Autism is a condition manifested by persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, and, sensory processing difficulties may further affect childhood-occupation and hinders their overall development. This study examines the sensory-processing and childhood participation of children with autism (6 to 10 years), and 'age/gender-matched typical children as control. The Sensory Processing (SSP) and the Participation of childhood-occupation (PICO) measures were used to collect data from 93 parents of children with autism and 95 parents of typically-developing' children, recruited from hospitals, school and care centres. This study had 74 percent (n = 72) male participants (i.e. 4:1 male to female ratio) in the autism group, and found sensory processing difficulties were associated with specific childhood-participation limitation. Children with autism had lower participation (across level, frequency and enjoyment) than the typical children. Sensory-processing' difficulties for the children with autism (n = 93) were at 68.8 percent, compared to 21.5 percent in the typical group (n = 95), and were significantly different (p 0.28). Auditory filtering was the sole sensory-processing difficulty with significant correlations with all three dimensions of participation [i.e. difficulty (r = 0.36, p
Taking 22 children with mild and moderate autism as subjects and using the TobiiX 120 eye-tracker to record their eye movements in visual search of images in picture books, the characteristics of the process of autistic children viewing picture books were explored. Two measures, fixation counts and gaze duration, were used alongside attention heatmap, to explore the visual patterns among children with autism viewing two types of researcher-made picture books and an ordinary picture book. Using a within-subject design, it was found that children with autism could sustain longer gaze duration and have more fixation points on the effective area of the picture book content when viewing researcher-made picture books than when viewing the ordinary picture book, suggesting better visual attention to single-object and single-pattern picture books. The study offers insights and support for related picture book reading and teaching in the future.
Limited efforts have been made in middle- and low-income countries to raise public awareness of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) over the past ten years. We report data from a general population survey exploring the relationship between awareness, knowledge, and attitudes regarding autism in Malaysia. A questionnaire consisting of items related to awareness, knowledge, and attitudes regarding ASD was distributed. The scores of knowledge of ASD and attitude towards ASD were 6.87 (SD = 4.17; with a total possible score of 12) and 6.39 (SD = 2.77; with a total possible score of 9), respectively, indicating that, on average, the participants had moderate levels of knowledge and attitude. Structural equation modeling showed that improving awareness and knowledge about ASD will enhance more positive attitudes towards ASD. Efforts should be geared towards disseminating information about ASD, in order to increase acceptance of the disorder.
The prosperity of inclusion of students with disabilities largely rest on the attitudes of mainstream teachers. Few studies explore the relationship among school climate, teachers' attitude on inclusion and teachers' efficacy in China. This study surveyed 266 general teachers in China to understand the role of teachers' efficacy on inclusive education between school climate and teachers' attitude. The results indicated that teachers hold positive attitudes towards inclusion on average, especially in the dimension of affection. Additionally, school climate, teachers' efficacy and teachers' attitude were significantly associated, and the mediating effect of teachers' efficacy between school climate and teachers' attitude were proved by mediation analyses. The findings suggested that creating more inclusive school climate and improving general teachers' knowledge and skills on inclusive education, especially the skills on collaboration with others, which could contribute to promote more positive attitude on inclusive education of general teachers.
Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the perception, awareness, societal attitude, and knowledge about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Malaysian medical students. Methods: An exploratory survey was conducted with 83 medical students in Malaysia. In the survey, the medical students were required to rate their perception, awareness, societal attitude, and their recognition of ASD symptoms. Results: The results showed the senior medical students had increased knowledge about ASD symptoms compared to the juniors, but there was no clear indicator that they had obtained the knowledge through formal training. Specifically, the medical students could better identify symptoms related to restrictive and fixation behavioral patterns than social communicative deficits. While considering the effects of societal attitude, year of study, perception about ASD course and other demographic variables, the year of study emerged as the sole predictor of the medical students' knowledge about ASD. Conclusion: The findings from this study provided evidence for the need of compulsory training on ASD in medical schools in improve the knowledge and skills of prospective medical practitioners to identify individuals with ASD. Such effort is fundamental for the early identification and intervention of ASD in developing countries such as Malaysia.
Background: While socioeconomic status (SES) has been shown to be an important determinant of sedentary behaviour (SB) and moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) in typically developing children, similar data on those with intellectual disability (ID) are lacking. This study explored the association of SES with SB and MVPA among Chinese children with ID. Method: Data were collected from 275 children aged 7-16 with mild to severe ID. Children's Leisure Activities Study Survey assessed SB and MVPA for a week. SES was assessed using the six indicators. Multiple linear regression was used to analyse the associations of SES variables with SB and MVPA on schooldays and on weekends. Results: Parental education level was positively associated with SB on weekends, and MVPA on schooldays and weekends; family's combined annual income was positively associated MVPA on schooldays and weekends; parental occupation was positively associated with SB on schooldays and weekends; Family Affluence Scale was positively associated with SB on schooldays (all p
Objectives: To examine and analyse the intervention effects of the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) on children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: This meta-analysis evaluated the effect sizes in four major domains of measurement (autism symptoms, language, cognition, and social communication). A total of 624 participants with ASD were included in 11 high-quality randomized controlled trial studies. Results: The results indicated that the ESDM intervention resulted in significant improvement with moderate effect sizes in the cognition (g = 0.28), autism symptoms (g = 0.27), and language (g = 0.29) domains. The effect sizes of autism symptoms and language were moderated by country (Western versus Asian countries). However, there were no significant effects observed for the social communication domain. Conclusion: The ESDM intervention significantly improved autism symptoms, language, and cognition. The effect sizes of autism symptoms and language were larger in Asian countries than in Western countries.