krstevska (Open The Windows) and Ms Diana Chiriacescu (Handicap International-South Eastern Europe).

5-16

Authors: Viviana LANGER, Goran AJDINSKI, Roza FERI, Risto PETROV

Participating in an international conference is often a ritual. It happens very frequently that the participants, although coming from different contexts and sharing the same field of interests, although discussing about the works presented in the conference, actually save the same opinions that they had before, and the effect of the exchanges fades with the last conversation during the conference dinner. The international conference for the ten years of the Institute of Special Education and Rehabilitation, University “Ss Cyril and Methodius”, held in Ohrid on September 2003, was not a mere ritual. During that conference, a small group of researchers and experts coming from Macedonia and Italy gave start to something new, spontaneously beginning to talk about the two different educational systems for people with special needs, the one practiced in Italy and the one practiced in Macedonia. Few months after that encounter, that small group of people (the writers of the present article were among them) gave birth to an inter-university co-operation project between “Ss Cyril and Methodius” and “La Sapienza” Universities, that has been lasting for two years and still going on.

23-30

Authors: Marinka GROBLER

The objective of this study is the research of specific language impairments as manifested in Slovene language. The research focuses on language processing in order to determine syntactic, deficit. It has been predicted, that SLI children will meet with difficulties in the language of all elements that mark syntatic dependency. The research has been carried out on a sample of 71 children with SLI and of 71 children with normal language development, all pupils from first to fourth grade of primary school. The children from both groups were matched by sex, socio-economic status and school environment. This study presents an analysis of repetitions of ten sentences designed in such way that some syntactic elements have been varied. The variables of language processing and those of morpho syntactic command were obtained from the elicited repetition task (including different syntactically complex structures). The results show, that SLI children use certain structure less frequently than age controls and that there are not only statistically important differences in the majority of the sentences with different syntactic complexity, but also that the tasks applied can differentiate specific language impairments as well. The research has put up some syntactic deficit of SLI in Slovene language as they can be identified by means of targeted sentences. In syntax, children with SLI have problems with depended relations, with language processing and structuring of coordinate and subordinate clauses and also in the simple sentences. Furthermore, they have problems with subject-predicate agreement and, when they repeate sentences, with coordinate elements. Kay words: specific language impairment, syntax, syntactic deficit, compound sentences, complex sentences

41-48

Authors: Magdalena DIMKOVA, Risto PETROV

Employment, i.e. the right of people with disabili­ties to work, is the last phase of an extended and complex process of their rehabilitation. The em­ployment is the last phase of the integration of these people in the social environment. In all developed counties, the right to work presents one of the fundamental human rights. The question regarding employment of people with mental retar­dation is a current issue at present, especially be­cause a lot of people with disability who are able to work have met resistance by the employers. Key words: Employment, rehabilitation, integra­tion, mentally retarded people, protective compa­nies, legislation

59-64

Authors: Suzana KRAJNC JOLDIKJ

Children with special needs have a right to equal educational opportunities and consequently to an inclusive education. With a placement of a motor-disabled child in a primary school, a mobile special educator and a mobile-service have an important role. Additional special assistance for children with special needs means suppressing, correcting and compensating children’s impediments and deficiencies. It includes assessing the level of child’s functionality, assessing child’s needs from a special pedagogical viewpoint, assessing integral stimulation of child's potentials and assessing influences on the development of expertise, strategies and skills required for learning and work. The integrated approach considers the child as a bio-psycho-social being in to child’s social environment. Therefore, it does not involve only a direct work with a child but also counselling. Every child should be included in a programme that is appropriate for its aptitude and capabilities. Therefore, the mobile-special educator (mobile special educator-teacher for children with special needs who operate on field) has an important role to emphasise to the parents the negative factors that occur and together with them try to find what is best for their child. Key words: motor-disabled children, mobile special educator*, teacher for children with special needs, mobile-service, regular primary school

77-82

Authors: Jelle REYNAERT

We all live in a world that is becoming more and more global. For that reason disability policies are not a matter of national interest only. Governments and non-governmental organisations need to take an active part in international activities as well. 2006 was an important year with regard to international initiatives in the disability field. In August, the United Nations have completed a successful process in order to finalise a new Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. The in-depth and profound dialogue between the governments and non-governmental organizations was an example for all (supranational) authorities in Europe. The slogan “nothing about us without us” finally became a reality. In September, the Council of Europe officially launched its Action Plan to promote the rights and full participation of people with disabilities in society. Both documents will have an huge impact on the future of the sector in the future both in Europe and in the world. The Council of Europe Action Plan to promote the rights and full participation of people with disabilities in society: improving the quality of life of people with disabilities in Europe 2006-2015 1 The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted in April 2006 a new Action Plan to promote the rights and full participation of people with disabilities in Europe 2006-2015. The Plan is based on the Malaga Ministerial Declaration “Progressing towards full participation as citizens”, which was adopted in 2003. The key objective of the Disability Action Plan is to serve as a practical tool for developing and implementing national strategies in order to bring about full participation of persons with disabilities and combat discrimination. A better quality of life of persons with disabilities in Europe can be achieved by awareness raising campaigns, providing accessible and high-quality services and support and by mainstreaming disability throughout all policy areas. Member States have the primary responsibility for implementing disability policies at national level. The first step is to carry out a national stocktaking exercise. In Finland for example the Government has already evaluated the present disability policy against the blueprint of the Disability Action Plan as well as other relevant global disability documents. They identified ten key areas in which progress has to be made. These areas concern amongst others human rights and non-discrimination, employment, education, cultural rights, independent living and information technology. The relevant ministries are in charge of carrying out the actions and including the necessary resources in their budgets. Secondly it is needed to build up knowledge and know-how at national level. A multidisciplinary, holistic approach towards disability based on different scientific methods and perspectives needs to be developed. Member States should collect appropriate information, including statistics and research data, to get a clear picture of the present situation of persons with disabilities. Also national seminars and conferences which highlight experiences and best practices and promote the dialogue between users and planners could form a good base for obtaining a common understanding of what should be the next steps. Statistics and research will also help to assess the effects of present policies and strategies and put up new goals for the future. Research findings should be transformed into good policies and practices. The third prerequisite for carrying out a successful policy for persons with disabilities is to ensure effective structures for cooperation and consultation. Governments should work side by side with non-governmental organisations when implementing and assessing national disability policies and strategies. One cannot stress the importance of cooperation enough. Mainstreaming means that also the cooperation between different administrative sectors needs to be understood and emphasized. A focal point is necessary to bear the ultimate responsibility for coordinating disability policies at national level. Follow up and reporting back to the Council of Europe on the implementation of the Action Plan complete the process. It is of utmost importance to have a forum for follow up and cooperation encompassing all 46 member States of the Council as well as the NGO’s (such as EASPD) and other relevant stakeholders. A body for concerted action on disability policies is a must at European level. Cooperation at international level also gives concrete content and meaning to abstract disability concepts.

85-101

Authors: Manuel F. CASANOVA, Aly FARAG, Ayman EL-BAZ, Meghan MOTT, Hossam HASSAN,Rachid FAHMI, Andrew E. SWITALA

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in social interaction, language, and range of interests. Recent studies suggest that the brains of autistic patients have an increased number of minicolumns. This finding helps explain the presence of macroencephaly or increased brain size in a significant proportion of autistic patients. Changes in brain size and gyrification are usually concurrent. In this study we have implemented an algorithm that measured the gyrification window in the brains of 23 postmortem autistic and 16 postmortem control brains. At the 85% confidence level the algorithm correctly classified 22/23 autistics, a 0.96 accuracy rate, and 15/16 controls, a 0.94 accuracy rate. Previous structural neuroimaging studies in autism have emphasized volumetric measures. These methodologies are very sensitive to segmentation artifacts, being compromised by image noise, lack of strong edges, and sharing of color/texture among different structures. The present study offers a new approach to the classification of autism based on structural MRI. The finding bears relevance to the clinical presentation of autism as increased gyrification reduces the gyral window and constrains connectivity in favor of short corticocortical fibers. Key words: Autism, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), neocortex, minicolumns

7-16

Authors: Natasha ANGELOSKA-GALEVSKA

The scientific researches in special education are used for systematic investigation of a certain sub­ject or phenomenon that aims to reach knowledge that can improve education and rehabilitation of people with special needs. There is a huge variety of research strategies, and what the researcher will choose among them depends on the research ob­jective, the nature of the investigated phenomenon and the possibilities for its examination, the ex­perience of the researcher, the research tools, and many other factors. In this text, different types of scientific researches are explained, according to their division based on different criteria. This review does not include all types of research, but the most basic and the most common ones in the theory and practice of special education, such as the basic and the applied re­search, the theoretical and the empirical, the cross sectional and the panel, etc. Key Words: types of research, methodology, spe­­cial education

25-39

Authors: Vladimir TRAJKOVSKI Kristin VASILEVSKA Ljupcho AJDINSKI Mirko SPIROSKI

Infantile autism is pervasive developmental disorder with abnormal or damaged psychical development manifested after the second or third year of life, with characteristics in the shift of pathological functioning in the sphere of social interactions, in communications with the environment, and with repetitive behavior. The aim of this article is to show a part of demographic and epidemiological characteristics of the population with autism registered in the Republic of Macedonia.This research is a retrospective study, followed on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia, which covered 50 people with autism. All examined people have a verified diagnosis according to ICD-10 classification of diseases and DSM-IV criteria made in the special educational and medical institutions in our country. From the analysis of examined autistic people in the sample it has confirmed that the prevalence of autism in RM is 0.25 people up to 10.000 inhabitants. The male gender is 2.5 times more frequent than the female gender. The mean age of patients is 11 years. The socio-economic condition does not take part in the genesis of autism. The season of birth is not connected with the appearance of the disturbance. Data for mothers disease during the pregnancy (p=0.04), as well as the pathological course of the pregnancy (p=0.02) is a risk factor for appearance of the syndrome. The pathological delivery and the complications in the perinatal period are not the risk factors in this study (p>0.05). The duration of nursing and the preliminary rejection of mother’s milk are significantly associated with the appearance of autism (p<0.01). The results from this study may be useful as a good base for further epidemiological researching, revealing new risk factors in the genesis of autism, and for planning the prevention of this severe syndrome.

49-59

Authors: Danijela ILICH-STOSHOVIKJ Snezhana NIKOLIKJ Maja NEDOVIKJ

The assessment is the biggest problem in teaching practice and the most important research problem which attracts the attention of pedagogues. In pedagogic literature many critics can be found against numeric assessment in regular schools, but this problem has not been researched enough in schools for physical disabled pupils. The attitudes of teachers towered concrete assessment system in these schools can be an excellent indicator of the basic problem of this system and a great indicator for the direction of the special education reforms. The attitude of teachers shows that current system of assessment is overruled and is neither objective nor practical, because of heterogenic structure of pupils in a class. The school programs are not adapted to the abilities of pupil, so, it is not possible to evaluate school success at all. The most important function of school assessment should be monitoring of the school progress of physically disabled pupils. This assessment function is mostly used by the teachers. The intervals of school assessment should be more frequent than they are now. A simple and clear definition of teaching goals could make possible for pupils and their parents to understand what school expects of them. Key Words: numeric assessment, physically disabled pupils, attitudes, teachers

77-87

Authors: Ranko KOVAČEVIKJ Schachira MESCHALIKJ

The aim of this paper is to examine relations of the school results and family characteristics of the students in the primary school with behaviour disorders. This paper begins with the hypothesis which shows that students with bad school results have very poor family characteristics compared to students with better school results. The sample consisted of 112 students from 6 primary schools, within the municipality of Tuzla. Chi-square test showed three variables statistically important: mother's education, father's education, and socio-economic conditions in the family. The achieved results have shown that the educational inferiority of the parents and the poor socio-economic situation of the family have big influence on the school results. Key Words: school results, and family conditions

99-104

Authors: Ljupcho AJDINSKI

From the debate on the Draft National Program for development of education in the RM held in the second half of 2004

112-114

Authors: Kiril TEMKOV

A good book will certainly attract attention of educators and those interested in regular life knowledge. Marija Ajdinska and Velichko Andreevski, well - known pedagogues and special educators, collected thousands of edifying sayings from all over the world and published them as a necessary work for those who think of themselves and others and of life itself. This collection of morals on 300 pages can certainly direct one on the right life path. The morals are divided in 10 chapters – for man and life, woman and love, work and success, good and evil, happiness and hope, freedom and peace, health and age, humanity and friendship, joy and trouble. For each issue there are important considerations and morals, everyone can find a guide for his/her behaviour. Here is one of the morals: “A practical person considers everything in life seriously, but not tragically.” This book of wisdoms reminds us of education and development for everyone. A man was born as a human being that could survive only with the help of other people and learning.

117-125

Authors: Vijendra K. SINGH

The pathogenesis of autism, a neurological disorder severely affecting young children, may involve inflammation and autoimmunity. In this report, the distribution of acute-phase C-reactive protein (CRP) and S100 proteins was examined in normal and autistic children. Their serum levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Autistic children were found to have significantly higher than normal levels of CRP (p=0.005) and S100 proteins (p=0.03). The existence of elevated levels of CRP and S100 proteins in autistic children is an excellent sign of systemic inflammation that may contribute to the neuropathology of this brain disorder. Key Words:Autism; C-reactive protein; S100 proteins; Inflammation; Acute-phase response; Autoimmunity; Brain disorders

5-16

Authors: Dragoslav KOPACHEV

This paper on the children’s autism gives an overview of neuropsychological aspect and in context of the development dynamic approach. The author expresses some characteristics and dilemmas which refer to the Kanner’s autism and Asperger`s syndrome. He presents his own opinion and dilemmas about the every day practice in relation to children’s autism as a pathological disorder which is an expression of pervasive disorder, children’s psychosis or just one development phase in which children are fixated forever. The author thinks children’s autism should be seen in context of the inter-game of biological factors, development and the stress. Key words: autism, neuropsychological-development approach, psychosis, symbiotic relation and neurological development hypothesis.

27-34

Authors: Ana KAREVSKA, Vladimir TRAJKOVSKI

Significant number of the world population is faced with speech disorder problem. Speech disorders can be caused by numerous factors, which can be genetic, congenital or obtained. The knowledge of the etiology of speech disorders is of a great importance, because the early detection and diagnosis are of invaluable significance for successful rehabilitation of people with speech disorders. On the other hand, the establishment of etiology would mean early intervention with appropriate treatments, which can alleviate or prevent consequences of speech disorders. In other words it would mean successful prevention. This work is a contribution to the research of the etiology of speech disorders. Key words: etiology, speech disorder.

43-52

Authors: Ljupcho AJDINSKI

Autism as a condition, due to its specifics from medical, psychological as well as from special education and rehabilitation aspect, is a complex professional and social problem. Therefore in solving the problems of autism, it is approached from theoretical, research, clinical, educational and practical aspects. This paper presents all mentioned aspects and our awareness of how far we have gone in the treatment of autism. This work indicates the treatment organization of children with autism, the activities undertaken in solving the problem and rehabilitation-education treatment of autism, with a brief presentation of the program contents of the work with autistic people. Key words: autism, treatment, form, program, working staff

61-68

Authors: Verica PETROVA, Risto PETROV

The World Health Organization defines autism as a pervasive development disorder with impaired development in children manifested before the third year of life. This disorder is manifested with characteristic form of functioning in the three live spheres: In reciprocal social integrations; In disordered ability for communication; In limited interest in the happenings around oneself, with dominant stereotypical behavior.

75-80

Authors: Kiril TEMKOV

The heart is the greatest secret of lots of strengths which man possesses. The heart is not only the muscle that shapes and drives blood, as basic liquid, in the body, but it is the center of feelings that absorbs dramatic happenings and stimulates the most noble aims and intentions of a person. The number of heartbeats and flow of the red liquid are important for the heart’s material power, but the essential flow and strength of love, as an ethical and poetic substratum of this core of emotions, are important for its emotional form. Love is not an empty, simply interpreted word. It is the most important side of life, a base for personal development and moral values. Mother Theresa, the great humanist of our time, expressed that honestly and extolling in the best way: “We cannot make great deeds, but we can make the small ones with great love”! Such an approach towards love as a basic and the best human feeling is present in the collection of poetry “The Speech of Heart” by a young poet, Iskra Doneva, a student of Comparative and World literature. She was born in Skopje in 1983, successfully finished the secondary education in the well-known gymnasia “Korchagin” and she is almost at the end of her studies at the Faculty of Philology. She attracts with perfection of her personality, with her culture and intellectual capacity, with her strong feelings, with life joy expressed by her smile and positive approach, her interest in spiritual values and her creative work, among which is the collection of poetry “The Speech of Heart”. Iskra Doneva’s first collection of poetry “The Speech of Heart” (published in 2000) received excellent reviews by our well-known authors Prof. Dr. Aleksandar Spasov and the academician and poet Ante Popovski. It is a collection of Miss Doneva’s youth poems. They characterized and express the personal, aesthetic and ethical orientation of the young author. Her first verses, when she was a child, were published in children’s magazines. Actually, she wrote first poems when she learnt the alphabet and understood the meaning of the written massage. It was called “My mother”. One can make a mistake if one thinks that small children are not aware of problems and cannot express their thoughts. On the contrary, the character and basic life and ethic knowledge of a person are created at the earliest age. In this poem the young girl Iskra talks sincerely about human values – kindness, generosity and courage her mother shows towards her: “Mummy dear, mummy dear – how good you are, how courageous. Your courage, your strength leads me forward towards victory dear. You look after me, with all my problems – a smile on your face still exists. Your courage, power and worry – I'll make it up to you one day with my success, I promise mother. A bouquet of roses is a gift to you mother-only not to see your tears”. Iskra Doneva presents her courage and positive orientation even in her first work of her spirit. It is expressed in the motto of the collection of poems with the well-known thought of Special education and rehabilitation: Luck is the only thing that multiplies when it is divided! The collection of poetry in which Iskra speaks about the heart, is devoted with gratitude to “those who give me their love and tenderness, those who inspired me my love to be born, love that has helped me make my first steps in the world of poetry.” Thus, Iskra Doneva connects emotional, life and creative strengths and commitments. In the second part of the collection she speaks about the most significant personal and emotional event – the first love. This love trembling is devoted to her first experience with this kind of feeling, to the excitements, personal and social shock that love provokes. The massage of these verses is touchingly clear: “Once you told me how nice it is someone to devote you a poem and here am I, my dear, from the depth of my heart I devote every verse of my poetry to you”. These poems make us, elder people, return to the age of our emotional weakening, they make young people see the reality in the deepest personal emotion for the closest person and show them how to love sincerely and tenderly. In the third part of the collection, with sub-title “I and again I”, Doneva presents herself as an exclusively matured writer. Although young, her heart is strengthened, she does not hide herself before reality; she is aware of the problems and openly talks about them. She talks about birds, learning from them about freedom, about people helping her. She shows her noble nature with love toward her nephew, with a lovely humorous poem expressing her best wishes and love for her closest family and friends, with best wishes for people helping her when having troubles: “I sincerely wish you, always, and wherever you are, may happiness and success follow you.” In the anthology poem “Desire” Iskra Doneva talks about reality of her condition, but also about the great human power of any person. No one should give up and bend down one’s head before sufferings, but every one should raise oneself above the situation and find one’s life path: “And you are worth something, although you are disabled – therefore do not let anybody damage self-confidence and hope you possess, because they are essential for your life. Be brave and fight till the end, only thus you can show that you are equal with others and you do not differ from them.” The young author goes further. She becomes an expert in world literature; she has many works before her that will enrich our culture and probably our science. She has a talent, a refined taste, built up artistic criteria indicated in her first collection of poetry. The greatest quality of her poetry arises even from her first works – her open and courageous heart, with which inspiration and strength she created her first poems.

87-90

Authors: Georgi GRUJEVSKI

During the first six months, the Association of the Organizations for Disabled People in the Republic of Macedonia, besides its everyday activities, was included in the work of the National Coordinative Body for Equal Rights, which in the meantime held three round table discussions on the following topics: 1. Health Insurance and Health Care of People with Disabilities held on 26 January 2005. The following conclusions were brought: To establish New Regional Centers for follow up of children with risk factors and to provide better cooperation between these centers and the centers for social work. To form more Regional Commissions for determining specific needs of people with disabilities and to provide free of charge service for the beneficiaries. To revoke any kind of participation for the orthopedic aids, to revoke urgently participations for orthosis that have the same function as prostheses, i.e. substitute for the lost function of the extremities. To provide good market price and higher European standard of the aids. To provide wider assortment of aids according to the new technological achievements in the world. To provide available insight into the firms which produce and distribute aids and to provide control for better quality and standards. To train assistants to help people with disabilities in hospitals or other places where necessary. The State to provide conditions for recreation and physical activities of people with disabilities to improve their health. The National Coordinative Body for Equal Rights of People with Disabilities in RM should engage itself this conclusion to be carried out. To widen the Positive medication list with specific medications for people with disabilities and to provide their constant availability. To impose on the Health Insurance Fund of Macedonia to anticipate financial means for implementation of cochlear implants, especially for very young children. To change and to add new legal regulations in order to provide conditions for cochlear implant operations with deaf people in our country. There should be some changes in the Law on Health Care in order to provide health care for certain categories of disabled people, enabling them health spa treatment covered by the Health Insurance Fund. We suggest this right to refer to all other categories of disabled people as before. The Ministry of Health and the Health Insurance Fund are asked to reply to the National Coordinative Body for Equal Rights of People with Disabilities in RM regarding the suggested conclusions: Whether they accept or not the suggested conclusions, and to explain the reasons if the answer is no. What the possibilities to carry out each conclusion separately are and the plan and dynamic of their implementation.

99-108

Authors: Nenad P. GLUMBIKJ, Ane M. BOZHINOVIKJ

Semantic verbal fluency test is reliable instrument for detection of various kinds of neuropsychological deficits. Participants’ attainments in this test are influenced by array of socio-cultural factors. The occurrence of “twofold semilingualism” belongs to these cultural factors. The objective of this research is to determine differences between monolingual and bilingual children with mild mental retardation in semantic verbal fluency test. The sample consisted of 90 participants with mild mental retardation, of both sexes, aged from 12 to 15. The whole sample was divided into three subsets: 30 monolingual children (M1), who speak only Serbian, 30 monolingual Roma children who do not speak Romany (M2) and 30 bilingual Roma children who speak both, Romany and Serbian language (B). It was found that both groups of monolingual children have better performances in semantic fluency tasks than bilingual children. Key words: semantic fluency, mental retardation, bilingualism