Development and process evaluation of a motor activity program for people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities.

BACKGROUND: The support of people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) rarely focused on motor activity, which might have negative consequences for the quality of life of these people. Evidence-based motor activity programs that present individually tailored and structural motor activity for these people are, regretfully, lacking. This study developed such a program for these people and evaluated the implementation process. METHODS: The motor activity program is developed in accordance with the theoretical premises of the educational program and consists of four methodological steps in which the content is individually filled with: motor activity structurally embedded within the activities of daily living, and 3-5 motor activities aimed at a specific goal, which is evaluated. Program delivery consisted of a manual, explanation to the teams, and coaching of one contact person per participant (n = 9). Process evaluation included the delivered fidelity, dose, reach, and adaptations made during the program. In addition, mechanisms of impact and the influence of contextual factors were evaluated. Data collection included researcher logbooks, individual program content, and staff reports. RESULTS: The intended fidelity, dose, and reach were not obtained in most participants. Content has been made explicit for seven participants, but only in one participant all critical steps in implementation were performed as intended, though later in time. In three participants, previously offered motor activities were described within the weekly program, but without all activities having a clear link with the goal set. It is showed that the core elements of the program were affected with the conceived implementation plan. The time schedule, critical elements in implementation and program content were influenced by a lack of conditions such as professionals' motivation and responsibility, methodical working, interdisciplinarity and continuity in staff. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the implementation might be improved in case more attention is paid to the organizational conditions and implementation structure. The findings led to substantial changes in the implementation strategy. This study underlines the importance of process evaluation prior to testing for effectiveness. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The (overarching) study was registered at the Netherlands Trial Register (number 6627) on February 10, 2017: https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/6449 .

Construct validity of the Actiwatch-2 for assessing movement in people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities.

BACKGROUND: Valid measures to assess either small or assisted performed movements of people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) are required. We analysed the construct validity of the Actiwatch-2 to assess movement in people with PIMD. METHOD: Twenty-two persons with PIMD were video recorded while wearing an Actiwatch-2. We used 15s-partial-interval recording to record upper body movement, body position and activity situation. Multilevel analyses were used to evaluate if the Actiwatch-2, based on produced counts, could detect changes in these factors. RESULTS: The presence versus absence of upper body movement and an activity situation in which participants were involved versus not involved resulted in significantly higher counts, with a large variety in predicted counts between participants. No relationship between body position and counts was found. CONCLUSIONS: The Actiwatch-2 seems able to assess obvious upper body movement in people with PIMD, and whether there is involvement in an activity situation.

The attentional blink in typically developing and reading-disabled children.

This study's research question was whether selective visual attention, and specifically the attentional blink (AB) as operationalized by a dual target rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task, can explain individual differences in word reading (WR) and reading-related phonological performances in typically developing children and reading-disabled subgroups. A total of 407 Dutch school children (Grades 3-6) were classified either as typically developing (n = 302) or as belonging to one of three reading-disabled subgroups: reading disabilities only (RD-only, n = 69), both RD and attention problems (RD+ADHD, n = 16), or both RD and a specific language impairment (RD+SLI, n = 20). The RSVP task employed alphanumeric stimuli that were presented in two blocks. Standardized Dutch tests were used to measure WR, phonemic awareness (PA), and alphanumeric rapid naming (RAN). Results indicate that, controlling for PA and RAN performance, general RSVP task performance contributes significant unique variance to the prediction of WR. Specifically, consistent group main effects for the parameter of AB(minimum) were found, whereas there were no AB-specific effects (i.e., AB(width) and AB(amplitude)) except for the RD+SLI group. Finally, there was a group by measurement interaction, indicating that the RD-only and comorbid groups are differentially sensitive for prolonged testing sessions. These results suggest that more general factors involved in RSVP processing may explain the group differences found.

Seeing myself through the eyes of my peers: Explaining the self-concept of students with and without special educational needs through acceptance and friendship.

INTRODUCTION: Paving the way towards inclusive education, it is essential to aim for positive social outcomes for all students, including cultivating a positive self-concept and fostering acceptance and friendships with peers. Although self-concept, acceptance and friendships are interrelated, research focussing on the relationship between these constructs remains limited. METHOD: This study examined the self-concept, acceptance and friendships of two groups of typically developing students in secondary education (n = 401) and two groups of students in special secondary education with either an intellectual disability (ID) (n = 58) or social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) (n = 68). RESULTS: Lower self-concept scores were found for students with ID on some dimensions, whereas typically developing students reported lower acceptance and friendship scores. Multilevel analyses indicated that acceptance is a predictor for several different dimensions of self-concept in the different groups of students, but friendship is less likely to predict self-concept scores. DISCUSSION: The results of the study emphasize the importance of promoting peer acceptance amongst all students in inclusive school settings in order to realize the intended positive social outcomes of inclusive education.

Using intervention mapping to develop an intervention for multiparty communication with people with congenital deafblindness.

BACKGROUND: Due to their dual sensory impairment, people with congenital deafblindness (CDB) are rarely naturally involved in other people's conversations. Their communication partners find it challenging to include them in group conversations. However, overhearing others communicate is important for developing social and communication skills. Hence, we developed an intervention program to guide communication partners in offering multiparty communication to people with CDB. This article describes how the program was developed through an intervention mapping approach. METHOD: Intervention mapping is a six-step process: logic model, model of change, program design, program production, program implementation plan, and evaluation plan. These six steps were applied to systematically develop a program to foster multiparty communication in people with CDB. Representatives of the involved groups participated in the project group and the working group to ensure feasibility and acceptability. RESULTS: Following the intervention mapping steps resulted in creation of a program for communication partners that consists of an education session, practicals, and four video-feedback sessions. Information sessions for practitioners and managers were also developed. The program was implemented incrementally with program implementers in each organization. A subjective evaluation and an impact evaluation were done after each implementation phase. DISCUSSION: Intervention mapping was used to develop a program that connects theory to practice. The program appeared to meet the communication partners' needs and be feasible in terms of time investment. This article offers suggestions for broadening the scope of the program to other settings and for further investigating the effects of the program on the social and communication skills of people with CDB.

An experience sampling study on the links between daily teacher self-efficacy, need-supportive teaching and student intrinsic motivation.

Introduction: Why are some teachers more successful at motivating students than others? We know from previous literature that teachers' self-efficacy relates to the extent in which they engage in need-supportive teaching in the classroom, which in turn relates to student intrinsic motivation. However, teachers' self-efficacy is hypothesized to be dependent on their previous mastery experiences, e.g., of engaging students in the classroom. This "feedback loop" where the teacher not only influences the student but also the other way around, in a process unfolding over time, can only be investigated empirically with an intensive longitudinal design. This is precisely what we did in the current study. Methods: Secondary school teachers (n = 4) and students (n = 90) participated in an experience sampling study throughout one school year, resulting in a unique dataset with 48-59 repeated measurement points per class. Results: Visual exploration of the time series revealed that teacher self-efficacy can vary substantially from lesson to lesson, with characteristic patterns of stabilization and de-stabilization. We conducted Vector Autoregressive Analysis (VAR) for each of the four cases to test whether, and how, the variables relate to each other over time. We found an "overspill effect" for student motivation, meaning that students' motivation in today's lesson predicts their motivation in tomorrow's lesson. Furthermore, in two cases we found that today's student motivation predicts tomorrow's teacher self-efficacy, but not the other way around.

The relationship between motor performance and executive functioning in early childhood: A systematic review on motor demands embedded within executive function tasks.

This systematic review examined to what extent response demands of executive functioning (EF) tasks influence the relationship between motor performance and EF in 2- to 6-year-old typically developing (TD) children and children with motor coordination difficulties (MCD). Eighteen of the included articles focused on TD children only and three also on children with MCD. EF tasks were subdivided based on the type of responses (i.e., motor or verbal). EF tasks requiring a motor response were subdivided into two levels (i.e., complex or simple). Results showed that the relationship between motor performance and EF in 2- to 6-year-old TD children and children with MCD was inconclusive with the strength of correlation coefficients for the most part varying from very weak to moderate. The type of EF task response did not influence the relationship between motor performance and EF. The review thus implies that other task demands than the type of EF task response need to be investigated to explain the inconsistent relationship between motor performance and EF, such as the complexity of the motor response of EF tasks, the complexity of the actual motor tasks, and additional processes (e.g., memory, intelligence, language comprehension).

Relationship between learning environment characteristics and academic engagement.

The relationship between learning environment characteristics and academic engagement of 777 Grade 6 children located in 41 learning environments was explored. Questionnaires were used to tap learning environment perceptions of children, their academic engagement, and their ethnic-cultural background. The basis of the learning environment questionnaire was the International System for Teacher Observation and Feedback (ISTOF). Factor analysis indicated three factors: the teacher as a helpful and good instructor (having good instructional skills, clear instruction), the teacher as promoter of active learning and differentiation, and the teacher as manager and organizer of classroom activities. Multilevel analysis indicated that about 12% of the differences in engagement between children was related to the learning environment. All the mentioned learning environment characteristics mattered, but the teacher as a helpful, good instructor was most important followed by the teacher as promoter of active learning and differentiation.

Assessing Motor Performance in Preschool Children: The Zurich Neuromotor Assessment-2 and the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2.

Comparing motor assessment tools that are available for young children is important in order to select the most appropriate clinical and research tools. Hence, this study compared motor performance assessed with the Zurich Neuromotor Assessment-2 (ZNA-2) to the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC-2). The sample consisted of 169 children, aged 3-5 years (87 boys; 51%). We used Pearson correlations to examine relationships between the ZNA-2 and MABC-2 component and total scores. In addition, Pearson correlations were performed between individual fine motor and balance items of the ZNA-2 and MABC-2. Results were that the total scores of the ZNA-2 and MABC-2 correlated moderately (r = .40, p < .001). Non-significant to moderate correlations were found between components (r = -.00 to .47) and between individual items of fine motor skills (r = .04 to .38) and balance (r = -.12 to .38). Thus, the ZNA-2 and MABC-2 measure partly similar and partly different aspects of motor performance.

Emerging School Readiness Profiles: Motor Skills Matter for Cognitive- and Non-cognitive First Grade School Outcomes.

A promising approach for studying school readiness involves a person-centered approach, aimed at exploring how functioning in diverse developmental domains conjointly affects children's school outcomes. Currently, however, a systematic understanding lacks of how motor skills, in conjunction with other school readiness skills, affect a child's school outcomes. Additionally, little is known about longitudinal associations of school readiness with non-academic (e.g., socioemotional) school outcomes. Therefore, we examined the school readiness skills of a sample of Dutch children (N = 91) with a mean age of 3 years and 4 months (46% girls). We used a multi-informant test battery to assess children's school readiness in terms of executive functions (EFs), language and emergent literacy, motor skills, and socioemotional behavior. During the spring term of a child's first grade year, we collected academic and non-academic (i.e., EFs, motor skills, socioemotional- and classroom behavior, and creative thinking) school outcomes. A latent profile analysis revealed four distinct profiles. Children in the "Parent Positive" (29%) profile were rated positively by their parents, and performed variably on motor and language/emergent literacy skills tests. The second profile-"Multiple Strengths" (13%)-consisted of children showing strengths in multiple domains, especially with respect to motor skills. Children from the third profile-"Average Performers" (50%)-did not show any distinct strengths or weaknesses, rather displayed school readiness skill levels close to, or just below the sample mean. Finally, the "Parental Concern" (8%) profile was characterized by high levels of parental concerns, while displaying slightly above average performance on specific motor and language skills. Motor skills clearly distinguished between profiles, next to parent-rated EFs and socioemotional behavior, and to a lesser extent emergent literacy skills. School readiness profiles were found to differ in mean scores on first grade academic achievement, parent- and teacher-rated EFs, motor skills, parent-rated socioemotional functioning, and pre-requisite learning skills. The pattern of mean differences was complex, suggesting that profiles could not be ranked from low to high in terms of school outcomes. Longitudinal studies are needed to disentangle the interaction between emerging school readiness of the child and the surrounding context.

Students' daily emotions in the classroom: intra-individual variability and appraisal correlates.

BACKGROUND: Recent literature on emotions in education has shown that competence- and value-related beliefs are important sources of students' emotions; nevertheless, the role of these antecedents in students' daily functioning in the classroom is not yet well-known. More importantly, to date we know little about intra-individual variability in students' daily emotions. AIMS: The objectives of the study were (1) to examine within-student variability in emotional experiences and (2) to investigate how competence and value appraisals are associated with emotions. It was hypothesized that emotions would show substantial within-student variability and that there would be within-person associations between competence and value appraisals and the emotions. SAMPLE: (s) The sample consisted of 120 grade 7 students (52%, girls) in 5 randomly selected classrooms in a secondary school. METHOD: A diary method was used to acquire daily process variables of emotions and appraisals. Daily emotions and daily appraisals were assessed using items adapted from existing measures. RESULTS: Multi-level modelling was used to test the hypotheses. As predicted, the within-person variability in emotional states accounted for between 41% (for pride) and 70% (for anxiety) of total variability in the emotional states. Also as hypothesized, the appraisals were generally associated with the emotions. CONCLUSIONS: The within-student variability in emotions and appraisals clearly demonstrates the adaptability of students with respect to situational affordances and constraints in their everyday classroom experiences. The significant covariations between the appraisals and emotions suggest that within-student variability in emotions is systematic.

Perceived social support and early adolescents' achievement: the mediational roles of motivational beliefs and emotions.

Although a bulk of literature shows that perceived social support (PSS) influences academic achievement, the mechanisms through which this effect operates received little empirical attention. The present study examined the multiple mediational effects of motivational beliefs (competence beliefs and subjective value) and emotions (anxiety and enjoyment) that may account for the empirical link between PSS (from parents, peers and teachers) and mathematics achievement. The participants of the study were 238 grade 7 students (average age = 13.2 years, girls = 54%, predominantly native Dutch middle class socioeconomic status). A bootstrap analysis (a relatively new technique for testing multiple mediation) revealed that the motivational beliefs and the emotions, jointly, partially mediated the effect of PSS on achievement. The proportion of the effects mediated, however, varied across the support sources from 55% to 75%. The findings lend support to the theoretical assumptions in the literature that supportive social relationships influence achievement through motivational and affective pathways.

Task-Specific and Latent Relationships Between Motor Skills and Executive Functions in Preschool Children.

There has been an increasing interest in the relationship between motor skills and executive functions (EFs) in young children over the years. However, no clear picture on the relationship between both domains has emerged from these studies. We have extended previous findings by conducting a comprehensive examination of task-specific and latent relationships between a range of motor skills and EFs in preschool children. The sample consisted of 198 3- to 5-year-old children (102 boys; 51.5%). Motor skills were assessed using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children Second Edition. EFs were assessed with the performance-based tasks 'Day/Night,' 'Hand Tapping,' 'Forward Corsi Block,' 'Forward Digit Recall,' and 'Conflict Task,' and a rating-based EF measure (i.e., the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning - Preschool version). Task-specific relationships were examined using zero-order Pearson correlations. Latent factors of motor skills and EFs were examined using confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory structural equation modeling. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine latent relationships. The results of the Pearson correlation analyses showed statistically significant albeit weak correlations between specific motor and EF items (r = 0.15 to r = 0.23). SEM showed non-significant weak relationships between a general motor factor (as a unitary latent construct) on the one hand, and performance-based EFs and rating-based EFs (as latent EF components) on the other hand. In conclusion, this study suggested only weak relationships between motor skills and EFs in preschool children with no clear differences between their task-specific and latent relationships.

Learning capacity in adolescents with mild intellectual disabilities.

Scores on a learning potential test (the Hessels Analogical Reasoning Test) were examined to assess how to provide a better estimate of the learning capacity of students with mild intellectual disabilities compared to IQ scores. As a criterion, a dynamic test of chemistry learning was used. 46 adolescents from a special education institute participated. The results show that learning ability, as estimated with the learning potential test, did not correlate with a traditional measure of IQ (n = 23). Moreover, IQ did not predict who would profit from training in novel, school-related domains. Multiple-regression analysis confirmed the superiority of the learning potential test to predict scores on a chemistry test administered in training-posttest format. This study demonstrated that a learning potential test is able to better predict such specific future learning outcomes and may be of added value in the differentiation of the learning potential of students with mild intellectual disabilities.

Communication development from an intersubjective perspective: Exploring the use of a layered communication model to describe communication development in students with congenital deafblindness.

This exploratory study conducts a quantitative investigation on the communication development of students with congenital deafblindness (CDB). First, a layered communication model (LCM) is introduced, describing communicative behaviors based on three layers of intersubjective development for typically developing children (Bråten & Trevarthen, 2007). Subsequently, an analysis is made of how applicable the LCM is for children with CDB. Video recordings of four dyads of students with CDB with varying developmental ages and their teachers are coded using ten-second partial interval coding. The presence of LCM behaviors, the student and teacher contributions to communication, and the development over a half-year period are described and compared between dyads. The results reflected the developmental differences between dyads. At the primary layer, all behaviors occurred a comparable number of times between dyads, which confirms that this is a basic communication layer. Quantitative differences between dyads were encountered between and within the secondary and tertiary layers. Teacher contribution was higher for students with lower developmental ages compared to students with higher developmental ages. Also, teacher contribution was higher for the secondary and tertiary layer behaviors of the LCM compared to the primary layer behaviors. No increase was found in the behaviors over the half-year period. Results suggest that the LCM can be used to gain insight into the communication level of a dyad, hereby paving the way for intervention studies to improve communication development.

Non-cognitive Characteristics of Gifted Students With Learning Disabilities: An In-depth Systematic Review.

Gifted students who also have learning disabilities (G/LD) are often overlooked when students are assessed either for giftedness or specific learning disabilities. The cognitive and non-cognitive characteristics of these G/LD students are habitually discussed only briefly alongside identification and intervention issues and, beyond that, the relevance of non-cognitive characteristics is often left unconsidered. Accordingly, this study aims to conduct an in-depth review of the non-cognitive characteristics of these students for identification and intervention purposes. Detailed analysis was performed on 23 publications. High levels of negative emotions, low self-perception, and adverse interpersonal relationships, as well as high levels of motivation, coping skills and perseverance were found among these students. A common characteristic was a high degree of frustration with the academic situation. The study reveals that these students show considerably duality in their non-cognitive characteristics which requires tailored counseling skills to provide effective support for their learning needs.

Autonomy, competence, and social relatedness in task interest within project-based education.

To prepare students for instructive collaboration, it is necessary to have insight into students' psychological needs and interest development. The framework of self-determination theory was used to conduct a field experiment involving 114 students in vocational education. These students followed a practical business course which required they work in small learning groups. During the course, students were asked to complete the Quality of Working in Groups Instrument, an online measure of how strong autonomy, competence, social relatedness, and task interest are fulfilled. SEM showed that students' psychological needs were jointly and uniquely related to task interest over time. The significance of this on-line test for the assessment of interest within project-based education is discussed.

Rapid Naming and Phonemic Awareness in Children With or Without Reading Disabilities and/or ADHD.

Employing a large sample of children from Dutch regular elementary schools, this study assessed the contributing and discriminating values of reading disability (RD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to two types of phonological processing skills, phonemic awareness (PA) and rapid automatized naming (RAN). A second objective was to investigate whether comorbidity of RD and ADHD should be considered as an additive phenomenon as to RAN and PA. A total of 1,262 children, aged 8 to 13 years, were classified as RD ( n = 121), ADHD ( n = 17), comorbid (RD+ADHD; n = 16), or control ( n = 1,108). Phonological processing was assessed by standardized tests of PA and RAN. Disability groups were compared to each other and contrasted to the control group. Although results indicate substantial effects for all three disability groups on both types of phonological processing, and the RAN/PA compound measure in particular, effect sizes were considerably larger for the RD groups, as compared to the ADHD-only group. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Understanding the Relationship Between Teacher Behavior and Motivation in Students with Acquired Deafblindness.

Because little is known about teacher-student relationships that involve students with acquired deafblindness, the authors performed a multiple case study with a multiple-method design to investigate the relationship between need-supportive teaching behaviors and student engagement. Using self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), they analyzed video observations of interactions. It was found that teachers' provision of structure, autonomy support, and involvement often cooccurs with higher levels of student engagement. Moreover, varying degrees of need support over time seem to result in varying levels of student engagement. Examples are provided of need-supportive teaching behaviors that can be used to foster the motivation of students with acquired deafblindness.

Rapid Naming and Phonemic Awareness in Children With Reading Disabilities and/or Specific Language Impairment: Differentiating Processes?

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to assess and compare the predictive values of group membership for rapid automatized naming (RAN) and phonemic awareness (PA) in Dutch school children with and without reading disabilities (RD) or specific language impairment (SLI). METHOD: A composite word reading index and a formal SLI diagnosis were used to classify a total of 1,267 children aged 8 to 13 years old either as RD-only (n = 126), SLI-only (n = 21), comorbid (RD+SLI; n = 30), or typically developing (n = 1,090). RAN and PA were assessed with 4 standardized subtests. The clinical subgroups were compared to each other and contrasted with the control group. RESULTS: For each subgroup, results indicate substantial effect sizes of RAN and PA. However, the RD-only group seems to be more affected by poor RAN than the SLI-only group, whereas the 2 groups perform equally poorly on PA. The comorbid group was revealed as most severely impaired on all measurements. CONCLUSIONS: In studying RD and SLI, this research indicates that it is important to distinguish between RD-only, SLI-only, and comorbid groups. The comorbid group shows additive effects of both disorders.