No abstract

Visual-motor integration (VMI) skills, defined as the coordination of fine motor and visual perceptual abilities, are a very good indicator of a child's overall level of functioning. Research has clearly established that children with intellectual disability (ID) have deficits in VMI skills. This article presents a meta-analytic review of 10 research studies involving 652 children with mild ID for which a VMI skills assessment was also available. We measured the standardized mean difference (Hedges' g) between scores on VMI tests of these children with mild ID and either typically developing children's VMI test scores in these studies or normative mean values on VMI tests used by the studies. While mild ID is defined in part by intelligence scores that are two to three standard deviations below those of typically developing children, the standardized mean difference of VMI differences between typically developing children and children with mild ID in this meta-analysis was 1.75 (95% CI [1.11, 2.38]). Thus, the intellectual and adaptive skill deficits of children with mild ID may be greater (perhaps especially due to their abstract and conceptual reasoning deficits) than their relative VMI deficits. We discuss the possible meaning of this relative VMI strength among children with mild ID and suggest that their stronger VMI skills may be a target for intensive academic interventions as a means of attenuating problems in adaptive functioning.

Teachers' attitudes towards education of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) play a significant part in successfulness of the inclusive education. The goal of the present study was to examine the attitudes of teachers from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) towards inclusion of students with ASD in general education classes. The sample for this study comprised 105 elementary school teachers (75 females, 30 males) from different parts of BIH. We examined the attitudes in relation to teachers' age, gender, education level, experience in work with children with ASD, self-efficacy, and additional training on ASD. The findings of this study indicate mainly positive attitudes of teachers towards inclusion of students with ASD. However, at the same time, results reveal a sense of non-competence of teachers in providing educational and behavioral support to students with ASD. Teachers who had ASD trainings and who felt competent to work with children with ASD had significantly more favorable attitudes than teachers without such trainings and without a sense of teaching competence. Gender, age, and education level had no significant effect on the teachers' attitudes. Results of this study clearly indicate the need for additional teacher training regarding the education of children with ASD.

Background/Aim. The ability to comprehend and produce irony and deception is rarely explored in people with intellectual disability (ID) or dual diagnoses (DD). The ability to understand irony and deception appears to be related to many cognitive skills, but some authors point out that the theory of mind is one of the most important factors for this ability. This research was conducted to determine the linguistic aspects of production and comprehension of irony and deception in adults with ID and DD, as well as the relationship of these abilities with theory of mind. Methods. The sample consisted of 120 people with ID aged between 20 and 56. Half of the sample comprised people with DD. Four subscales from the Assessment Battery for Communication were used to assess the participants? abilities to produce and comprehend irony and deception. False-belief tasks from ?appearance-reality? category were used in theory of mind assessment. The level of intellectual functioning was measured by the Raven?s progressive matrices, while the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test was used to assess speech comprehension ability. Results. The results show that participants with DD and ID comprehend and produce false statements better than ironic ones. Participants with ID were more successful in production than in comprehension tasks of both false and ironic statements, while the same was true for participants with DD only for ironic statements. Participants with ID were significantly more successful than participants with DD in irony comprehension tasks. In participants with ID, first-order theory of mind significantly correlated only with the ability to produce irony, and second-order theory of mind significantly correlated with producing irony and deception. There were no significant correlations between theory of mind and producing and comprehending irony and deception in participants with DD. Conclusion. Although differences in some aspects of assessed abilities were found between the two groups of participants, the similarities in the profile of these abilities were dominant. Results of variability can be explained by differences in speech comprehension ability more than by differences in nonverbal intellectual functioning or theory of mind acquisition. Future studies should assess the influence of other cognitive factors. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 179017: Social Participation of People with Intellectual Disability]

Ученици са оремећајем ауисичко секра врло чесо оказују знаке оора ри уобичајеним школским ранзиционим акивносима. Раи ревазилажења ово роблема реоручује се римена визуелно расореа. Циљ ово раа је исиаи моућнос римене роцеуре за увођење визуелних расореа ко ученика са оремећајем ауисичко секра. Узорак ово исраживања чинили су ученици са оремећајем ауисичко секра и њихови сецијални еукаори. Обука ученика је реализована кроз чеири фазе. За оребе рикуљања оаака коришћени су: оши уиник, уиник за роцену сеена ауисичко оремећаја, формулар за раћење роцеуре, као и уиник о римени визуелно расореа. Добијени резулаи оказују а су чеири ученика усешно овлаала свим фазама, ок су ри ученика осела рећу фазу оком чевороневне обуке. Физички осицаји су оком обуке слабили, ако а оком ослење фазе нијеан ученик није корисио оуни, а ни елимични физички осицај. Усех у савлаавању самосално коришћења визуелно расореа није значајно овезан са сееном исољеноси рееиивних онашања, урошком времена ри обуци, бројем неаивних, као ни бројем озиивних реакција. Може се закључии а би увођење ове роцеуре у сваконевни ра са ецом са оремећајем ауисичко секра унареило еаошку раксу, како у реовним ако и у школама у којима се образују еца са смењама у развоју. ауизам, осицаји, визуелни расоре. Увод Транзициони процеси су саставни део школске рутине. Прелазак с једног задатка на други, или са часа на одмор, као и промена кабинета и учионица представљају само неке од свакодневних транзиционих школских активности. Ученици са