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Biomedical subjects

R J Simeonsson

Publications and source records attributed to R J Simeonsson.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Students with disabilities: a national survey of participation in school activities.

INTRODUCTION: The policies of integration and full inclusion in school activities have been enacted to promote the independence and social participation of students with disabilities. This study examined the nature and extent of participation in schools by students with disabilities in the context of the physical, social and psychological features of the school environment. METHOD: A national survey was completed by 1180 teachers of students with disabilities in the US describing student participation in school activities encompassing involvement in social activities, sports, academic and artistic/creative endeavours. RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: Multivariate analysis revealed that school life in elementary, middle and high school could be defined by six distinct factors describing individual and group roles. Structural equation modelling yielded a second order latent variable that captured the complex and multi-dimensional aspect of participation, accounting for availability, eligibility, student characteristics/status, and student choice within a larger framework of participation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Revision of the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps: developmental issues.

Variability in approaches to define and classify disability has constituted persistent problems in documenting the epidemiology of disability and providing appropriate services. The major institutions of health care, mental health, and welfare often have separate systems of classification and terminology related to defining eligibility for programs and funding for services. In 1980, the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps-ICIDH was published by the World Health Organization as a companion document of the International Classification of Disease to document the consequences of illness or injury. Current problems concerning the classification of childhood disability in health, education, and related services have resulted in growing interest in the revision of the ICIDH as a classification tool. The strengths and limitations of the ICIDH are examined in general, as well as with specific reference to its ability to document the nature and epidemiology of childhood disability. This paper (1) describes the ICIDH taxonomy and representative contributions; (2) reviews issues and concerns contributing to its revision; (3) summarizes changes in the revised ICIDH2 draft document, and (4) identifies issues of particular relevance to children and public health applications.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2000

Measures of outcomes for children and youth.

OBJECTIVE: To provide an overview of the issues related to the measurement of disability outcomes among children and on an assessment of selected instruments. DATA SOURCES: Published scientific English literature in the area of child development, public health, and outcomes research. STUDY SELECTION: Studies selected were those that provide global measures of health outcomes focusing on children. Those selected allowed data collection to address the effects of intervention on individual children or populations of children. Psychometric characteristics were also a part of the selection process. DATA EXTRACTION: Specific guidelines for assessing the instruments include the number of scales and index capability, breadth of domains, inclusion of norms, capacity to measure elements of the World Health Organization model of functioning and disability, item and scaling bias, respondent burden, administrative burden, and retest reliability. DATA SYNTHESIS: Thirteen instruments were included. The measures vary in their utility for broad versus specific applications, eg, clinical and public health uses. Children themselves are often not part of the assessment process. In addition, environmental influences on health outcomes of children are not adequately addressed. CONCLUSION: Although it is challenging to evaluate outcomes associated with children with disabilities, there are frameworks and instruments that will advance outcome measurement. Approaches that include children should be explored further, and the environmental influences including and beyond the family require further measurement development.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1995

Family involvement in multidisciplinary team evaluation: professional and parent perspectives.

For many children and families, a multidisciplinary team evaluation is their introduction to special education systems. Increasingly, federal guidelines mandating parent involvement in all aspects of service provision have meant that parents are being asked to participate as part of the evaluation team. If families and professionals are to serve as partners in the evaluation process, mutual respect and understanding of one another's perspectives will be crucial. This paper uses survey data from 39 parents and 81 professionals to examine the various expectations and perceptions brought by participants to the assessment process. Results indicated that there is substantial variability of perceptions among parents and professionals about the nature of child assessment and their respective roles in it. Implications for research and practice are discussed, along with techniques for involving families in the assessment process in more meaningful ways.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Individual and team consensus ratings of child functioning.

The authors examined agreement between interdisciplinary teams of professionals in rating the functional abilities of children with disabilities. 129 children were rated on the ABILITIES index by 72 professionals working in nine developmental evaluation centers. Independent individual ratings were made first, followed by a consensus rating. Team members had a high degree of agreement on independent ratings of abilities and limitations, with nearly 90 per cent of the ratings within one point of each other. More disagreement was associated with rating areas of behavior and communication, team experience and increased severity of disability. The team's consensus ratings were more likely to defer to the ratings of the expert in particular areas. Implications for team assessment and team functioning are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Functional assessment of Chinese children with the ABILITIES index.

The diagnosis and classification of children with disabilities are persistent concerns in paediatric and habilitative services. These concerns are magnified in international contexts and restrict comparative research and policy development. Even within classifications such as mental retardation, hearing impairment and physical impairment, children can vary widely in the nature and severity of manifested conditions. In the fields of disability and rehabilitation there is a growing interest in functional measurement. Accompanying this awareness is a corresponding recognition of the value of classification approaches which are compatible with the WHO framework of the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps. This paper examines issues pertaining to the classification of children with disabilities and describes the development of the ABILITIES Index, a functional assessment measure yielding a profile of individual characteristics. The cross-cultural applicability of the measure is documented on the basis of data for children in the People's Republic of China.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Child disability and family needs in the People's Republic of China.

As developing countries have made progress in their efforts to reduce child mortality, there is an increasing need to address the prevention and reduction of childhood disability. The People's Republic of China has built on its success in primary health care and is extending its attention to identifying the scope of needs of individuals with disabilities. The focus of this exploratory study was to identify the nature of child and family needs among Chinese families with disabled children. A sample of 101 families from two settings (urban and rural) responded to the Family Needs Survey describing their life with a child with disabilities. The findings revealed that information was a pressing need for Chinese families. Financial help and locating a doctor were the other major expressed needs. Our discussion suggests that the type of child impairment and the setting may be factors related to variability in expressed needs. Of interest was the fact that, while some needs may be culture specific, the pattern of needs was consistent with other cultures as well.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1993

Reliability of an index of child characteristics.

The ABILITIES index provides a means to describe nine areas of functional abilities and disabilities. In this study, the authors examined the agreement between ratings made by 130 parents and teachers, 130 parents and specialists, and 125 teachers and specialists. Stability of ratings was assessed by asking 40 teachers to complete the index a second time, an average of 34 days after the first rating. The results suggest that raters who vary considerably in expertise, discipline and relationship to the child generally agree as to the child's presenting characteristics.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Needs expressed by mothers and fathers of young children with disabilities.

One aspect of family adaptation to a young child with disabilities was investigated through comparison of expressed needs of mothers and fathers and examination of the relation of those needs with selected child and family characteristics. A diverse sample of more than 400 parents completed the Family Needs Survey (Bailey & Simeonsson, 1988). A factor analysis of the items for mothers yielded six distinct factors. A confirmatory factor analysis of needs expressed by fathers indicated a structure that differed significantly from that found for mothers. Mothers expressed significantly more needs than did fathers. Although SES and disability type accounted for significant variance in needs of mothers, an examination of mean values suggested the effect to be of limited clinical significance.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1991

Scaling and attainment of goals in family-focused early intervention.

Evaluating the impact of early intervention as a means to prevent or ameliorate developmental disabilities has been a long standing problem and the issue of effectiveness continues to be debated. This study explored the utility of Goal Attainment Scaling as a planning and evaluation tool whereby intervention outcomes for infants and families could be documented. The 23 families in this study were participants in a larger research effort evaluating the implementation of community based, family-focused intervention. An average of 5.9 goals were written for each family, with approximately 60% of goals written for infants and 40% for families. Attainment of goals was evident in a mean T-score of 51.9 for post-test values and in documentation that approximately two-thirds of all goals were attained at least at the expected level. The practical features of Goal Attainment Scaling and the correspondence of goal attainment scores with other measures of change suggest that it may be a valuable approach to complement traditional evaluation strategies.

Child↗
PubMed1991

Early prevention of childhood disability in developing countries.

The concept of prevention, while implicit in most early intervention efforts, has not been comprehensively articulated as a basis for conceptualizing early intervention services. The growing recognition of the importance of early identification and intervention for infants and young children, and involvement of the family, are factors which contribute to conceptualizations of services which are preventive in nature. This recognition parallels broader concerns for family support programmes which have a preventive focus and seek to enhance the development of children and families. The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive framework for the provision of child and family service by conceptualizing early intervention in terms of levels of prevention. Specifically, the concept of primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of prevention will be presented as a framework suitable to encompass the preventive function of community based rehabilitation. The relevance of early prevention is based on the premise that the condition of childhood disability can be prevented at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. Viewed in this way, the problem or condition of developmental delay or disability in children can be addressed at each of the three levels to effect a reduction of its expression, its duration or extended impact. Primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention can be implemented in the context of community based rehabilitation to address these goals: (a) enhance development and minimize the potential for delay; (b) minimize the need for special education and related services; and (c) minimize the likelihood of institutional or other restrictive care outcomes.

Child↗
PubMed1990

Preparing professionals to serve infants and toddlers with handicaps and their families: an integrative analysis across eight disciplines.

This article summarizes the status of, and recommendations for, preparation programs for early intervention personnel across eight disciplines. Surveys were conducted to determine the extent to which entry-level students in each discipline receive academic preparation and clinical experiences to provide services to infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. Although considerable variability was found across disciplines, the average student receives little specialized information--practical knowledge--relative either to the infancy period or to working with families. Alternative strategies for improving infant personnel preparation are discussed and policy implications of each are addressed.

Allied Health Occupations↗
PubMed1990

Comprehension of defense mechanisms in emotionally disturbed adolescents.

The comprehension of defence mechanisms may constitute a productive assessment domain in working with emotionally disturbed adolescents. The development of comprehension of defence mechanisms was compared in two age groups of 39 emotionally disturbed and 39 nondisturbed adolescents. Results indicated that the level of comprehension varied as a function of clinical group and age level for understanding specific types of defense mechanisms. A principal component analysis revealed three types of mechanisms: self-oriented, other-oriented, and situation-oriented defenses. Differences in comprehension of self-oriented defenses were evident in a group by age interaction, whereas other-oriented defenses were associated with age differences only. Implications of the findings for clinical and educational interventions with emotionally disturbed youngsters are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Emotional disturbance and the development of self-consciousness in adolescence.

The development of self-consciousness and its relationship to emotional disturbance was examined in early and late adolescence. The Imaginary Audience Scale was administered to emotionally disturbed and nondisturbed adolescents. As predicted, results indicated that self-consciousness decreased with age in nondisturbed adolescents. For the emotionally disturbed adolescents, the development of self-consciousness in temporary situations did not follow consistent patterns, as indicated by interaction effects. A significant negative relationship was found between intelligence test scores and self-consciousness in the disturbed group. The findings support the premise that social-cognitive shifts found in early to late adolescence are disrupted in disturbed populations. The mediating role of social experience as a factor in cognitive and emotional development is discussed.

Achievement↗
PubMed1986

Sibling relationships of children with autistic, mentally retarded, and nonhandicapped brothers and sisters.

The subjects were 90 children between 6 and 15 years of age, 30 with autistic, 30 with mentally retarded, and 30 with nonhandicapped brothers or sisters. The children were questioned about their sibling relationships in an open-ended interview, and, in the case of children with handicapped siblings, they also responded to questions about particular problems they faced in regard to their brothers or sisters. In addition, mothers filled out a behavior rating scale in which they described the positive and negative aspects of their children's behavior toward the sibling. In general, children and mothers rated the sibling relationships positively. Group comparisons indicated that children with autistic and mentally retarded siblings did not differ on any self-report measures. Children with nonhandicapped siblings reported that their family relations were slightly more cohesive but otherwise did not differ in terms of their self-reports from children with handicapped siblings. Mothers of nonhandicapped children, however, rated the sibling relationships more negatively than did mothers of handicapped children. Further analyses revealed that status variables (age, gender, family size) were not as highly correlated with the quality of sibling relationships with handicapped children as were specific problem areas (e.g., perceptions of parental favoritism, coping ability, concerns about the handicapped child's future).

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Social cognition and aggression in delinquent adolescent males.

The relationship of aggression to several social cognitive variables in delinquent adolescent males was investigated. Subjects were fifty-eight institutionalized males identified by peers as high-aggressive or low-aggressive. Participants were administered measures of perspective taking, moral judgment, and person perception. The findings indicated that only perspective-taking ability was significantly related to aggressive behavior in delinquents. High-aggressive delinquents were less able to perceive others' viewpoints than were low-aggressive delinquents. These findings are consistent with previous research concerning perspective taking and aggression, but disconfirm research involving other social cognitive variables and aggression. Results further indicate the importance of studying social cognitive variables as they relate to relevant clinical behaviors.

Adolescent↗