ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH), their parents, Teachers of the Deaf, and other community stakeholders were involved in co-designing a web-based resource to support students' social-emotional well-being. The resource was designed to provide families and teachers with strategies to enhance the social and emotional well-being of Grade 4-6 students who are DHH. This study reports outcomes of a pilot study of the web-based resource intervention. METHOD: A pre-post pilot study was conducted to quantitatively examine reported anxiety, well-being, social relationships, school experience, student-teacher relationship, and parent and teacher self-efficacy. A total of 37 students, their parents (n = 37), and their classroom teachers (n = 40) participated in the intervention program and were provided access to the resource. RESULTS: In total, 19 students, 22 parents, and 17 teachers completed both pre- and postsurvey measures. Paired t tests revealed that there was a statistically significant increase in parents' self-efficacy scores from pre- to posttest. Multivariate analysis of covariance revealed a significant association between parent use of the website and student-reported improved peer support and reduced school loneliness. No other statistically significant differences were found. CONCLUSIONS: The use of a web-based resource codeveloped with students who are DHH, their parents, and teachers could potentially be beneficial for the well-being of students who are DHH as well as parents' self-efficacy. Further research is needed to confirm the benefits.
Subject(s)
Hearing Loss , Persons With Hearing Impairments , Child , Emotions , Humans , Persons With Hearing Impairments/psychology , Pilot Projects , School Teachers/psychology , Schools , Students/psychologyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to revise and validate the Individual Child Engagement Record (ICER), an instrument designed to observe and measure the engagement of children with disabilities in early childhood settings.(1) METHOD: The ICER was revised with reference to pilot study results and the literature. Inter-observer reliability of the revised measure (ICER-R) was examined by calculating levels of agreement between observers coding video-clips of children with disabilities engaged in three different activity types (mealtime, free play, and structured group time) in an inclusive childcare centre. The E-Qual III was used as a criterion measure to examine concurrent validity. RESULTS: Good overall percentage agreement and kappa coefficients were achieved for the codes recorded. A statistically significant correlation was found between data gathered using the ICER-R and the E-Qual III when comparing total engaged behaviours. CONCLUSIONS: The ICER-R was found to be a valid and reliable measure of engagement of children with disabilities in early childhood settings. The results support the potential of the ICER-R as a practitioner-friendly tool.
Subject(s)
Activities of Daily Living , Developmental Disabilities/rehabilitation , Education, Special , Psychological Tests , Social Behavior , Australia , Child , Child, Preschool , Developmental Disabilities/psychology , Female , Humans , Interpersonal Relations , Male , Observer Variation , Play and Playthings , Reproducibility of ResultsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to develop a measure of engagement that could be used in practice with children with disabilities, including children with severe intellectual disabilities. METHOD: The Individual Child Engagement Record (ICER) was designed to observe and record the engagement of individual children in order to identify optimal programs for them. Using the measure, 5 children with mild to severe disabilities were observed in an inclusive childcare setting across 4 types of ongoing activities: routine, one-to-one instruction, planned, and child-initiated. RESULTS: Generally, the children were better engaged in routine activities. The lowest level of engagement was found for planned activities. There were, however, differences across children with regard to the relative value of the different types of activities in promoting engagement. CONCLUSIONS: The measure allowed for the identification of activities that would provide better learning opportunities for children with significant disabilities.