Naturalistic teaching approach to develop spontaneous vocalizations and augmented communication in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBI) have been shown to facilitate the development of spontaneous language in individuals with speech and language impairment. Several meta-analyses have reported a small number of studies that utilized naturalistic teaching approaches combined with augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions to develop requesting skills in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to determine whether a natural language paradigm (NLP) and time delay is effective in expanding vocal and augmented requesting skills in three children with ASD between the ages of 4 and 6 years. A concurrent multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. The results of the study demonstrated that the participants were successful in emitting vocal requests when both modalities were available and NLP combined with time delay was effective in increasing spontaneous vocal requests in all participants.

The psychometric properties of the ADHD rating scale-5 for children and adolescents, home version for Sudan.

There is a lack of universal scales for tracking ADHD symptoms in the home for children/adolescents in the Sudanese context. For this reason, this study aimed to validate the ADHD Rating Scale-5 for Children and Adolescents, Home Version for use by parents in Sudan to assess their children for ADHD. This scale is widely used by parents to assess their children aged 5-17 years for ADHD in the home environment. The current study involved 3,742 Sudanese parents of school-aged children and adolescents, each asked to complete the instrument for one child in their family; only one parent per family participated in the study. The authors then examined the psychometric properties of the scale from the completed assessments. The results indicated acceptable to high reliability for the total scale and both the symptom and impairment items. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated high external and construct validity when applying the scale to the Sudanese sample. the factor structure resembled that of the normative U.S. sample in terms of the number of extractable factors and the strength of factor loadings. Based on the results, this adaptation of the home version of the ADHD Scale-5 for Children and Adolescents is both valid and reliable for use by Sudanese parents in the home environment.

Factors predicting current and future use of video-modelling in teaching students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD): a Saudi Arabian perspective.

PURPOSE: Despite the effectiveness of using video-modelling to teach skills for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), few studies have addressed video-modelling being adopted in the classrooms. This study measured special educators' current use of video-modelling in teaching students with ASD in Saudi Arabia. It also investigated the factors predicting current and future use of video-modelling based on Diffusion of Innovation Theory. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive research design was used. A total of 271 special educators responded to a survey. A stepwise multiple regression and a logistic regression analysis were used to determine factors predicting current and future use of video-modelling. RESULTS: Results showed that special educators used video-modelling in teaching students with ASD at a low level (M = 2.59). Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that the combination of perceived relative advantage, perceived complexity, perceived trialability, and perceived observability predicted current use of video-modelling, whereas the logistic regression analysis revealed that perceived relative advantage and perceived trialability were only predictors of future use of video-modelling. CONCLUSIONS: Results show that video-modelling is still used as an assistive technology slightly in teaching students with ASD, suggesting that educators may find it challenging to use video-modelling in classrooms. Results indicate that using video-modelling in teaching students with ASD can be influenced by a variety of factors related to the Diffusion of Innovation Theory. This is evidence that educational and rehabilitation stakeholders need to cooperate in addressing these factors to close the research-practice gap, and improve the adoption of video-modelling in classrooms.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONFew studies have addressed how video-modelling as an assistive technology is being adopted in the classroom.The findings revealed that video-modelling was underutilized in the classrooms for students with ASD, indicating the need to investigate causes contributing to this lack of adoption and to increase video-modelling use.Perceived relative advantage, complexity, trialability, and observability predicted educators' current video-modelling use.Perceived relative advantage and trialability predicted educators' future video-modelling use.Support should be done via collaboration among special educators and other professionals (e.g., assistive technology specialists, occupational and physical therapists) to help in development of and use video-modelling more extensively.

Psychometric Properties of ADHD Rating Scale-5 for Children and Adolescents in Sudan-School Version.

The ADHD Rating Scale-5 for Children and Adolescents, School Version, has been adopted and validated to be used in assessing ADHD among school children within Western contexts. However, there are few assessment tools in use for identifying ADHD characteristics in children in Sudan. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of this rating scale in the context of Sudan. To accomplish this, data were collected on a sample of 3,742 school-aged children and adolescents as reported by their teachers. Psychometric properties can be classified as very good, with very high reliability (>0.90), and high construct validity tested by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Thus, the ADHD Rating Scale-5 for Children and Adolescents, School Version, is valid, reliable, and suitable to use for assessing ADHD symptoms among children and adolescents in the Sudanese context.

Teachers' Knowledge and Use of Evidenced-Based Practices for Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder in Saudi Arabia.

The evidenced-based practices (EBPs) movement in the field of special education began ~20 years ago. This study contributes to that literature. It investigates the teachers' knowledge and use of EBPs to teach students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Saudi Arabia. The Teachers' Knowledge and Use of EBPs Survey was administered to 240 special education teachers. The participants generally reported a medium level of knowledge and use of EBPs for students with ASD. Female teachers' use of EBPs was greater than that of males, and teachers who attended more than five professional development programs reported greater use of EBPs than those that attended fewer programs. Knowledge and use of EBPs were related. Gender and professional development programs were predictors of teachers' use of EBPs for students with ASD. Teachers' knowledge of EBPs for students with ASD is a vital indicator of teachers' use of those practices, professional development programs can improve such knowledge and use, and teachers' use of EBPs for students with ASD could be improved by offering high-quality professional development programs.

Adapting evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in Saudi Arabia: process and outputs of a national initiative.

BACKGROUND: We recently adapted the published National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis and management guideline to the Saudi Arabian context. It has been postulated that adaptation of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines to the local healthcare context rather than de-novo development will improve their adoption and implementation without imposing a significant burden on resources. The objective of this paper is to describe the adaptation process methodology utilized for the generation of the first national guideline for management of people with ADHD in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: We used the KSU-Modified-ADAPTE methodology for the guideline adaptation process. We describe the full process in detail including the three phases of set-up, adaptation, and finalization. The process was conducted by a multidisciplinary guideline adaptation group in addition to an external review for the clinical content and methodology. RESULTS: The group adapted ten main categories of recommendations from one source CPG (NICE). The recommendations include: (i) service organisation and training, (ii) recognition, identification and referral, (iii) diagnosis, (iv) support, (v) managing ADHD, (vi) dietary advice, (vii) medication, (viii) maintenance and monitoring, (ix) adherence to treatment, and (x) review of medication and discontinuation. Several implementation tools were compiled and developed to enhance implementability including a clinical algorithm, quality measures, coding system, medication tables, translations, patient information, and online resources. CONCLUSIONS: The finalized clinical practice guideline provides healthcare providers with applicable evidence-based guidance for the management of people with ADHD in Saudi Arabia. The project also demonstrated the effectiveness of KSU-Modified-ADAPTE, and emphasized the value of a collaborative clinical and methodological expert group for adaptation of national guidelines.