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A speech pronunciation practice system for speech-impaired children: A study to measure its success

Salim SS, Mustafa MB, Asemi A, Ahmad A, Mohamed N, Ghazali KB

Res Dev Disabil, 2016 Sep;56:41-59.
PMID: 27262125 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2016.05.013

BACKGROUND: The speech pronunciation practice (SPP) system enables children with speech impairments to practise and improve their speech pronunciation. However, little is known about the surrogate measures of the SPP system.
AIMS: This research aims to measure the success and effectiveness of the SPP system using three surrogate measures: usage (frequency of use), performance (recognition accuracy) and satisfaction (children's subjective reactions), and how these measures are aligned with the success of the SPP system, as well as to each other.
METHODS AND PROCEDURES: We have measured the absolute change in the word error rate (WER) between the pre- and post-training, using the ANOVA test. Correlation co-efficiency (CC) analysis was conducted to test the relation between the surrogate measures, while a Structural Equation Model (SEM) was used to investigate the causal relations between the measures.
OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: The CC test results indicate a positive correlation between the surrogate measures. The SEM supports all the proposed gtheses. The ANOVA results indicate that SPP is effective in reducing the WER of impaired speech.
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The SPP system is an effective assistive tool, especially for high levels of severity. We found that performance is a mediator of the relation between "usage" and "satisfaction".
Assisting the visually impaired to deal with telephone interview jobs using information and commutation technology

Yeh FH, Yang CC

Res Dev Disabil, 2014 Dec;35(12):3462-8.
PMID: 25209925 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2014.08.009

This study proposed a new information and commutation technology assisted blind telephone interview (ICT-ABTI) system to help visually impaired people to do telephone interview jobs as normal sighted people and create more diverse employment opportunities for them. The study also used an ABAB design to assess the system with seven visually impaired people. As the results, they can accomplish 3070 effective telephone interviews per month independently. The results also show that working performance of the visually impaired can be improved effectively with appropriate design of operation working flow and accessible software. The visually impaired become productive, lucrative, and self-sufficient by using ICT-ABTI system to do telephone interview jobs. The results were also shared through the APEC Digital Opportunity Center platform to help visually impaired in Philippines, Malaysia and China.
Visual-perceptual-kinesthetic inputs on influencing writing performances in children with handwriting difficulties

Tse LF, Thanapalan KC, Chan CC

Res Dev Disabil, 2014 Feb;35(2):340-7.
PMID: 24333804 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2013.11.013

This study investigated the role of visual-perceptual input in writing Chinese characters among senior school-aged children who had handwriting difficulties (CHD). The participants were 27 CHD (9-11 years old) and 61 normally developed control. There were three writing conditions: copying, and dictations with or without visual feedback. The motor-free subtests of the Developmental Test of Visual Perception (DTVP-2) were conducted. The CHD group showed significantly slower mean speeds of character production and less legibility of produced characters than the control group in all writing conditions (ps<0.001). There were significant deteriorations in legibility from copying to dictation without visual feedback. Nevertheless, the Group by Condition interaction effect was not statistically significant. Only position in space of DTVP-2 was significantly correlated with the legibility among CHD (r=-0.62, p=0.001). Poor legibility seems to be related to the less-intact spatial representation of the characters in working memory, which can be rectified by viewing the characters during writing. Visual feedback regarding one's own actions in writing can also improve legibility of characters among these children.
The use of graphic rules in grade one to help identify children at risk of handwriting difficulties

Khalid PI, Yunus J, Adnan R, Harun M, Sudirman R, Mahmood NH

Res Dev Disabil, 2010 Nov-Dec;31(6):1685-93.
PMID: 20554150 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2010.04.005

Previous researches on elementary grade handwriting revealed that pupils employ certain strategy when writing or drawing. The relationship between this strategy and the use of graphic rules has been documented but very little research has been devoted to the connection between the use of graphic rules and handwriting proficiency. Thus, this study was conducted to investigate the relative contribution of the use of graphic rules to the writing ability. A sample of 105 first graders who were average printers and 65 first graders who might experience handwriting difficulty, as judged by their teachers, of a normal primary school were individually tested on their use of graphic rules. It has been found that pupils who are below average printers use more non-analytic strategy than average printers to reproduce the figures. The results also reveal that below average printers do not acquire the graphic principles that foster an analytic approach to production skills. Although the findings are not sufficient to allow definitive conclusions about handwriting ability, it can be considered as one of the screening measures in identifying pupils who are at risk of handwriting difficulties.
Extraction of dynamic features from hand drawn data for the identification of children with handwriting difficulty

Khalid PI, Yunus J, Adnan R

Res Dev Disabil, 2010 Jan-Feb;31(1):256-62.
PMID: 19854613 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2009.09.009

Studies have shown that differences between children with and without handwriting difficulties lie not only in the written product (static data) but also in dynamic data of handwriting process. Since writing system varies among countries and individuals, this study was conducted to determine the feasibility of using quantitative outcome measures of children's drawing to identify children who are at risk of handwriting difficulties. A sample of 143 first graders of a normal primary school was investigated regarding their handwriting ability. The children were divided into two groups: test and control. Ten children from test group and 40 children from control group were individually tested for their Visual Motor Integration skills. Analysis on dynamic data indicated significant differences between the two groups in temporal and spatial measures of the drawing task performance. Thus, kinematic analysis of children's drawing is feasible to provide performance characteristic of handwriting ability, supporting its use in screening for handwriting difficulty.
Contributions of phonological awareness, phonological short-term memory, and rapid automated naming, toward decoding ability in students with mild intellectual disability

Soltani A, Roslan S

Res Dev Disabil, 2013 Mar;34(3):1090-9.
PMID: 23314249 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2012.12.005

Reading decoding ability is a fundamental skill to acquire word-specific orthographic information necessary for skilled reading. Decoding ability and its underlying phonological processing skills have been heavily investigated typically among developing students. However, the issue has rarely been noticed among students with intellectual disability who commonly suffer from reading decoding problems. This study is aimed at determining the contributions of phonological awareness, phonological short-term memory, and rapid automated naming, as three well known phonological processing skills, to decoding ability among 60 participants with mild intellectual disability of unspecified origin ranging from 15 to 23 years old. The results of the correlation analysis revealed that all three aspects of phonological processing are significantly correlated with decoding ability. Furthermore, a series of hierarchical regression analysis indicated that after controlling the effect of IQ, phonological awareness, and rapid automated naming are two distinct sources of decoding ability, but phonological short-term memory significantly contributes to decoding ability under the realm of phonological awareness.
Factors associated with autism severity among Malaysian children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Eow SY, Gan WY, Lim PY, Awang H, Mohd Shariff Z

Res Dev Disabil, 2020 May;100:103632.
PMID: 32179381 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2020.103632

BACKGROUND: Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) of different levels of symptom severity may exhibit a wide range of behaviours and characteristics. There is a limited nutrition-related study on children with ASD of different severity in Malaysia.
AIMS: This cross-sectional study aims to determine the association between sociodemographic factors, parental factors, and lifestyle factors with autism severity in children with ASD.
METHODS AND PROCEDURES: A total of 224 children with ASD were included in this study. Their mothers completed a self-administered questionnaire on sociodemographic characteristics, autism severity, parenting style, parental feeding practices, parenting stress, child's sleep habits and eating behaviours.
OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: As high as 78.1 % of the children with ASD demonstrated a high level of autism severity. Multiple linear regression showed that father's employment status (B = 6.970, 95 % CI = 3.172, 10.768, p 
Self-regulated learning versus activity-based intervention to reduce challenging behaviors and enhance school-related function for children with autism spectrum disorders: A randomized controlled trial

Wan Yunus F, Bissett M, Penkala S, Kadar M, Liu KPY

Res Dev Disabil, 2021 Jul;114:103986.
PMID: 33965876 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2021.103986

BACKGROUND: Self-regulated learning is an active learning cognitive approach which helps individuals to be aware of their own ability and environment and control their own learning.
AIM: This study examined the therapeutic effects of self-regulated learning on reducing challenging behaviors and enhancing school-related function in children with autism spectrum disorders.
METHODS: Forty children (aged 6-12) were randomized into a 12-week Self-Regulated Learning or Activity-Based intervention control group. Three outcome measures, assessing the behavior and school-related function of the children in both groups, were administered before and after the intervention and at one-month follow-up. The results between the two groups were also compared.
RESULTS: The Self-Regulated Learning group showed significantly better results in reducing concerning behaviors and enhancing the school-related function than the activity-based group post-intervention and at one-month follow-up.
CONCLUSIONS: The Self-Regulated Learning intervention was more effective compared to the Activity-Based intervention with particular benefits for on-going learning and improvements.
The analysis of three-dimensional ground reaction forces during gait in children with autism spectrum disorders

Hasan CZC, Jailani R, Md Tahir N, Ilias S

Res Dev Disabil, 2017 Jul;66:55-63.
PMID: 28284567 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2017.02.015

Minimal information is known about the three-dimensional (3D) ground reaction forces (GRF) on the gait patterns of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the 3D GRF components differ significantly between children with ASD and the peer controls. 15 children with ASD and 25 typically developing (TD) children had participated in the study. Two force plates were used to measure the 3D GRF data during walking. Time-series parameterization techniques were employed to extract 17 discrete features from the 3D GRF waveforms. By using independent t-test and Mann-Whitney U test, significant differences (p<0.05) between the ASD and TD groups were found for four GRF features. Children with ASD demonstrated higher maximum braking force, lower relative time to maximum braking force, and lower relative time to zero force during mid-stance. Children with ASD were also found to have reduced the second peak of vertical GRF in the terminal stance. These major findings suggest that children with ASD experience significant difficulties in supporting their body weight and endure gait instability during the stance phase. The findings of this research are useful to both clinicians and parents who wish to provide these children with appropriate treatments and rehabilitation programs.
The effect of background elements of pictures on the visual attention among ASD children with intellectual disabilities, children with intellectual disabilities and typical development: Evidence from eye-tracking and fMRI

Lian X, Hong WCH, Gao F, Kolletar-Zhu K, Wang J, Cai C, et al.

Res Dev Disabil, 2023 Oct;141:104602.
PMID: 37757565 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2023.104602

Traditional picture books for children come with colourful images and a multitude of elements to attract attention and increase the reading interest of typical-developing (TD) children. However, children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are less capable of filtering out unimportant elements in pictures and focusing on social items (e.g., human faces). This study proposed that the removal of background and less important elements in the pictures of children's storybooks could facilitate better attention and enhance children with ASD's focus on the main object and thus the intended meaning of the storybook. We adopted pictures from a well-known children's book and modified them by removing the inessential background elements. Then, ASD children with intellectual disabilities (ASD+ID) (n = 40), children with ID (n = 38) and TD (n = 40) were asked to view the original and modified pictures in an eye-tracking experiment, respectively. Additionally, brain activation of ASD+ID participants (n = 10) was recorded as they were viewing those pictures in an fMRI scan. Eye-tracking found that ASD+ID children viewed the modified pictures with significantly longer average fixations, fewer fixations, fewer saccades, and higher fixation/saccade duration ratio. Contrary to the original pictures, no significant differences were found among ASD+ID, ID only and TD. Especially, ASD+ID group showed highly similar visual patterns to the TD participants when viewing the modified pictures and particularly focusing on the main character in the pictures. Additional fMRI evidence on ASD+ID group also revealed that modified pictures were associated with enhanced activation in bilateral fusiform gyri as compared to those from original pictures, which might suggest increased visual attention. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed in light of our findings.
Role of child demographic, executive functions, and behavioral challenges on feelings about parenting among parents of youth with Down syndrome

Soltani A, Esbensen AJ

Res Dev Disabil, 2024 May;148:104717.
PMID: 38479073 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2024.104717

BACKGROUND: Living with a child with Down syndrome (DS) influences the entire family, including caregivers.
AIMS: This study examined positive and negative caregiver feelings about parenting youth with DS and to what extent children's demographic, cognitive, behavioral characteristics, and co-occurring medical conditions are associated with those parental feelings. Specifically, the mediatory role of child behavioral challenges on the relationship between child executive functioning (EF) and parent feelings about parenting a child with DS was examined in a mediation analysis model.
METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Parents of 113 youth with DS aged 6 to 17 year rated their positive and negative feelings about parenting, and their child's behavioral challenges and EF.
OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Externalizing and Internalizing behavioral challenges and emotional and behavioral regulations of EF were significantly associated with positive and negative parent feelings. Child behavioral challenges fully mediated the relationship between child EF and caregiver feelings about parenting, after controlling for identified covariates of child demographics.
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Findings have implications for understanding the role of EF, through its impact on behavioral challenges, on the feelings of caregivers about parenting a child with DS. These findings play a role in understanding outcomes of interventions targeted at EF and behavioral challenges, in the context of other child variables.

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